Lena Dunham
| Lena Dunham | |
|---|---|
 Dunham at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Supporting Characters |
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| Born | May 13, 1986 [1] New York City, New York, United States |
| Education | Oberlin College (BA) |
| Occupation | Actress, writer, director, comedienne |
| Parents | Laurie Simmons Carroll Dunham |
| Golden Globe Awards | |
| Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy 2013 Girls – Hannah Horvath |
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Lena Dunham (pron.: /ˈlinə ˈdʌnəm/ LEE-nə DUN-um; born May 13, 1986) is an American filmmaker and actress.[2] She wrote and directed the independent film Tiny Furniture (2010), and is the creator and star of the HBO series Girls. In 2012, she was nominated for four Emmy Awards and won two Golden Globe Awards for Girls.
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Early life [edit]
Dunham was born in New York City.[3] Her father, Carroll Dunham, is a painter of "overtly sexualized pop art", and her mother, Laurie Simmons, is a photographer and designer who creates artistic domestic scenes with dolls.[4][5] Dunham's father is Protestant, and according to Dunham, a Mayflower descendant;[6][7] Dunham's mother is Jewish.[8][9] She has a younger sister, Grace, a model and student at Brown University, who appeared in Dunham's first film, Creative Nonfiction, and starred in her second film, Tiny Furniture.[10] As children, both Lena and Grace were babysat by artists Maghen Brown, C. Finley and photographers Orrie King, Sherri Zuckerman and Catherine McGann.[citation needed]
Dunham attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, New York, where she met Tiny Furniture actress and Girls co-star Jemima Kirke. She graduated in 2008 from Oberlin College, where she studied creative writing.[11] While in college, she worked at Geminola, an upmarket fashion boutique in New York's West Village.[12]
Career [edit]
Dunham's 2010 feature film, Tiny Furniture, won Best Narrative Feature at South by Southwest Music and Media Conference.[13] Dunham herself plays the lead role of Aura.[5]
Dunham's television series, Girls, was greenlit by HBO in early 2012.[14] The show is executive produced by Judd Apatow.[15] Three episodes were screened to positive response at the 2012 South by Southwest Festival.[16] The first season premiered April 15, 2012, and has garnered Dunham four Emmy nominations for her roles in acting, writing, and directing the series and two Golden Globe wins for Best Comedy Series for Girls and for herself in Best Lead Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series. In February 2013, Dunham became the first woman ever to win a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series for her work on Girls.[17]
Dunham had a cameo in the movie Supporting Characters, along with her Tiny Furniture co-star Alex Karpovsky.[18]
On October 8, 2012, Dunham signed a $3.5 million deal with Random House to publish her first book, an essay collection called Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned.[19] On December 7, 2012, New York-based gossip blog Gawker posted a 66-page proposal for Dunham's book on their website, criticizing various quotations from the proposal. Dunham's attorney demanded the removal of the proposal and the quotations.[20]
Dunham appeared in a video advertisement promoting President Barack Obama's reelection, delivering a monologue to camera, which, according to a blog quoted in The Atlantic, tried to "get the youth vote by comparing voting for the first time to having sex for the first time".[21] Fox News reported "intense criticism" from multiple media sources, who labeled the advertisement as "tasteless and inappropriate", but added that "not everyone was so offended".[22]
Dunham made a cameo in the opening skit of the 2012 Emmy Awards, appearing naked for comedic effect.[23]
Personal life [edit]
In 2012, Dunham began dating Jack Antonoff, lead guitarist of the band fun.[24] Dunham is a feminist,[25] and has stated that she will not get married until same sex marriage is legalized.[26] She was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder as a child, and continues to take a low dose of an antidepressant to relieve her anxiety[27]
Filmography [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Dealing | Georgia | Film short Also writer, director |
| 2007 | Una & Jacques | Video short | |
| 2009 | The House of the Devil | 911 Operator | Voice |
| 2009 | Creative Nonfiction | Ella | Also writer, director, editor |
| 2009 | The Viewer | Voice | Film short |
| 2009 | Family Tree | Lena | Film short |
| 2010 | Gabi on the Roof in July | Colby | |
| 2010 | Tiny Furniture | Aura | Also director, writer |
| 2011 | The Innkeepers | Barista | |
| 2012 | Nobody Walks | Co-writer | |
| 2012 | Supporting Characters | Alexa | |
| 2012 | This Is 40 | Cat |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Tight Shots | Main Role Also writer, director, editor |
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| 2009 | Delusional Downtown Divas | Oona | Main Role Also writer, director, producer |
| 2011 | Mildred Pierce | Nurse 1 | "Part One" (Season 1, Episode 1) "Part Two" (Season 1, Episode 2) |
| 2012–present | Girls | Hannah Horvath | Main Role Also creator, director, writer, co-executive producer/executive producer |
Awards and nominations [edit]
References [edit]
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This article uses bare URLs for citations. (May 2013) |
- ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1259): 27. May 17, 2013.
