Mia Farrow

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Mia Farrow

Farrow in 1980
Born María de Lourdes Villiers Farrow
(1945-02-09) February 9, 1945
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation Actress, activist
Years active 1964–present
Spouse(s) Frank Sinatra (1966–68; divorced)
André Previn (1970–79; divorced)
Partner(s) Woody Allen (1980–92)
Children 15 (4 biological, 11 adopted)
Parents

Mia Farrow (born Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow; February 9, 1945)[1] is an American actress and former fashion model.

Farrow first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera Peyton Place and gained further recognition for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra. An early film role, as Rosemary in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), saw her nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Actress. She went on to appear in films such as John and Mary (1969), Follow Me! (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Death on the Nile (1978).

Farrow was in a relationship with actor-director Woody Allen from 1980 to 1992 and appeared in twelve of his thirteen films over that period, including Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio Days (1987), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Alice (1990) and Husbands and Wives (1992). Her later film roles include Widows' Peak (1994), The Omen (2006), Be Kind Rewind (2008), Dark Horse (2011) and Luc Besson's Arthur series (2006–2010).

Farrow has appeared in more than 50 films and won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe award, received seven additional Golden Globe nominations, three BAFTA nominations and a best actress award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.[2] Farrow is also known for her extensive work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She is involved in humanitarian activities in Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic. In 2008, Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world.

Early life

Farrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the fourth child and eldest daughter of Australian film director John Farrow and Irish actress Maureen O'Sullivan. One of seven children: older brothers Michael Damien (1939–1958), Patrick Joseph (1942–2009), John Charles (born 1946); and younger sisters Prudence and actresses Stephanie and Tisa. [citation needed] Eldest brother Michael died in a plane crash in 1958, at age 19.[3] Patrick Farrow, a sculptor, committed suicide in 2009.[4]

Farrow grew up in Beverly Hills, California, where she occasionally put on performances with "toy daggers and fake blood" for passing celebrity tour buses.[5] Aged two, she made her film debut in a short documentary Unusual Occupations: Film Tot Holiday (1947).[6]

She was raised Roman Catholic and "had 13 years of convent education with nuns".[5][7] When she was nine, she contracted polio during an outbreak in Los Angeles reportedly affecting 500 people.[8] She was placed in an isolation ward for 3 weeks[9] and later said the experience "marked the end of my childhood".[5]

Career

Farrow screen-tested for the role of Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music, but did not get the part. The footage has been preserved, and appears on the fortieth Anniversary Edition DVD of The Sound of Music. Farrow began her acting career by appearing in supporting roles in several 1960s films. She achieved stardom on the popular primetime soap opera Peyton Place as naive, waif-like Allison MacKenzie, a role she later abandoned at the urging of first husband Frank Sinatra. Along with her acting career, Farrow worked as a fashion model for many years.[10]

Farrow's first leading film role was in Rosemary's Baby (1968), which was a critical and commercial success at the time and continues to be widely regarded as a classic of the horror genre. Her performance garnered numerous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, and established her as a leading actress. Film critic and author Stephen Farber described her performance as having an "electrifying impact… one of the rare instances of actor and character achieving a miraculous, almost mythical match. If Ira Levin's story shrewdly taps into every pregnant woman's fears about the stranger growing inside her, Mia Farrow gives those fears an achingly real and human force".[11] Film critic Roger Ebert noted that "the brilliance of the film comes more from Polanski's direction, and from a series of genuinely inspired performances… The characters emerge as human beings actually doing these things. A great deal of the credit for this achievement must go to Mia Farrow, as Rosemary".[12]

Following Rosemary's Baby, Farrow was to be cast as Mattie in True Grit and was keen on the role. However, prior to filming she made Secret Ceremony in England with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Mitchum. While filming, Mitchum told her about True Grit director Henry Hathaway having a reputation for being rude to actresses. Farrow asked producer Hal Wallis to replace Hathaway. Wallis refused and Farrow quit the role which was then given to Kim Darby.[13] Secret Ceremony divided critics, but has gone on to develop a devoted following. Farrow's other late '60s films include John and Mary, opposite Dustin Hoffman.

In the 1970s, Farrow appeared in several films, including the thriller See No Evil (1971), French director Claude Chabrol's Docteur Popaul (1972) and The Great Gatsby (1974), in which Farrow played Daisy Buchanan. She appeared in director Robert Altman's cult classic A Wedding (1978). In 1977, she played the title role in The Haunting of Julia. Farrow appeared in several made-for-television films in the 1970s, most notably portraying the title role in a musical version of Peter Pan (1976). Farrow became the first American actress to join the Royal Shakespeare Company[14] and in 1979, appeared on Broadway opposite Anthony Perkins in the play Romantic Comedy by Bernard Slade.

In the 1980s and early '90s, Farrow's relationship with director Woody Allen resulted in numerous film collaborations. She appeared in nearly all of Allen's films during this period, including leading roles in Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days and Alice (1990). Farrow played Alura, mother of Kara (Helen Slater), in Supergirl (1984) and voiced the title role in the animated film The Last Unicorn (1982). She narrated several of the animated Stories to Remember.

Citing the need to devote herself to raising her young children, Farrow worked less frequently during the 1990s. Nonetheless, she appeared in leading roles in several films, including the Irish film Widows' Peak (1994), Miami Rhapsody (1995) and Reckless (also 1995). She appeared in several independent features and made-for-television films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s and wrote an autobiography, What Falls Away, in 1997.[15]

Farrow appeared as Mrs. Baylock, the Satanic nanny, in the remake of The Omen (2006). Although the film itself received a lukewarm critical reception, Farrow's performance was widely praised, with the Associated Press declaring "thank heaven for Mia Farrow" and calling her performance "a rare instance of the new Omen improving on the old one."[16] Filmcritic.com added "it is Farrow who steals the show",[17] and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described her performance as "a truly delicious comeback role for Rosemary herself, Mia Farrow, who is chillingly believable as a sweet-talking nanny from hell."[18]

Farrow worked on several films released in 2007, including the romantic comedy The Ex and the first part of director Luc Besson's trilogy of fantasy films, Arthur and the Invisibles. In 2008, in director Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, she appeared opposite Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover. In 2011, Farrow appeared in the film Dark Horse, directed by Todd Solondz.

Activism and Africa

Farrow during a visit to Central African Republic

Farrow became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2000 and is a high-profile advocate for human rights in Africa, particularly for children's rights. She has worked to raise funds and awareness for children in conflict-affected regions and to draw attention to the fight to eradicate polio.[14]

Farrow in 2008
In 2007, Farrow co-founded the Olympic Dream for Darfur campaign, which drew attention to China's support for the government of Sudan. The campaign hoped to change China's policy by embarrassing it in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing. In March 2007, China said it would urge Sudan to engage with the international community. The campaign persuaded Steven Spielberg to withdraw as an artistic adviser to the opening ceremony. During the Olympics, Farrow televised via the internet from a Sudanese refugee camp to highlight China's involvement in the region.[14][19]

She has traveled to Darfur several times. Her third trip was in 2007, with a film crew engaged in making the documentary "Darfur: On Our Watch".[20] Later in 2007, Farrow offered to "trade her freedom" for the freedom of a humanitarian worker for the Sudan Liberation Army who was being treated in a UN hospital while under threat of arrest. She wanted to be taken captive in exchange for his being allowed to leave the country.[21]

Farrow has received several awards for her humanitarian work[22][23] including the Leon Sullivan International Service award.[24] She has set up a campaigning website, miafarrow.org. In 2008, Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world.[14][25]

In 2009, Farrow narrated a documentary, titled As We Forgive, relating the struggle of many of the survivors of the Rwandan Genocide to forgive those who murdered family and friends.[14] To show "solidarity with the people of Darfur", Farrow began a water-only fast on April 27.[26] Farrow's goal was to fast for three weeks, but she called a halt after 12 days on the advice of her doctor.[27]

Farrow testified in the trial against former Liberian President Charles Taylor in August 2010.[28]

Personal life

Marriage to Frank Sinatra

Farrow at the 2012 Time 100

Farrow married singer Frank Sinatra on July 19, 1966.[29] He served her with divorce papers on the set of Rosemary's Baby (1968) after she refused his demand that she quit the film to work on his movie The Detective.[30] The divorce was finalized that same year.

