Claire Danes Biography
Date of Birth
12 April 1979, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Claire Catherine Danes
Height
5' 5½" (1.66 m)
Mini Biography
New Yorker Claire Danes is the youngest daughter of Carla, a day-care provider and artist and Christopher, a computer consultant and photographer. She has an older brother named Asa. She was educated at Dalton School, New York, The New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, The Professional Performing Arts School and Lycée Français de Los Angeles. From 1998, she attended Yale University, studying psychology, but dropped out after two years to concentrate on her acting career.
Danes first came to major public attention when she appeared as "Angela Chase" in "My So-Called Life" (1994). She won an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe award for this performance. A successful film career followed, including the role of "Juliet", opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). After making Brokedown Palace (1999), Danes took a break from her acting career to complete her education at Yale. She returned to the screen in 2002 and continued acting in such varied project as The Hours (2002), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Stardust (2007).
In 2010, she appeared in the HBO Production, Temple Grandin (2010) (TV), playing the title character. She received huge critical acclaim for the role, and won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouse
Hugh Dancy (September 2009 - present)
Trivia
Completed 2 years at Yale University pursuing a degree in psychology but never finished (2002)
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1997]
Flew to L.A. for the casting of Schindler's List (1993), after she was discovered for the role in "My So-Called Life" (1994). Steven Spielberg finally gave her the role but had to turn it down, because they weren't willing to give her tutoring in Poland.
Was banned from the Philippines in Sept 1998, for making derogatory remarks about the country. The President of the Philippines condemned her publicly.
Auditioned for the role of Lisa in Girl, Interrupted (1999).
Was considered for the title role in Lolita (1997).
Auditioned and was the first choice for the role of Rose in Titanic (1997).
Once said in a Vanity Fair article that at university, she is interested in psychology, philosophy, and art history.
The most frequently used title for articles about her has been "Great Danes".
Has at least 4 songs written about her. The Ataris' "My So Called Life" (album: "Look Forward to Failure" EP), Size 14's "Claire Danes Poster" (self-titled album), "The Five Mile Line"'s "Claire Danes" ("Busride Home" demo) and "Claire Danes", a low-fi indi ballad by "John Parker Music" which was released on Subversive Records Limited in 2004.
Parents are Chris & Carla Danes.
Attended the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute.
Is the younger of 2 children.
Has an older brother, Asa.
Attended the Professional Performing Arts High School in New York City. Other alumni include singer/dancer/actress Britney Spears, actor Lee Thompson Young and actor/singer/dancer Chris Trousdale.
Her letter of recommendation to Yale University was written by Oliver Stone, her director on U Turn (1997).
Grew up in SoHo.
Her mother is an artist while her father is a photographer.
Her mother ran a daycare center out of their Soho loft called Danes Tribe.
Started studying modern dance at the age of six. She played a "duck" in an avant-garde production involving stilt-walkers.
She and Billy Crudup became a couple during the filming of Stage Beauty (2004).
Loves watching "The Golden Girls" (1985) reruns.
Her older brother is a corporate lawyer.
Is mentioned in actor Canyon Prince's song "Life" from his 2003 album "Live and Funked Up".
She turned down the role of "Rose" in Titanic (1997) as she had just finished working with Leonardo DiCaprio on Romeo + Juliet (1996). Though she described working with him on that film as a "treat", she admitted in an interview later that if she had accepted the role in Titanic (1997), she would not have been able to get away from him.
Very close friends with actor Jason Schwartzman.
Baz Luhrmann, Danes' director for Romeo + Juliet (1996), referred to her as "the Meryl Streep of her generation".
Briefly attended the junior high section of the New York City Lab School from 1991-1992. Nick Valensi (guitarist, The Strokes), Charlie Hofheimer (actor, Black Hawk Down (2001)), and Max Lugavere (self, Current TV) graduated from the high school section of the same school in 1998, 1999, and 2000, respectively. It is a small public school.
Awarded the Nova Award at the 2007 Maui film Festival.
As of Fall 2008 is the exclusive model for Gucci Jewelry, succeeding Drew Barrymore.
Engaged to Hugh Dancy. They met on the set of Evening (2007). [February 2009]
Grew up with Zac Posen and Julia Stiles.
Married Hugh Dancy in France [September 2009].
Both Claire and her husband, Hugh Dancy, have played characters with Asperger's Syndrome, Claire in HBO's Temple Grandin (2010) (TV) and Hugh in Adam (2009/I).
Was in attendance at the wedding of Mamie Gummer to Benjamin Walker (16 July 2011).
Named Harvard University's 2012 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year [January 23, 2012].
Personal Quotes
[on co-star Kate Beckinsale and hoping to become friends] That was wrong. We didn't. She's complicated. She's prickly.
I live in an adult world, but I'm a kid. I love the work. But I no longer have a group of friends to hang out with regularly.
[on education vs. career] I was told that my going to college wouldn't be good for my career. I think that's nonsense. It's good to empower yourself by cutting yourself off from this business every once in a while.
I have a huge, active imagination, [and] I think I'm really scared of being alone; because if I'm left to my own devices, I'll just turn into a madwoman.
My line about [Arnold Schwarzenegger] is that he doesn't get in his own way. He is not apologetic about achieving his goals. And when you have that attitude, it's amazing what one can accomplish. He wanted to give me relationship advice. I was having trouble with a female friend, and he said, "Be really forthright and do not accommodate her needs excessively". I took his advice and we're not friends anymore. So there you go.
[on Stage Beauty (2004)] I was intimidated. There was the accent, the period of the film, and I had to act badly. I kept laughing during those scenes because I was god-awful. I've worked so hard to be good, and now I had to work even harder to be bad.
It's very difficult to judge yourself. Extreme self-doubt is only attractive when it's fictionalized. Which is why people love the movies. They are so reassuring.
I had an unwavering focus. My parents never condescended to me. As a child, I always sat at the head of our dinner table. I was always given a lot of responsibility. It was all rather amazing when I think about it now.
I was a very confident child. I knew I wanted to be an actress from the age of 5. Madonna was my original muse -- around 5, I saw her perform on TV, and I realized that performing could be one's vocation. Then, at 7 or 8, I realized that most actors don't make a lot of money, and I amended my plan. But at 9, I seized my destiny. I made a formal announcement to my parents that I had to be true to my art. Money or no money, acting is my calling.
I never thought of myself as a child actor. I knew I was a kid, but they weren't related. There was nothing I could do about being a kid, and meanwhile I was an actress, and I had something to say in my acting.
I think that everybody wants to create, to do something that feels genuine and kinetic and spontaneous. I think actors want to surprise themselves. When it's really good, you kind of transcend yourself, and that happens infrequently. Very, very rarely. You might get one or two of those moments on a film, say, and sometimes they don't even use the takes where that happens. And I'm not really that moralistic about how you get there.
[12/21/05, on having children] I would like to have a family, but I'm trying not to make any plans, because when I do, everything goes wrong.
[nn her notorious swimsuit scene in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996)] I'll never wear a thong again. I'm a Speedo gal.
[on her non-stop work schedule] Usually, my social life and my sanity and my health are the things that are sacrificed.
The point of acting is to share, to connect. That's why I act. Acting is the greatest answer to my loneliness that I have found.
I think people confuse fame with validation or love. But fame is not the reward. The reward is getting fulfilment out of doing the thing you love.
On husband Hugh Dancy: He's such a cutie patootie. While relationships are work, this just didn't feel like it. It's the kind of work that feels energizing rather than enervating. I find it very freeing to know that, okay, it takes constant nurturing and attention, but I can also stop looking for the one.
[on Steve Martin] He's a great, great fucking weirdo.
Date of Birth
12 April 1979, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Claire Catherine Danes
Height
5' 5½" (1.66 m)
Mini Biography
New Yorker Claire Danes is the youngest daughter of Carla, a day-care provider and artist and Christopher, a computer consultant and photographer. She has an older brother named Asa. She was educated at Dalton School, New York, The New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, The Professional Performing Arts School and Lycée Français de Los Angeles. From 1998, she attended Yale University, studying psychology, but dropped out after two years to concentrate on her acting career.
Danes first came to major public attention when she appeared as "Angela Chase" in "My So-Called Life" (1994). She won an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe award for this performance. A successful film career followed, including the role of "Juliet", opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). After making Brokedown Palace (1999), Danes took a break from her acting career to complete her education at Yale. She returned to the screen in 2002 and continued acting in such varied project as The Hours (2002), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Stardust (2007).
In 2010, she appeared in the HBO Production, Temple Grandin (2010) (TV), playing the title character. She received huge critical acclaim for the role, and won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouse
Hugh Dancy (September 2009 - present)
Trivia
Completed 2 years at Yale University pursuing a degree in psychology but never finished (2002)
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1997]
Flew to L.A. for the casting of Schindler's List (1993), after she was discovered for the role in "My So-Called Life" (1994). Steven Spielberg finally gave her the role but had to turn it down, because they weren't willing to give her tutoring in Poland.
Was banned from the Philippines in Sept 1998, for making derogatory remarks about the country. The President of the Philippines condemned her publicly.
Auditioned for the role of Lisa in Girl, Interrupted (1999).
Was considered for the title role in Lolita (1997).
Auditioned and was the first choice for the role of Rose in Titanic (1997).
Once said in a Vanity Fair article that at university, she is interested in psychology, philosophy, and art history.
The most frequently used title for articles about her has been "Great Danes".
Has at least 4 songs written about her. The Ataris' "My So Called Life" (album: "Look Forward to Failure" EP), Size 14's "Claire Danes Poster" (self-titled album), "The Five Mile Line"'s "Claire Danes" ("Busride Home" demo) and "Claire Danes", a low-fi indi ballad by "John Parker Music" which was released on Subversive Records Limited in 2004.
Parents are Chris & Carla Danes.
Attended the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute.
Is the younger of 2 children.
Has an older brother, Asa.
Attended the Professional Performing Arts High School in New York City. Other alumni include singer/dancer/actress Britney Spears, actor Lee Thompson Young and actor/singer/dancer Chris Trousdale.
Her letter of recommendation to Yale University was written by Oliver Stone, her director on U Turn (1997).
