Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow | |
|---|---|
 Mia Farrow, May 2008 | |
| Born | Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Sinatra (1966–1968) André Previn (1970–1979) |
Mia Farrow (born Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow; February 9, 1945) is an American actress, singer, and former fashion model. Farrow has appeared in more than forty-five films and won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe award (and seven additional Golden Globe nominations), five BAFTA Film Award nominations, and a win for best actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.[1] Farrow is also notable for her extensive humanitarian work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She advocates for involvement in humanitarian activities in Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic. In 2008, she was selected by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.[2]
Early life
Farrow was born as Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Australian film director John Farrow and Irish actress Maureen O'Sullivan. She was raised Roman Catholic.[3][4] Her sisters are Prudence and actors Stephanie and Tisa. She has three brothers: Michael Namien (1939-1958), Patrick Joseph (1942-2009) and John Charles (born 1946). For the most part she grew up in Beverly Hills in Southern California, and often traveled with her parents for films that were produced on location. She made her film debut in a 1947 short subject with her mother; the short was about famous mothers and their children modeling the latest fashions for families.
Career
Farrow screen-tested for the role of Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music. That footage has been preserved, and appears on the fortieth Anniversary Edition DVD of The Sound of Music. Farrow began her acting career by appearing in supporting roles in several 1960s films. However, she achieved stardom on the popular primetime soap opera Peyton Place as naive, waif-like Allison MacKenzie, a role she later abandoned at the urging of first husband Frank Sinatra. Her first leading film role was in Rosemary's Baby (1968), which was a critical and commercial success at the time and continues to be widely regarded as a classic of the horror genre.
Farrow's performance in Rosemary's Baby garnered numerous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, and established her as a leading actress. Film critic and author Stephen Farber described her performance as having an "electrifying impact… one of the rare instances of actor and character achieving a miraculous, almost mythical match. If Ira Levin's story shrewdly taps into every pregnant woman's fears about the stranger growing inside her, Mia Farrow gives those fears an achingly real and human force".[5] Film critic Roger Ebert noted that "the brilliance of the film comes more from Polanski's direction, and from a series of genuinely inspired performances… The characters emerge as human beings actually doing these things. A great deal of the credit for this achievement must go to Mia Farrow, as Rosemary".[6] Following Rosemary's Baby, Farrow was to be cast as Mattie in True Grit and was keen on the role. However, prior to filming she made Secret Ceremony in England with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Mitchum. Mitchum told her about director Henry Hathaway being rude to actresses. Farrow asked producer Hal Wallis to replace Hathaway, Wallis refused. Farrow quit the role which was given to Kim Darby.[7] Secret Ceremony divided critics, but has gone on to develop a devoted following. Farrow's other late '60s films include John and Mary, opposite Dustin Hoffman.
In the 1970s, Farrow appeared in a number of notable films, including the thriller See No Evil (1971), French director Claude Chabrol's Docteur Popaul (1972) and The Great Gatsby (1974), in which Farrow played Daisy Buchanan. She also appeared in director Robert Altman's cult classic A Wedding (1978). In 1977 she played the title role in The Haunting of Julia. Farrow also appeared in a number of made for television films in the 1970s, most notably portraying the title role in a musical version of Peter Pan (1976). In 1979, Farrow appeared on Broadway opposite Anthony Perkins in the play Romantic Comedy by Bernard Slade.
In the 1980s and early '90s, Farrow's relationship with director Woody Allen resulted in numerous film collaborations. She appeared in nearly all of Allen's critically acclaimed films during this period, including leading roles in Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters (playing the principal title role), Radio Days and Alice (1990), again as the title character. Farrow also played Alura, mother of Kara (Helen Slater), in Supergirl (1984) and voiced the title role in the animated film The Last Unicorn (1982). She also narrated several of the animated Stories to Remember.
Citing the need to devote herself to raising her young children, Farrow worked less frequently during the 1990s. Nonetheless, she appeared in leading roles in several notable films, included the Irish film Widows' Peak (1994), Miami Rhapsody (1995) and Reckless (also 1995). She also appeared in several independent features and made for television films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. She also wrote an autobiography, What Falls Away (New York: Doubleday, 1997).
