VENORA, Diane 1952–

PERSONAL

Original name, Diana Venora; born August 10, 1952, in Hartford (some sources cite East Hartford), CT; daughter of Robert (owner of a dry cleaning establishment) and Marie Venora; married Andrzej Bartkowiak (a cinematographer; divorced); children: Madzia. Education: The Juilliard School, B.F.A., drama; also attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and Drama.

Addresses: Agent—Innovative Artists, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 2850, Los Angeles, CA 90067; Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Manager—Seven Summit Pictures and Management, 8447 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 206, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

Career: Actress. Member of the Acting Company at the Juilliard School, Circle Repertory Company, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Appeared in commercials. Worked as a teacher of disadvantaged children.

Awards, Honors: New York Film Critics Circle Award, best supporting actress, 1988, Sant Jordi Award, best foreign actress, 1989, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture, 1989, all for Bird; Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite supporting actress—suspense, 1998, for The Jackal.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

The other woman, Penguin Touquet, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, 1981.

Miss Julie, Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center Institute, New York City, 1981.

Hippolyta, A Midsummer Night's Dream, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1982.

Title role, Hamlet, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1982–83.

Yelyna, Uncle Vanya, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Annex, New York City, 1983.

Green woman, Peer Gynt, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1984.

Rachel, Messiah, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 1984–85.

Lora Allen, Tomorrow's Monday, Circle Repertory Company, New York City, 1985.

The Seagull, River Arts Repertory, Woodstock, NY, 1985.

Lady Teazle, School for Scandal, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1986.

Lucy, Largo Desolato, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1986.

Lady Margaret More, A Man for All Seasons, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City, 1986–87.

Hermione, The Winter's Tale, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1989.

Ophelia, Hamlet, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1990.

Mother, The Tongue of a Bird, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1998.

Gertrude, Hamlet, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1999–2000.

Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 2000.

Celebration [and] The Room (double-bill), American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, CA, 2001.

Ziata, Necessary Targets, Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT, 2001, Variety Arts Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Sara, God of Vengeance, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Adams Memorial Theatre, 2002.

Appeared in The Country Wife, Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA; in A Man for All Seasons, Paramount Theatre Company; and in Three Sisters, Princeton Acting Ensemble.

Film Appearances:

All That Jazz, Columbia, 1979.

Rebecca Neff, Wolfen, Warner Bros., 1981.

Gloria Swanson, The Cotton Club, Orion, 1984.

Anna Lang, Terminal Choice (also known as Critical List, Death Bed, Death List, and Trauma), Almi, 1985.

Ellen, F/X (also known as F/X: Murder by Illusion and Murder by Illusion), Orion, 1986.

Peg Phelan, Ironweed, TriStar, 1987.

Chan Parker, Bird, Warner Bros., 1988.

Joyce, Three Wishes, Savoy Pictures, 1995.

Justine Hanna, Heat, Warner Bros., 1995.

Jacqueline, Surviving Picasso, Warner Bros., 1996.

Jane Hetzko, The Substitute, Orion, 1996.

Lady Gloria Capulet, Romeo + Juliet (also known as Romeo and Juliet and William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996.

Major Valentina Koslova, The Jackal (also known as The Day of the Jackal, Der Schakal, and Le chacal), Universal, 1997.

Queen Weilew, The 13th Warrior (also known as Eaters of the Dead, The Thirteenth Warrior, and The Vikings), Buena Vista, 1998.

Barbara Everett, True Crime, Warner Bros., 1999.

Celeste, The Joyriders, Providence Entertainment, 1999.

Giovanna, The Young Girl and the Monsoon, Artistic License Films, 1999.

Liane Wigand, The Insider (also known as Man of the People, 60 Minutes, Untitled Michael Mann Film, and The Untitled Tobacco Project), Buena Vista, 1999.

Man of the People, Buena Vista, 1999.

Gertrude, Hamlet, Miramax, 2000.

Joanne, Looking for an Echo, Regent Entertainment, c. 2000.

Gabriella Francini, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (also known as Megiddo), Gener8Xtion Entertainment, 2001.

Sunday Tyler/Andrea Harmon, Heartbreak Hospital, Media Luna Entertainment, 2001, Seventh Art Releasing, 2002.

Mrs. Hengen, Stateside (also known as Sinners), Samuel Goldwyn, 2004.

Mother, Breaking Dawn, Castlight Pictures/Sodium Entertainment, 2004.

Carole Davis, Touched, North by Northwest Entertainment, 2005.

Louise Eriksen, Self Medicated, 2005.

Television Appearances; Series:

Roberta "Bobbi" Turner, Thunder Alley, ABC, 1994.

Dr. Geri Infante, a recurring role, Chicago Hope, CBS, 1994–95.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Corinna, A.D. (also known as A.D.—Anno Domini), NBC, 1985.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Marie Fidele Hunt, Cook and Peary: The Race to the Pole, CBS, 1983.

Lieutenant Tanya Sadavoy, Special Report: Journey to Mars, CBS, 1996.

Dr. Helen Steele, Race against Time (also known as Gabriel's Run), TNT, 2000.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Hamlet, Rehearsing Hamlet (documentary), ABC, 1982.

Hippolyta, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1982.

Ophelia, "Hamlet," Great Performances, PBS, 1990.

Julia Noble, Seed: A Love Story, Lifetime, 1998.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Steinmetz's daughter, "Night and Fog," Law and Order, NBC, 1992.

Herself, "The Films of Michael Mann," The Directors, Encore, 2000.

Margaret Wakefield, "Appeal and Denial," The Practice, ABC, 2000.

Marilyn Nesbit, "Home," Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also known as Law & Order: SVU and Special Victims Unit), NBC, 2004.

Andrea Hatten, "The Order," Threshold, CBS, 2005.

Andrea Hatten, "Shock," Threshold, CBS, 2005.

Andrea Hatten, "Trees Made of Glass: Parts 1 & 2," Threshold, CBS, 2005.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Melanie, Getting There, CBS, 1980.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Herself, The Making of "The Jackal," Universal Studios Home Video, 1998.

Herself, The Making of "Heat," Warner Home Video, 2005.

OTHER SOURCES

Empire, February, 1998, pp. 56-57.

Entertainment Weekly, November 21, 1997, pp. 70-76.

People Weekly, December 8, 1997, pp. 129-31.