Success came to Annette Bening later than some actresses when she received the first of several Academy Award nominations at age 33 for her role opposite Anjelica Huston and John Cusack in the dark comedy The Grifters (1991). A drama student in high school, she majored in acting at San Diego State University and studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She then moved to Denver with her first husband in 1985. When they split the next year, she pursued a stage career in New York, where she was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Coastal Disturbances. It would be a good five years before her film career would take off. Some of her most noteworthy films include American Beauty and Being Julia; Oscar awarded her nominations for both films, but she lost both to Hilary Swank.

1. Her first pregnancy, which she discovered shortly after wrapping Bugsy, kept her from playing Catwoman in 1992's Batman Returns.
2. She's the youngest of two brothers and one sister.
3. One of her post-high school jobs was working as a cook on a charter boat.
4. She is the subject of the widespread urban legend that she was the model for the modern-day Columbia Pictures logo.
5. She criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton in a 2000 issue of Vanity Fair, saying, "She always appears to be doing what's politically expedient in the most transparent way."

"Sometimes going to work is like a vacation, compared to being at home and keeping everything going there."
— Salt Lake City Deseret News, Nov. 26, 2004

Husbands: Warren Beatty, actor, born Mar. 30, 1937; met on the set of Bugsy, married Mar. 12, 1992; J. Steven White, actor; married 1984, separated 1986, divorced 1991
Daughters: Kathlyn Elizabeth, born Jan. 10, 1992 (father: Beatty); Isabel Ira Ashley, born Jan. 11, 1997 (father: Beatty); Ella Corinne, born Apr. 10, 2000 (father: Beatty)
Son: Benjamin, born Aug. 23, 1994 (father: Beatty)

2007: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy), Running With Scissors

2005: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress, Being Julia; Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy), Being Julia

2000: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress, American Beauty; Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama), American Beauty

1996: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy), The American President

1992: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama), Bugsy

1991: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Grifters

FILMS

The Women - (2008) - Actor
Running With Scissors - (2006) - Actor
Who Needs Sleep? - (2006) - Featured
It's Cooking Time with Sesame Street - (2005) - Guest
Being Julia - (2004) - Actor
Open Range - (2003) - Actor
What Planet Are You From? - (2000) - Actor
American Beauty - (1999) - Actor
In Dreams - (1998) - Actor
The Siege - (1998) - Actor
Mars Attacks! - (1996) - Actor
Sesame Street - Cookie Monster's Best Bites - (1995) - Actor
The American President - (1995) - Actor
Richard III - (1995) - Actor
Love Affair - (1994) - Actor
Guilty by Suspicion - (1991) - Actor
Regarding Henry - (1991) - Actor
Bugsy - (1991) - Actor
Valmont - (1990) - Actor
Postcards From the Edge - (1990) - Actor
The Grifters - (1990) - Actor
The Great Outdoors - (1988) - Actor
Wiseguy: Season 1/Part 1 - (1987) - Featured