Born in Jackson Heights, Queens and raised in Metuchen, New Jersey

Began career as a model with the Ford Agency

Screen debut in "Joe"; had accompanied then-husband Chris Sarandon to his audition for the film; she was hired instead

First regular TV role, appeared in the ABC daytime soap, "A World Apart"

Broadway debut as Tricia Nixon in Gore Vidal's "An Evening With Richard Nixon and . . ."

Acted on the daytime soap "Search for Tomorrow"

Played the fictionalized heroine in the TV dramatization "F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Last of the Belles" (ABC)

Co-starred as Janet in cult hit "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

Was leading lady to Robert Redford in "The Great Waldo Pepper"

First film with director Louis Malle, "Pretty Baby," playing Brooke Shields' prostitute mother

Reteamed with Malle for "Atlantic City"; earned first Best Actress Oscar nomination playing a young casino employee who falls for older Burt Lancaster

Off-Broadway debut in "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking"

Acted with John Cassavetes and wife Gena Rowlands in Paul Mazursky's "Tempest," loosely based on Shakespeare's play

Starred opposite Christopher Walken in the acclaimed PBS drama "Who Am I This Time?"

Love scene with Catherine Deneuve in Tony Scott's "The Hunger" created a minor furor

Starred as a housewife investigating a murder in the comedy-drama "Compromising Positions"; was pregnant with first child during filming which was noticably visible in some scenes

Co-starred as Edda Ciano, the dictator's daughter in the HBO miniseries "Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce"

First film with director George Miller, "The Witches of Eastwick"

Met companion Tim Robbins while co-starring in hit comedy "Bull Durham"

Portrayed older waitress who becomes involved with younger yuppie James Spader in "White Palace"

Co-starred with Geena Davis in the female buddy film, "Thelma & Louise," directed by Ridley Scott; earned second Best Actress Oscar nomination

Made cameo appearance as herself in Robert Altman's "The Player," starring Robbins

Reteamed with Miller for "Lorenzo's Oil," earning her third Best Actress Academy Award nomination

Played small role in Robbins' feature directing debut, "Bob Roberts"

Portrayed the matriarch of the March family in Gillian Armstrong's "Little Women"

Picked up a fourth Best Actress Oscar nomination for her turn as a non-nonense Southern attorney in "The Client"

Starred in Robbins' "Dead Man Walking" opposite Sean Penn; finally won Oscar as Best Actress; Robbins' nomination as Best Director made them the first couple since Cassavetes and Rowlands to be jointly nominated for their work together

Provided the voice of the Spider for "James and the Giant Peach"

Cast as a movie star married to Gene Hackman who calls upon old friend detective Paul Newman for assistance in Robert Benton's "Twilight"

Co-starred with Ed Harris and Julia Roberts in the comedy-drama "Stepmom"; also served as executive producer

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Starred as a single mother of a teenager in Wayne Wang's "Anywhere But Here"

Made cameo appearance in Robbins' feature "The Cradle Will Rock"

Had cameo role as painter Alice Neel in "Joe Gould's Secret," directed by Stanley Tucci

Provided the voice for Coco La Bouche in the animated film "Rugrats in Paris - The Movie"

Voiced the dog Ivy in the feature "Cats & Dogs"

Made guest appearance in an episode of "Friends" (NBC), playing a soap opera actress; received Emmy nomination

Played the title character's mother in "Igby Goes Down"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress

Co-starred with Goldie Hawn in "The Banger Sisters"

Co-starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in "Moonlight Mile"

Cast as Richard Gere's wife in "Shall We Dance?" a remake of the 1996 Japanese film

Starred opposite Jude Law in "Alfie" a remake of the 1966 film which starred Michael Caine

Played Orlando Bloom's mother in Cameron Crowe's drama "Elizabethtown"

Co-starred as James Gandolfini's wife in "Romance & Cigarettes" directed by John Turturro; film released theatrically in 2007

Guest-starred in several episodes of Denis Leary's FX drama "Rescue Me"

Co-starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah"

Played the evil queen in Disney's modern-day animation and live-action fairy tale, "Enchanted"

Played Mom Racer in the Wachowski brothers' live action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese series "Speed Racer"

Portrayed tobacco millionairess Doris Duke in the HBO film, "Bernard and Doris"; earned an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie