Patricia Clarkson on screen and stage

Patricia Clarkson is an American actress who made her film debut in Brian De Palma's mob drama The Untouchables (1987), followed by a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's The Dead Pool (1988). After appearing in minor roles in the early and mid-1990s, she garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a drug-addicted actress in the independent drama High Art (1998). She appeared in numerous supporting roles in such films as The Green Mile (1999), The Pledge (2001), Far from Heaven (2002), and Dogville (2003).

Clarkson in September 2010

She received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her role in the 2003 drama film The Station Agent, as well as a nomination for Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Pieces of April.^[1][2][3] Clarkson also appeared as a recurring guest star on the HBO series Six Feet Under from 2002 to 2005, and won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance. Other credits from the 2000s include Good Night, and Good Luck with David Strathairn (2005), Lars and the Real Girl with Ryan Gosling (2007), and Elegy with Penélope Cruz (2008). She also appeared in Woody Allen films Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Whatever Works (2009).

In 2010, Clarkson had a supporting role in Martin Scorsese's thriller Shutter Island, followed by roles in the comedies Easy A and Friends with Benefits. She subsequently portrayed the villainous Ava Paige in The Maze Runner (2014) and its two sequels. In 2017, she won a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Sally Potter's drama The Party, and guest-starred on the Netflix series House of Cards. She co-starred with Amy Adams on the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects in 2018, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film.^[2]

Clarkson's theater career started in 1986 where she was the replacement for the role of Corrinna Stroller in The House of Blue Leaves. She played both roles of Nan and Lina in the 1997 play Three Days of Rain. She returned to theater in 2014, playing the role of Madge Kendal in a Broadway production of The Elephant Man, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.^[4]

Film

With American film director Woody Allen at the Whatever Works premiere in April 2009

With English film director Sally Potter at the premiere for The Party in February 2017

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1987	The Untouchables	Catherine Ness		[5]
1988	The Dead Pool	Samantha Walker		[5]
1988	Rocket Gibraltar	Rose Black		[5]
1988	Everybody's All-American	Leslie Stone		[5]
1990	Tune in Tomorrow	Aunt Olga		[5]
1995	Pharaoh's Army	Sarah Anders		[5]
1995	Jumanji	Carol Anne Parrish		[6]
1998	Playing by Heart	Allison		[7]
1998	High Art	Greta		[5]
1999	The Green Mile	Melinda Moores		[8]
1999	Wayward Son	Wesley		[9]
1999	Simply Irresistible	Lois McNally		[5]
2000	Falling Like This	Caroline Lockhart		[10]
2000	Joe Gould's Secret	Vivian Marquie		[5]
2001	The Safety of Objects	Annette Jennings		[10]
2001	The Pledge	Margaret Larsen		[10]
2001	Wendigo	Kim		[5]
2002	Welcome to Collinwood	Rosalind		[10]
2002	Far from Heaven	Eleanor Fine		[5]
2002	Heartbreak Hospital	Lottie Ohrwasher		[5]
2002	The Baroness and the Pig	The Baroness		[10]
2003	Dogville	Vera		[10]
2003	The Station Agent	Olivia Harris		[5]
2003	All the Real Girls	Elvira Fine		[5]
2003	Pieces of April	Joy Burns		[5]
2004	Miracle	Patti Brooks		[5]
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck	Shirley Wershba		[5]
2005	The Dying Gaul	Elaine Tishop		[5]
2006	The Woods	Ms. Traverse		[10]
2006	All the King's Men	Sadie Burke		[11]
2007	No Reservations	Paula		[12]
2007	Lars and the Real Girl	Dr. Dagmar Bergman		[5]
2007	Married Life	Pat Allen		[5]
2008	Blind Date	Janna		[5]
2008	Phoebe in Wonderland	Miss Dodger		[5]
2008	Elegy	Carolyn		[5]
2008	Vicky Cristina Barcelona	Judy Nash		[5]
2009	Whatever Works	Marietta Celestine		[5]
2009	2081	Narrator	Short film	[13]
2009	For the Love of Movies	Narrator	Documentary	[14]
2009	Cairo Time	Juliette Grant		[5]
2010	Shutter Island	2nd Rachel Solando		[15]
2010	Legendary	Sharon Chetley		[16]
2010	Main Street	Willa Jenkins		[17]
2010	Easy A	Rosemary Penderghast		[18]
2011	Friends with Benefits	Lorna		[5]
2011	One Day	Alison Mayhew		[5]
2013	The East	Sharon		[19]
2014	The Maze Runner	Ava Paige		[20]
2014	Last Weekend	Celia Green		[5]
2014	Learning to Drive	Wendy Shields		[5]
2014	October Gale	Helen Matthews		[21]
2014	Annie	Focus group woman	Cameo	[22]
2015	Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials	Ava Paige		[23]
2017	The Party	April		[24]
2017	The Bookshop	Mrs. Violet Gamart		[25]
2018	Maze Runner: The Death Cure	Ava Paige		[26]
2018	Jonathan	Dr. Mina Nariman		[27]
2018	Delirium	Brody		[28]
2018	Out of Blue	Detective Mike Hoolihan
2019	Almost Love	Ravella Brewer		[29]
2022	Monica	Eugenia		[30]
2022	She Said	Rebecca Corbett		[31]
2024	Lilly	Lilly Ledbetter		[32]