Farrow appeared as Mrs. Baylock, the Satanic nanny, in the remake of The Omen (2006). Though the film itself received a lukewarm critical reception, Farrow's performance was widely praised, with the Associated Press declaring "thank heaven for Mia Farrow" and calling her performance "a rare instance of the new Omen improving on the old one."[8] Filmcritic.com added "it is Farrow who steals the show",[9] and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described her performance as "a truly delicious comeback role for Rosemary herself, Mia Farrow, who is chillingly believable as a sweet-talking nanny from hell."[10]
Farrow worked on several films released in 2007, including the romantic comedy The Ex and the first part of director Luc Besson's planned trilogy of fantasy films, Arthur and the Invisibles. In 2008, in director Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, she appeared opposite Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover.
Activism and Africa
Farrow has been a high profile advocate for children's rights, working to raise funds and awareness for children in conflict affected regions, predominantly in Africa. She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has worked extensively to draw attention to the fight to eradicate polio, which she survived as a child. She has traveled to Darfur three times to advocate for Darfuri refuges. She traveled there, in November 2004 and June 2006, joining her son Ronan Farrow, who has also worked for UNICEF in Sudan.[11] Farrow visited 2006 Berlin to be part of a charity auction of United Buddy Bears, which feature designs by artists representing 142 U.N. member states.[12]
Her third trip was as part of a documentary film expedition in 2007.[13] Farrow's photographs of Darfur appeared in People magazine in July 2006 and she authored an article on the crisis, published in the Chicago Tribune on July 25, 2006. On February 5, 2007, Farrow authored an editorial for the Los Angeles Times.[14] On August 7, 2007, Farrow offered to "trade her freedom" for the freedom of a rebel leader, being treated in a UN hospital, but afraid to leave. She wanted to be taken captive in exchange for him being allowed to leave the country.
Since 2007, Farrow has been involved with the Dream for Darfur campaign, which has made a major effort to focus public attention on China's support for the government of Sudan, with a special focus on the 2008 Summer Olympics, that was held in Beijing. Swayed by Farrow's campaign to pressure him, on February 12, 2008 filmmaker Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics broadcast. During the Olympics broadcast, Farrow televised via the internet from a Sudanese refugee camp to highlight China's involvement in the region.[15]
Farrow has recently agreed to narrate a documentary film relating the struggle of many of the survivors of the Rwandan Genocide to forgive those who murdered their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, children and friends. The documentary has been completed and is titled As We Forgive.[16]
Farrow has set up her own website, www.miafarrow.org, which features a guide on how to get involved with Darfur activism, along with her photographs and blog entries from Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on March 4, 2009, after which Sudan expelled 13 international aid agencies from Darfur. To raise awareness of this situation, Farrow began a water-only fast on April 27.[17] Farrow's goal was to fast for three weeks. On May 8, after 12 days of fasting, she called a halt to the fast due to a downturn in her health.[18]
In 2008, Farrow received Refugees International McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, for "extraordinary service to refugees and displaced people."
Recipient of the Tiannamen Square Award in 2008.
In 2009 Farrow was the recipient of the Leon Sullivan International Service award.
In May 2008, she received the France Legion of Arts and Lettres award.
Personal life and relationships
Farrow married singer Frank Sinatra on July 19, 1966, when she was 21 and he was 50. During the production of Farrow's 1968 film Rosemary's Baby, after she refused Sinatra's demand that she quit the film to work on his movie The Detective, he served her with divorce papers on the Rosemary's Baby set. The divorce was finalized in 1968 and was discussed in Jay J. Armes 1976 book.
Also in 1968, Farrow traveled to India, where she spent the early part of the year at the ashram of the Maharishi in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, studying Transcendental Meditation. Her visit received worldwide media attention due to the presence of all four Beatles, Donovan, and Mike Love, as well as her sister Prudence Farrow, who inspired John Lennon to write the song "Dear Prudence".