Vist to Ashram

Also in 1968, Farrow traveled to India, where she spent part of the year at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, studying Transcendental Meditation. Her visit received worldwide media attention because of the presence of all four members of The Beatles, Donovan, and Mike Love, as well as her sister Prudence Farrow, who inspired John Lennon to write the song "Dear Prudence".

Marriage to André Previn

In 1970, Farrow married the conductor/composer André Previn after having become pregnant by him while he was married to songwriter Dory Previn.[31] His former wife wrote a scathing song, entitled "Beware of Young Girls", about the loss of her husband to Farrow.[32] Previn and Farrow divorced in 1979.[33]

Relationship with Woody Allen

In 1980, Farrow began seeing film director Woody Allen. During their relationship, Farrow starred in many of Allen's films, and several of her relatives also made appearances.

Farrow and Allen separated after Farrow discovered nude photographs that Allen had taken of Soon-Yi, Farrow's adopted daughter who was around 20 years old then.

Children

As of March 2012, Mia Farrow has thirteen living children (four biological, nine adopted) and nine grandchildren.[34]

Farrow and former husband André Previn have three biological children (twins Matthew and Sascha, and Fletcher). In 1973 and 1976, respectively, they adopted Vietnamese infants Lark Song and Summer "Daisy" Song, followed by the adoption of Soon-Yi (born c. October 8, 1972) from Korea around 1978. Soon-Yi's precise age and birth date are not known, but a bone scan estimated her age as being between 5 and 7 years old at the time of her adoption.[35]

Farrow and Woody Allen adopted Moses "Misha" Farrow and Dylan Farrow. Dylan was known as "Eliza" for a while and later known as "Malone". In 1987, Farrow gave birth to their son Satchel "Seamus"[36] O'Sullivan Farrow,[37] later known as Ronan Farrow. In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Farrow stated that Ronan could "possibly" be the biological child of her first husband Frank Sinatra, with whom she claims to have "never really split up".[38]

In 1992, Mia Farrow alleged that Dylan Farrow, then aged seven, told her mother that she had been sexually abused by Allen. Farrow had Dylan examined by a paediatrician, who subsequently reported the abuse claims. In August 1992, Allen sued for full custody of his and Farrow's three children, claiming that Farrow was concocting the sexual abuse allegations.[39]

The head doctor of the police-appointed medical team gave sworn testimony that Dylan "either invented the story under the stress of living in a volatile and unhealthy home or that it was planted in her mind by her mother" because of the "inconsistent" presentation of the story by Dylan.[40] Justice Elliot Wilk, who rejected Allen's bid for full custody and also denied him visitation rights with Dylan, wrote: "I am less certain, however, than is the Yale-New Haven team, that the evidence proves conclusively that there was no sexual abuse."[39]

In 2014, Dylan Farrow publicly renewed the allegations of sexual abuse against Allen. Allen rejected them, with a representative calling them "untrue and disgraceful."[41]