Grew up in SoHo.
Her mother is an artist while her father is a photographer.
Her mother ran a daycare center out of their Soho loft called Danes Tribe.
Started studying modern dance at the age of six. She played a "duck" in an avant-garde production involving stilt-walkers.
She and Billy Crudup became a couple during the filming of Stage Beauty (2004).
Loves watching "The Golden Girls" (1985) reruns.
Her older brother is a corporate lawyer.
Is mentioned in actor Canyon Prince's song "Life" from his 2003 album "Live and Funked Up".
She turned down the role of "Rose" in Titanic (1997) as she had just finished working with Leonardo DiCaprio on Romeo + Juliet (1996). Though she described working with him on that film as a "treat", she admitted in an interview later that if she had accepted the role in Titanic (1997), she would not have been able to get away from him.
Very close friends with actor Jason Schwartzman.
Baz Luhrmann, Danes' director for Romeo + Juliet (1996), referred to her as "the Meryl Streep of her generation".
Briefly attended the junior high section of the New York City Lab School from 1991-1992. Nick Valensi (guitarist, The Strokes), Charlie Hofheimer (actor, Black Hawk Down (2001)), and Max Lugavere (self, Current TV) graduated from the high school section of the same school in 1998, 1999, and 2000, respectively. It is a small public school.
Awarded the Nova Award at the 2007 Maui film Festival.
As of Fall 2008 is the exclusive model for Gucci Jewelry, succeeding Drew Barrymore.
Engaged to Hugh Dancy. They met on the set of Evening (2007). [February 2009]
Grew up with Zac Posen and Julia Stiles.
Married Hugh Dancy in France [September 2009].
Both Claire and her husband, Hugh Dancy, have played characters with Asperger's Syndrome, Claire in HBO's Temple Grandin (2010) (TV) and Hugh in Adam (2009/I).
Was in attendance at the wedding of Mamie Gummer to Benjamin Walker (16 July 2011).
Named Harvard University's 2012 Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year [January 23, 2012].
Personal Quotes
[on co-star Kate Beckinsale and hoping to become friends] That was wrong. We didn't. She's complicated. She's prickly.
I live in an adult world, but I'm a kid. I love the work. But I no longer have a group of friends to hang out with regularly.
[on education vs. career] I was told that my going to college wouldn't be good for my career. I think that's nonsense. It's good to empower yourself by cutting yourself off from this business every once in a while.
I have a huge, active imagination, [and] I think I'm really scared of being alone; because if I'm left to my own devices, I'll just turn into a madwoman.
My line about [Arnold Schwarzenegger] is that he doesn't get in his own way. He is not apologetic about achieving his goals. And when you have that attitude, it's amazing what one can accomplish. He wanted to give me relationship advice. I was having trouble with a female friend, and he said, "Be really forthright and do not accommodate her needs excessively". I took his advice and we're not friends anymore. So there you go.
[on Stage Beauty (2004)] I was intimidated. There was the accent, the period of the film, and I had to act badly. I kept laughing during those scenes because I was god-awful. I've worked so hard to be good, and now I had to work even harder to be bad.
It's very difficult to judge yourself. Extreme self-doubt is only attractive when it's fictionalized. Which is why people love the movies. They are so reassuring.
I had an unwavering focus. My parents never condescended to me. As a child, I always sat at the head of our dinner table. I was always given a lot of responsibility. It was all rather amazing when I think about it now.
I was a very confident child. I knew I wanted to be an actress from the age of 5. Madonna was my original muse -- around 5, I saw her perform on TV, and I realized that performing could be one's vocation. Then, at 7 or 8, I realized that most actors don't make a lot of money, and I amended my plan. But at 9, I seized my destiny. I made a formal announcement to my parents that I had to be true to my art. Money or no money, acting is my calling.
I never thought of myself as a child actor. I knew I was a kid, but they weren't related. There was nothing I could do about being a kid, and meanwhile I was an actress, and I had something to say in my acting.
I think that everybody wants to create, to do something that feels genuine and kinetic and spontaneous. I think actors want to surprise themselves. When it's really good, you kind of transcend yourself, and that happens infrequently. Very, very rarely. You might get one or two of those moments on a film, say, and sometimes they don't even use the takes where that happens. And I'm not really that moralistic about how you get there.
[12/21/05, on having children] I would like to have a family, but I'm trying not to make any plans, because when I do, everything goes wrong.
[nn her notorious swimsuit scene in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996)] I'll never wear a thong again. I'm a Speedo gal.
[on her non-stop work schedule] Usually, my social life and my sanity and my health are the things that are sacrificed.
The point of acting is to share, to connect. That's why I act. Acting is the greatest answer to my loneliness that I have found.
I think people confuse fame with validation or love. But fame is not the reward. The reward is getting fulfilment out of doing the thing you love.
On husband Hugh Dancy: He's such a cutie patootie. While relationships are work, this just didn't feel like it. It's the kind of work that feels energizing rather than enervating. I find it very freeing to know that, okay, it takes constant nurturing and attention, but I can also stop looking for the one.
[on Steve Martin] He's a great, great fucking weirdo.
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