In 1970, Farrow married the musician André Previn. His former wife, songwriter Dory Previn, blamed Farrow for the end of her relationship with Previn and wrote a scathing song, entitled "Beware of Young Girls", about the incident. Farrow and Previn had three biological children (twins Matthew and Sascha, born in 1970, and Fletcher, born in 1974). They adopted Vietnamese infants Lark Song and Summer Song ("Daisy") in 1973 and 1976, respectively, followed by the adoption of eight-year-old Soon-Yi from Korea around 1978. André and Mia divorced in 1979, but remained on good terms. Lark died on Christmas Day of 2008.[19]
In 1980, Farrow began seeing film director Woody Allen. Together they adopted Moses "Misha" Farrow (born 1978, adopted 1980) and Dylan "Eliza" Farrow (born c. 1985, now called Malone). In 1987 Mia gave birth to Satchel O'Sullivan Farrow, now known as Ronan Seamus Farrow. During their relationship, Farrow starred in many of Allen's films, and several of their children also made appearances.
Farrow and Allen parted after Farrow discovered a sexual relationship between Allen and her adopted daughter Soon-Yi. During the subsequent custody battle involving Farrow's and Allen's three children, Farrow filed charges that Allen had molested their daughter Dylan, then seven years old. Allen has adamantly denied the charges. A doctor concluded that Dylan "either invented the story under the stress of living in a volatile and unhealthy home or that it was planted in her mind by her mother" because Dylan presented the story inconsistently.[20] The charges were dropped to avoid subjecting the child to a court trial, although a judge called Allen's conduct "grossly inappropriate". Farrow ultimately won custody of the children. During the public fracas, Frank Sinatra allegedly contacted Farrow with an offer to have Allen's legs broken, a courtesy Farrow wrote of in her 1997 autobiography What Falls Away.
Farrow has been estranged from Soon-Yi since Soon-Yi's 1997 marriage to Allen. Farrow called the loss a "tragedy" in The Observer and remarked that "she's not coming back." Farrow said of Soon-Yi: "She was on the streets in Korea when she was captured and brought to the state orphanage. And in a way I can see from her perspective — a very limited perspective — that she's improved her situation. For a little orphan kid from Korea ... Perhaps she's not to be blamed." In a widely circulated quote, Soon-Yi dismissed Farrow as "no Mother Teresa". In 2008, Farrow spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Allen, suggesting that she had come to terms with what happened, saying, "In the fullness of time, it's that big."[21]
Farrow later adopted six more children, including Gabriel Wilk Farrow, adopted in 1995 and named after Elliott Wilk, the judge who oversaw Farrow's 1993 legal battle with Allen. Her adopted daughter Tam Farrow died of heart failure in 2000 at the age of 19.[22] On Christmas Day 2008, her adopted daughter Lark Previn died after a long illness. Although no official cause was released, her death was rumored to be AIDS-related.[23]
Mia Farrow's award-winning sculptor brother Patrick Joseph Farrow (November 27, 1942[24] - June 16, 2009), who was married to fellow artist Susan, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in his art gallery, Farrow Gallery, in Castleton, Vermont, United States.[25]
Farrow splits her time between a SoHo loft in New York City and an estate in Bridgewater, Connecticut.
