Robins, Laila 1959–

PERSONAL

Born March 14, 1959, in St. Paul, MN; daughter of Janis (a research chemist) and Brigita (maiden name, Svarcs) Robins. Education: University of Wisconsin, B.A.; Yale University, M.F.A.

Addresses: Agent—Sarah Fargo, Paradigm, 19 West 44th St., Suite 1410, New York, NY 10036.

Career: Actress. Herbert Bergof Studio, worked as teacher.

Awards, Honors: Joseph Jefferson Award, best supporting actress in a touring show, and Helen Hayes Award nomination, best supporting performer in a non-resident production, Washington Theatre Awards Society, both c. 1995, for Mrs. Klein; Joe A. Callaway Award, best performer in a classic drama, Actors' Equity Association, 1995, for The Merchant of Venice; Joseph Jefferson Award, best actress, c. 1997, for A Streetcar Named Desire; DramaLogue Award, 1997, for Skylight; Lucille Lortel Award nomination, outstanding featured actress, League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers, 2004, for Frozen.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Solveig, Peer Gynt, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1984.

(Broadway debut) Annie, The Real Thing, Plymouth Theatre, 1984.

Stepdaughter, Six Characters in Search of an Author, American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 1984.

Alma Winemilker, Summer and Smoke, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1986.

Mary Shelly, Bloody Poetry, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, New York City, 1987.

Nan Sinclair, The Film Society, Second Stage Theatre Company, McGinn-Cazale Theatre, New York City, 1988.

Monica Bowlin, Maids of Honor, Workshop of the Players Art Theatre, New York City, 1990.

Laura, The Extra Man, Manhattan Theatre Club, City Center Stage II Theatre, New York City, 1992.

Nina, The Seagull, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Madison, NJ, 1992.

Melitta, Mrs. Klein, Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City, 1995–96.

Portia, The Merchant of Venice, New York Shakespeare Festival, Anspacher Theatre, Public Theatre, New York City, 1995.

Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, Steppen-wolf Theatre, Chicago, 1997.

Kyra Hollis, Skylight, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1997.

Susanna Hall, The Herbal Bed, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 1998.

Summer and Smoke, Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1999.

Emily Shapiro, Resurrection Blues, Guthrie Theatre, 1999.

May, Fool for Love, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, 1999.

Title role, Hedda Gabler, Guthrie Theatre, 2000.

Zelda Fitzgerald, The Fitzgeralds (reading), Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, 2000.

Tiny Alice, Second Stage Theatre Company, 2000–2001.

Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra, Guthrie Theatre, 2002.

Linda, Fiction, McCarter Theatre, 2003.

Constance, King John, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, 2003.

Agnetha, Frozen, Manhattan Class Company, Circle in the Square, East Thirteenth Street Theatre, New York City, 2004.

Macbeth, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, 2004.

Agnetha, "Frozen," The Play's the Thing (recorded for future radio broadcasts), The Play's The Thing, L.A. TheatreWorks, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, 2005.

Judy, Sore Throats, Theatre for a New Audience, Duke Theatre on Forty-Second Street, New York City, 2006.

The Chekhov Cycle (staged readings), Two Rivers Theatre Company, Margate Performing Arts Center, Margate, NJ, 2006.

Also appeared in Arms and the Man, Comedy of Errors, Electra, The Homecoming, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night, all at New Jersey Shakespeare Festival; The Barbarians, Ivanov, La Ronde, Richard Corey, and Undiscovered Country, all at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Chopin in Space and Major Barbara, both at Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT; For Dear Life, New York Shakespeare Festival, Joseph Papp Public Theatre, New York City; The Lady from the Sea, Center Stage, Baltimore, MD; The Philadelphia Story, Arena Stage, Washington, DC; and The Women, Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT; also performs at readings and benefits.

Major Tours:

Melitta, Mrs. Klein, U.S. cities, 1995.

Film Appearances:

Marty Ellis, A Walk on the Moon, Midwest, 1987.

Susan "Sue" Page, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Paramount, 1987.

Kate Rainwood, An Innocent Man, Buena Vista, 1989.

Elizabeth Zaks, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Paramount, 1990.

Rachel, Live Nude Girls, Republic, 1995.

Emma, Female Perversions (also known as Phantasien einer Frau), October Films, 1996.

Catherine, The Blood Oranges, Trimark Pictures, 1997.

Patricia Findley, True Crime, Warner Bros., 1999.

Viv, Drop Back Ten, E Films, 2000.

Barbara Mattei, Searching for Paradise, Sundance Channel Home Entertainment, 2002.

Irene, Nowhere to Go But Up (also known as Happy End and I Want to Be Famous), Studio Canal, 2003.

Mother, Jailbait, Kindred Media Group, 2004.

Michaela Stark, Slippery Slope, Fresh Films, 2005.

Miss Millie, Things that Hang from Trees, Aviles Street Productions, 2006.

Television Appearances; Series:

Victoria Heller, Gabriel's Fire, ABC, 1990–91.

Nora Paxton, The Book of Daniel, NBC, 2006.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Charm Blackburn, Trial: The Price of Passion, NBC, 1992.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Phoebe, Dream Breakers (also known as In Evil's Grasp and The O'Connors), CBS, 1989.

Frances Hannon, Oxygen, Cinemax, 1999.

Rita Fiore, Spenser: Small Vices (also known as Robert B. Parker's "Small Vices"), Arts and Entertainment, 1999.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Cindy Claussen, "The Last Campaign," The Equalizer, 1988.

Diana Hawthorne, "Trophy," Law & Order, NBC, 1996.

Jean Kohl (some sources cite Jean Cole), "House of Rage," Nothing Sacred, ABC, 1997.

Liann Crosby, "Venom," Law & Order, NBC, 1998.

Ellen Travis, "A Single Life," Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU and Special Victims Unit), NBC, 1999.

Young Livia, "Down Neck," The Sopranos, HBO, 1999.

Sharon Reiner, "Journeytothe Himalayas," Third Watch, NBC, 2000.

Young Livia, "Fortunate Son," The Sopranos, HBO, 2001.

Dominique Boucher, "Conundrum," Witchblade, TNT, 2001.

Dominique Boucher, "Diplopia," Witchblade, TNT, 2001.

Kit Sternman, "Enemy Within," Law & Order: Criminal Intent (also known as Law & Order: CI), NBC, 2001.

Audra Clark, "The Cold War," Sex and the City, HBO, 2004.

OTHER SOURCES

Electronic:

Playbill Online, http://playbill.com, April 9, 1997; September 14, 1999.