- ^ "Lena Dunham's Big Dreams Rest On 'Tiny Furniture'". NPR. December 6, 2010.
- ^ "Lena Dunham". Argotistonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Walker, Tim (October 6, 2012). "Lena Dunham: Could she be the voice of a generation? – Profiles – People". The Independent. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ a b Mead, Rebecca (November 15, 2010). "Downtown's Daughter". The New Yorker (Condé Nast): 38–45. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
- ^ Storey, Kate (May 7, 2012). ""Dunham talks race" article on the NY Post Website". New York Post. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ "The Most Boobs Ever: Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow in Conversation | Heeb". Heebmagazine.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Melissa Silverstein (November 12, 2010). "Interview with Lena Dunham – Writer/Director of Tiny Furniture | Women & Hollywood". Womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ "‘Girls’ writer lays bare women’s insecurities". Jewish Journal. April 25, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Howard, Caroline (November 12, 2010). "Names You Need to Know in 2011: Lena Dunham", Forbes
- ^ Tiny Furniture cast and crew. TinyFurniture.com.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/fashion/on-this-hit-show-the-clothes-make-the-girls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
- ^ Maura, Sophie. "Lena Dunham Profile – Filmmaker". Marie Clare. Retrieved February 8, 2011
- ^ "Lena Dunham's Show 'Girls' Picked Up By HBO". Huffington Post. January 7, 2011.
- ^ Alexis, Nadeska. "Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’ Picked Up by HBO". Black Book. January 7, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ Nussbaum, Emily. "It's Different for 'Girls'" New York Magazine, April 1, 2012.
- ^ "Lena Dunham ('Girls') makes DGA history as first female to win Best TV Comedy Director". Goldderby.com. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
- ^ "Supporting Characters | Film Review". Slant Magazine. April 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
- ^ Bosman, Julie. "Lena Dunham Signs Book Deal for More Than $3.5 Million", The New York Times, October 8, 2012
- ^ "Here Is Lena Dunham’s $3.7 Million Book Proposal", Gawker, December 7, 2012
- ^ Franke-Ruta, Garance (October 25, 2012). "Lena Dunham's New Obama Ad—As Controversial As Everything She Does?". The Atlantic.
- ^ "Critics blast Obama campaign for new ad that likens voting for Barack Obama to a young woman losing her virginity". Fox News Channel. October 25, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
- ^ "Jimmy Kimmel Emmy Open". YouTube. 2012-09-23. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
- ^ "Girls' Lena Dunham Is Dating Fun.'s Jack Antonoff", US Weekly, September 5, 2012.
- ^ http://www.eonline.com/news/392560/lena-dunham-defends-feminist-anne-hathaway-disses-seth-macfarlane-s-we-saw-your-boobs-oscar-song
- ^ "Lena Dunham, Jack Antonoff Not Engaged: 'Girls' Star Waiting For Gay Marriage Legalization", Huffington Post, January 14, 2013.
- ^ Suval, Lauren. "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in the Media | World of Psychology". Psychcentral.com. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lena Dunham |
- Lena Dunham at the Internet Movie Database
- Lena Dunham on Fresh Air in 2012
- Lena Dunham on Fresh Air in 2010
- New York Magazine on Girls
- Criterion Collection Essay "Tiny Furniture Out There" by Phillip Lopate
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- 1986 births
- American film actresses
- American film directors
- American film producers
- American screenwriters
- American television actresses
- American television directors
- American television producers
- American television writers
- Female film directors
- Female television directors
- Jewish American writers
- Jewish American actresses
- Living people
- Oberlin College alumni
- Film directors from New York City
- Women screenwriters
- Women television writers
- Actresses from New York City
- 21st-century American actresses
- Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- Jewish feminists
- American feminists
- Writers from New York City
- Women writers from New York