Between 1992 and 1995, Farrow adopted six more children: Tam Farrow (born 1979); Kaeli-Shea Farrow, now known as Quincy Maureen Farrow; Frankie-Minh (born 1991); Isaiah Justus (born 1992); Thaddeus Wilk Farrow (born 1988); and Gabriel Wilk Farrow, adopted in 1995[citation needed] and named after Elliott Wilk, the judge who oversaw Farrow's 1993 legal battle with Allen.[42] Her daughter Tam Farrow died of heart failure in 2000 at the age of 19 after a long illness.[43] On December 25, 2008, her daughter Lark Previn died at the age of 35.[44]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1959 John Paul Jones uncredited
1964 Guns at Batasi Karen Erickson
1968 Secret Ceremony Cenci Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (also for Rosemary's Baby & John and Mary)
Rosemary's Baby Rosemary Woodhouse David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress (shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
A Dandy in Aspic Caroline
1969 John and Mary Mary Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1971 See No Evil Sarah
1972 Follow Me! Belinda Prize San Sebastián for Best Actress
1974 The Great Gatsby Daisy Buchanan
1976 Peter Pan (Musical) Peter Pan
1977 Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia) Julia Lofting
1978 A Wedding Elizabeth 'Buffy' Brenner
Avalanche Caroline Brace
Death on the Nile Jacqueline De Bellefort
1979 Hurricane Charlotte Bruckner
1982 A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Ariel Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress
The Last Unicorn Unicorn/ Lady Amalthea voice-over
Sarah Sarah voice-over
1983 Zelig Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher Kansas City Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (shared with Linda Hunt for The Year of Living Dangerously)
1984 Broadway Danny Rose Tina Vitale Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Supergirl Alura In-Ze
Terror in the Aisles archival footage
1985 The Purple Rose of Cairo Cecilia Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
1986 Hannah and Her Sisters Hannah Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1987 Radio Days Sally White
September Lane
1988 Another Woman Hope
1989 New York Stories Lisa
Crimes and Misdemeanors Halley Reed Nominated—David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress
1990 Alice Alice Tate National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1992 Shadows and Fog Irmy
Husbands and Wives Judy Roth
1994 Widows' Peak Miss Katherine O'Hare/Clancy
1995 Miami Rhapsody Nina Marcus
Reckless Rachel
1999 Forget Me Never Diane McGowin (TV) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
Coming Soon Judy Hodshell
2002 The Secret Life of Zoey Marcia Carter (TV)
Purpose Anna Simmons
2004 Samantha: An American Girl Holiday Grandmary Edwards (TV)
2006 The Omen Mrs. Baylock
2007 Arthur and the Invisibles Daisy Suchot
The Ex Amelia Kowalski
2008 Be Kind Rewind Miss Falewicz
2008 As We Forgive Narrator
2009 Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard Daisy Suchot
2010 Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds Daisy Suchot
2011 Dark Horse Phyllis

