Madeleine Stowe

MADELEINE STOWE

Date of Birth: August 18, 1958

Born in Los Angeles, Stowe is the daughter of a British father and Costa Rican mother. At ten years of age she began training for a career as a concert pianist. When her instructor died, so did her aspirations for a music career. She turned to acting and studied cinema and journalism at the University of Southern California (USC) for a short time, followed by volunteer work at Beverley Hills' Solari Theatre. During the stint she met Richard Dreyfuss' agent, who encouraged her acting ambitions.

She spent the next few years on stage in productions like The Wager, and Speaking Of... before starting her film career. Beginning on the small screen in such telefilms as The Nativity, The Deer Slayer, The Minerva Files, Blood & Orchids, and an appearance on the series Little House on the Prairie, she then went on to do feature film work.

Stowe filmed the low-budget action flick Tropical Snow in 1986 (released in 1989), but exposure to moviegoers came after playing the object of surveillance in Stakeout (1987), co-starring Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez. For the next few years, Stowe had a number of strong performances in films like The Two Jakes (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), playing the much sought after wife of Kurt Russell, and Short Cuts (1993).

After a number of flops, Stowe came back with a bang starring in such films as Twelve Monkeys (1995) with Bruce Willis, and The General's Daughter (1999) with John Travolta, both of which earned her nominations and awards for Best Actress. More recently, she won a Best Actress Imagen Award for her leading role in the CBS TV movie Saving Milly (2005).

Stowe lives on a Texas ranch with her husband, actor Brian Benben, whom she married in 1986.

Filmography:

Octane (2003)
Avenging Angelo (2002)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Impostor (2002)
Avenging Angelo (2001)
The General's Daughter (1999)
Playing by Heart (1998)
The Proposition (1998)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Blink (1994)
Bad Girls (1994)
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman In Carver Country (1993)
Short Cuts (1993)
Another Stakeout (1993) (uncredited)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Unlawful Entry (1992)
China Moon (1991)
Closet Land (1991)
Revenge (1990)
The Two Jakes (1990)
Tropical Snow (1989)
Worth Winning (1989)
Stakeout (1987)