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1985	Spenser: For Hire	Elizabeth Haller	Episode: "The Choice"	[33]
1986	The Equalizer	Deborah Wade	Episode: "Breakpoint"	[33]
1990	Tales from the Crypt	Suzy	Episode: "Mute Witness to Murder"	[10]
1990	Law & Order	Laura Winthrop	Episode: "By Hooker, By Crook"	[33]
1990	The Old Man and the Sea	Mary Pruitt	Television film	[33]
1991	Davis Rules	Cosmo Yeargin	13 episodes	[33]
1991	Blind Man's Bluff	Dr. Virginia Hertz	Television film	[34]
1992	An American Story	Barbara Meade	Television film	[34]
1992	Legacy of Lies	Pat Rafael	Television film	[34]
1992	Four Eyes and Six Guns	Lucy Laughton	Television film	[34]
1993	Caught in the Act	Meg	Television film	[34]
1993	Alex Haley's Queen	Lizzie Perkins	Miniseries	[34]
1994	She Led Two Lives	Desiree Parnell	Television film	[34]
1995–1996	Murder One	Annie Hoffman	23 episodes	[35]
1996	London Suite	Diana Nichols	Television film	[34]
1998	The Wedding	Della McNeil	Television film	[36]
2000	Wonderland	Mrs. Tammy Banger	2 episodes	[33]
2001	Frasier	Claire French	6 episodes	[33]
2002	Carrie	Margaret White	Television film	[34]
2002–2005	Six Feet Under	Sarah O'Connor	7 episodes	[33]
2007	American Masters	Narrator	Episode: "The American Dream"
2009–2011	Saturday Night Live	Mother	2 episodes	[37]
2011	Parks and Recreation	Tammy Swanson I	2 episodes	[33]
2012	The Dust Bowl	Hazel Lucas Shaw	Television documentary	[38]
2012	Five	Mia Knowles	Television film	[39]
2015	Broad City	Timothy's Mom	Episode: "St. Mark's"	[40]
2016	American Dad!	Meredith Fields (voice)	Episode: "The Dentist's Wife"
2016	Nature	Narrator	Episode: "Hummingbirds"	[41]
2017–2018	House of Cards	Jane Davis	13 episodes	[42]
2018	Sharp Objects	Adora Crellin	8 episodes	[33]
2020	American Experience	Additional voices	Episode: "The Vote"
2022	State of the Union	Ellen	10 episodes
2022	Green Eggs and Ham	Pam-I-Am (voice)	10 episodes
2022	Gray	Cornelia Gray	8 episodes; also producer	[43]

Stage

Year	Title	Roles	Venue	Ref.
1986	The House of Blue Leaves	Corrinna Stroller (replacement)	Vivian Beaumont Theater	[44]
1989	Eastern Standard	Phoebe Kidde	John Golden Theatre	[45]
1995	Raised in Captivity	Bernadette Dixon	Vineyard Theatre	[46]
1996	The Ride Down Mount Morgan	Leah	Williamstown Theatre Festival	[47]
1997	Three Days of Rain	Nan and Lina	New York City Center	[48]
1998	The Maiden's Prayer	Libby	Vineyard Theatre	[49]
2004	A Streetcar Named Desire	Blanche DuBois	Kennedy Center	[50]
2014	The Elephant Man	Mrs. Kendal	Booth Theatre	[51]
2024	Long Day's Journey Into Night	Mary Tyrone	Wyndham's Theatre	[52]