References

  1. ↑ "Mia Farrow Biography". The Biography Channel. Retrieved January 13, 2014. 
  2. ↑ Mia Farrow - Awards
  3. ↑ Smith, Dinitia (May 8, 1994). "Picking Up The Legos And The Pieces". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2013. 
  4. ↑ Ring, Wilson (June 17, 2009). "Mia Farrow's Brother's Death: SUICIDE". The Huffington Post. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Wood, Gaby (January 29, 2006). "'I've always had a sense of the unworthiness of myself'". The Observer (London: The Guardian). Retrieved May 15, 2010. "This seems more than a little harsh, and I ask Farrow whether she thinks she would have felt less guilty about things if she had not been brought up a Catholic." 
  6. ↑ Su Holmes; Diane Negra (March 17, 2011). In the Limelight and Under the Microscope: Forms and Functions of Female Celebrity. Continuum. pp. 239–. ISBN 978-0-8264-3855-3. Retrieved August 8, 2013. 
  7. ↑ Pringle, Gill (June 2, 2006). "Mia Farrow: 'My faith helps me through hard times'". London: The Independent. Retrieved May 15, 2010. "If you're brought up a Catholic and you've had 13 years of convent education with nuns, there's no way you ever get out from under that. I've accepted that fact about myself so there are certain things - like my lost saint - that sometimes are not so lost." 
  8. ↑ "Polio Strikes Los Angeles.". The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) (Perth, WA: National Library of Australia). August 14, 1954. p. 4. Retrieved March 3, 2012. 
  9. ↑ Wadler, Joyce. "PUBLIC LIVES; Older, Wiser and Still Reaching Out to Help". date=September 26, 2000. Retrieved August 10, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Hall, Anni (October 25, 2011). "Beauty icon: Mia Farrow". Vogue.com. Retrieved August 15, 2013. 
  11. ↑ Movieline.com
  12. ↑ Ebert, Roger (July 29, 1968). "Rosemary's Baby". Chicago Sun-Times. 
  13. ↑ Davis, Ronald L. (2003), Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne, University of Oklahoma Press, p. 286.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Paul R. Bartrop (July 30, 2012). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide. ABC-CLIO. pp. 86–. ISBN 978-0-313-38678-7. Retrieved August 10, 2013. 
  15. ↑ Harrison, Kathryn (February 23, 1997). "Intimate Strangers". Books, The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2013. 
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ The Omen (2006) Movie Review, DVD Release - Filmcritic.com
  18. ↑ Arnold, William (May 6, 2006). "Final warning: Don't see 'Omen'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 
  19. ↑ Greenburg, Ilan (March 30, 2008). "Changing the Rules of the Games". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2013. 
  20. ↑ "Mia Farrow's mission". CBC News. October 10, 2007. 
  21. ↑ Holt, Richard (August 7, 2007). "Mia Farrow offers freedom to save Darfur rebel". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 11, 2013. 
  22. ↑ McCall-Pierpaoli "Humanitarian Award press release". Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  23. ↑ "Mia Farrow Goodwill Ambassador". Unicef. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  24. ↑ "UNICEF Ambassador Mia Farrow to meet war-affected children in Uganda". Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  25. ↑ "The 2008 Time 100 HEROES & PIONEERS Mia Farrow". Retrieved August 15, 2013. 
  26. ↑ Louis Charbonneau (April 22, 2009). "Mia Farrow to start fast over Darfur". Reuters. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  27. ↑ Duke, Alan (May 8, 200). "Mia Farrow ends fast after health concerns". CNN.com. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  28. ↑ Davies, Lizzy (in The Hague), and Adam Gabbatt (9 August 2010). "Mia Farrow contradicts Naomi Campbell in Charles Taylor trial". theguardian.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  29. ↑ Farrow, Mia (January 23, 2013). "Setting the Record (and the Hair) Straight". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  30. ↑ Santopietro, Tom (2009). Sinatra in Hollywood. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-36226-3. 
  31. ↑ About Dory Previn
  32. ↑ Nelson, Valerie J. (February 16, 2012). "Dory Previn dies at 86; Oscar-nominated songwriter". Los Angeles Times. 
  33. ↑ "Profile: Mia Farrow". BBC News. August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  34. ↑ Grainne Cunningham, "Mama Mia -- actress's motherly love for poor", Irish Independent, March 17, 2012.
  35. ↑ Orth, Maureen (November 1992). "Mia’s Story". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 16, 2012. "Nobody knows how old Soon-Yi really is. Without ever seeing her, Korean officials put her age down as seven on her passport. A bone scan Mia had done on her in the U.S. put her age at between five and seven. In the family, Soon-Yi is considered to have turned 20 this year, on October 8 [1992]." 
  36. ↑ Friedman, Roger (August 7, 2003). "Mia and Woody's Son Becomes a Marriage Counselor". FoxNews. Retrieved February 2, 2014. 
  37. ↑ Lax, Eric (February 24, 1991). "Woody and Mia: A New York Story". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  38. ↑ "Exclusive: Mia Farrow and Eight of Her Children Speak Out on Their Lives, Frank Sinatra, and the Scandals They’ve Endured". Vanity Fair. October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Marks, Peter (June 8, 1993). "Allen Loses to Farrow in Bitter Custody Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2011. 
  40. ↑ Perez-Pena R. (May 4, 1993). "Doctor Cites Inconsistencies In Dylan Farrow's Statement", The New York Times.
  41. ↑ 2 February 2014. "Woody Allen rejects 'untrue and disgraceful' sex abuse claims". AFP. Retrieved 3 February 2014. 
  42. ↑ Martin, Douglas (July 3, 2002). "Elliott Wilk, Judge and Dry Wit, Dies at 60". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2013. 
  43. ↑ Baker, K. C., and Bill Hutchinson, "Mia Farrow Mourns Daughter", NY Daily News, March 15, 2000.
  44. ↑ "Mia Farrow's adopted daughter Lark Previn dies aged 35". The Telegraph. December 30, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2013. 

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