List of children
 |
- With André Previn
- Matthew Phineas Previn (born February 26, 1970; twin of Sascha)
- Sascha Villiers Previn (born February 26, 1970; twin of Matthew)
- Fletcher Farrow Previn (born March 14, 1974)
Adopted with Previn
- Soon-Yi Previn, (born in South Korea, October 8, 1970; adopted c. 1978)
- Lark Song Previn, (born in Vietnam, February 15, 1973, died in New York, December 25, 2008; adopted 1973)
- Summer Song Previn (also known as Daisy), (born in Vietnam, October 6, 1974, adopted 1975)
- With Woody Allen
- Ronan Seamus Farrow (born December 19, 1987), (birth name Satchel O'Sullivan Farrow)
Adopted with Allen
- Moses Amadeus Farrow (also known as Misha Farrow) (born January 27, 1978, adopted 1980)
- Dylan O'Sullivan Farrow (also known as Eliza Farrow, current name is Malone, born July 11, 1985)
- Later adopted solely by Farrow
- Tam Farrow (1979 – March 2000)
- Isaiah Justus Farrow (born 1992)
- Kaeli-Shea Farrow (now known as Quincy, adopted 1994)
- Frankie-Minh (born 1991, adopted 1995) (named after Frank Sinatra)
- Thaddeus V. Farrow (born c. 1988, adopted 1994)
- Gabriel Wilk Farrow
Filmography
References
- ^ Mia Farrow - Awards
- ^ Mia Farrow - The 2008 Time 100
- ^ Pringle, Gill (2006-06-02). "Mia Farrow: 'My faith helps me through hard times'". The Independent. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
If you're brought up a Catholic and you've had 13 years of convent education with nuns, there's no way you ever get out from under that. I've accepted that fact about myself so there are certain things - like my lost saint - that sometimes are not so lost.
- ^ Wood, Gaby (2006-01-29). "'I've always had a sense of the unworthiness of myself'". The Observer. The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
This seems more than a little harsh, and I ask Farrow whether she thinks she would have felt less guilty about things if she had not been brought up a Catholic.
- ^ http://www.movieline.com/reviews/FarrowM_Rosemary.shtml
- ^ :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Rosemary's Baby (xhtml)
- ^ p.286 Davis, Ronald L. Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne 2003 University of Oklahoma Press
- ^ http://wcbstv.com/moviereviews/movies_story_154012813.html
- ^ The Omen (2006) Movie Review, DVD Release - Filmcritic.com
- ^ Final warning: Don't see 'Omen'
- ^ Overview | Genocide Intervention Network
- ^ Mia Farrow in Berlin 2006
- ^ CBC News In Depth: Sudan
- ^ 25 July 2006 The Chicago Tribune - World must not turn away from Darfur's desperation; By Mia Farrow
- ^ "Farrow Going to Darfur for China Protest" (Document). San Francisco Chronicle. 2008-04-04.
{{cite document}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help); Unknown parameter|accessdate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help) - ^ http://www.asweforgivemovie.com/?page_id=15
- ^ Mia Farrow to start fast over Darfur
- ^ Mia Farrow ends fast after health concerns
- ^ Mia Farrow mourns the death of adopted daughter Lark Previn on Christmas Day
- ^ Perez-Pena R. (1993). Doctor Cites Inconsistencies In Dylan Farrow's Statement. New York Times.
- ^ Christine Spines. (2008). Mia Farrow: The Sweet Lowdown. Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Mia Farrow Mourns Daughter NY Daily News, March 15, 2000
- ^ Lark Previn, Mia Farrow's Daughter, Dies On Christmas The Huffington Post, December 30, 2008
- ^ California Births 1905-1995
- ^ "Police: Mia Farrow's brother killed himself in Vt". Yahoo News. June 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
External links
Informational
- Official MiaFarrow.org website
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- Mia Farrow at the TCM Movie Database
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Interviews and articles
- Interview with Mia Farrow about Darfur on Guernica: a magazine of art and politics
- "A sorry Hollywood story", commentary by Philip Cunningham on Mia Farrow and Hollywood politics"
- Mia & Ronan Farrow Report from Darfur, published on the Genocide Intervention Network website
- London Observer interview, printed on The Guardian
- Mia Farrow: 'My faith helps me through hard times' The Independent
- Farrow Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
- Farrow Interview as part of Public Relations Society of America International Conference Overview on WebmasterRadio.FM with Brandy Shapiro-Babin
- Actors from California
- American film actors
- American human rights activists
- American humanitarians
- American Roman Catholics
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- American people of Australian descent
- Children's rights activists
- American people of Irish descent
- People from Los Angeles, California
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Transcendental Meditation practitioners