Lauren Ambrose

Lauren Ambrose
Ambrose in 2000
Born	Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso (1978-02-20) February 20, 1978 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Sam Handel (m. 2001)
Children	2

Lauren Ambrose (born February 20, 1978) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her television roles as Claire Fisher in Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and as Jilly Kitzinger in Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011). Her film credits include Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and Psycho Beach Party (2000).

Early life

Ambrose was born Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso^[1] in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Anne (née Wachtel), an interior designer, and Frank D'Ambruoso, a caterer. She is of Italian descent on her father's side^[2] and German, English, and Irish on her mother's. Ambrose attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, Wilbur Cross High School, High School in the Community, and the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. She is also a trained opera singer who studied voice and opera at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

Career

Ambrose began her career in New York theater, mainly in Off-Broadway productions. Her early career also included television appearances, most notably playing supporting guest roles on Law & Order, and a feature guest role on the show in the 1998 episode "Damaged" as Valerie Maxwell, a mentally-challenged young woman raped by a group of popular high school students. Her first film role was In & Out (1997), which was followed by a more prominent role in the high school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998). She was the ingenue lead, Florence "Chicklet" Forrest, in the cult favorite Psycho Beach Party (2000). Ambrose began her role on Six Feet Under in early 2001. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmy Award twice, following the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the critically acclaimed drama.

In 2006, Ambrose made her Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Awake and Sing!. In 2007, she appeared as Juliet in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, to great critical acclaim. She appeared as Ophelia in the 2008 performance of Hamlet for Shakespeare in the Park.^[3] Ambrose returned to Broadway in Exit the King (by Eugène Ionesco) at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, opposite Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Ambrose provided the voice of monster KW in Where the Wild Things Are, which was released in 2009.

In 2011, Ambrose appeared in seven of the ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. She played Jilly Kitzinger, "a sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who's just cornered the most important client of her career … and maybe of all time".^[4] For her performance as Kitzinger, Ambrose received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress In Television.^[5]

Ambrose is the lead singer of Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class, a ragtime dixieland jazz band formed in 2009. They have performed several times at Joe's Pub and charity events.^[6]

Personal life

Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel^[7] of Needham, MA since September 2001. They have two children.^[8][9][10]

Filmography

Film

Television

Other work

Award and nominations

References

External links

• Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Movie Database
• Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Lauren Ambrose at AllMovie