View source for Judy Davis

{{Short description|Australian film, television, and stage actress (born 1955)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image        = Judy Davis - Eye of The Storm.jpg
| caption      = Davis in 2012
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1955|04|23|df=y}}
| birth_name   = Judith Davis
| birth_place  = [[Perth]], [[Western Australia]], Australia
| education    = [[Curtin University]]<br>[[National Institute of Dramatic Art]] ([[Bachelor of Fine Arts|BFA]])
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Colin Friels]]|1984}}
| occupation   = Actress
| years_active = 1977–present
| children     = 2
| works        = [[List of Judy Davis performances|Full list]]
| awards       = [[List of awards and nominations received by Judy Davis|Full list]]
}}
'''Judith Davis''' (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both [[List of Judy Davis performances|screen and stage]], she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequent collaborator [[Woody Allen]] described her as "one of the most exciting actresses in the world".<ref>Multiple sources:
*{{cite book|author=Peter Biskind|author-link=Peter Biskind|title=Gods and Monsters: Thirty Years of Writing on Film and Culture|date=25 August 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781408882160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KH3vCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT247}}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/apsa-nominees-winners/2011/best-performance-by-an-actress/judy-davis-eye-storm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831173034/https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/apsa-nominees-winners/2011/best-performance-by-an-actress/judy-davis-eye-storm|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 August 2021|title=Judy Davis in the Eye of the Storm|year=2011|website=Asia Pacific Screen Academy|access-date=2020-01-27}}
*{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121053993|title=Judy Davis, Inspiring 'Brilliant Career's 30 Years Later [sic]|last=Powers|first=John|newspaper=NPR.org|date=3 December 2009|publisher=NPR|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> She is the most rewarded recipient of the [[AACTA Award]] with nine wins and has received [[List of awards and nominations received by Judy Davis|numerous other accolades]], including three [[Primetime Emmy Awards]], two [[British Academy Film Awards]], and two [[Golden Globe Awards]], in addition to nominations for two [[Academy Awards]] and an [[Laurence Olivier Award]].

After graduating from the [[National Institute of Dramatic Art]], she began her career on the stage and had her film debut in 1977. She rose to international attention with her leading role in the period drama film ''[[My Brilliant Career (film)|My Brilliant Career]]'' (1979), winning two [[BAFTA Awards]]. This led to starring roles in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] projects, receiving her first [[Primetime Emmy Awards|Emmy]] nomination for the docudrama ''[[A Woman Called Golda]]'' (1982). She received nominations for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for starring in the historical film ''[[A Passage to India (film)|A Passage to India]]'' (1984) and [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for Allen's comedy-drama ''[[Husbands and Wives]]'' (1992).

Davis won three [[Primetime Emmy Awards]] for starring in the television film ''[[Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story]]'' (1995), and the miniseries ''[[Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows]]'' (2001) and ''[[The Starter Wife (miniseries)|The Starter Wife]]'' (2007). Her subsequent films include ''[[Children of the Revolution (1996 film)|Children of the Revolution]]'' (1996), ''[[Celebrity (1998 film)|Celebrity]]'' (1998), ''[[Marie Antoinette (2006 film)|Marie Antoinette]]'' (2006), ''[[The Eye of the Storm (2011 film)|The Eye of the Storm]]'' (2011), ''[[To Rome with Love (film)|To Rome with Love]]'' (2012), ''[[The Dressmaker (2015 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (2015), and ''[[Nitram]]'' (2021).

==Early life==
Davis was born in [[Perth]], Western Australia, in the suburb of Floreat Park and had a strict [[Catholic]] upbringing.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/02/22/archives/new-face-judy-davis-dont-call-her-sybylla-a-lastminute-replacement.html | work=The New York Times | title=New Face: Judy Davis Don't Call Her Sybylla; A Last-Minute Replacement 'I'm Not Good at Reading Scripts' Elizabeth Swados at Club | date=22 February 1980 | access-date=7 May 2010 | first=Janet | last=Maslin}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://television.aol.com/celebs/judy-davis/1787745/biography| work=[[Weblogs, Inc.|TV Squad]]| title=Judy Davis Biography| access-date=10 October 2010| first=Hal Erickson| last=Rovi| archive-date=1 June 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601062434/http://television.aol.com/celebs/judy-davis/1787745/biography| url-status=dead}}</ref> She was educated at [[Loreto Convent, Claremont|Loreto Convent]] and the [[Western Australian Institute of Technology]] and graduated from the [[National Institute of Dramatic Art]] (NIDA), Sydney, Australia in 1977.

==Career==
===Screen===
====1970s====
After making her feature film debut in the buddy comedy ''[[High Rolling]]'' (1977), Davis first came to prominence for her role as Sybylla Melvyn in the coming-of-age saga ''[[My Brilliant Career (film)|My Brilliant Career]]'' (1979),<ref name="Judy1">{{cite news|author=Ryan Gilbey|date=25 April 2013|title=Judy Davis: 'I never wanted celebrity'|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 May 2013|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/25/judy-davis-never-wanted-celebrity-interview?INTCMP=SRCH}}</ref> for which she won [[BAFTA Awards]] for [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|Best Actress]] and Best Newcomer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122482556|title=Judy Davis in Oscar Nominees|date=8 February 1985|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=18 November 2018}}</ref> Davis was particularly praised for her performance; [[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' admired her for bringing "an unconventional vigor to every scene she's in, even in a film that's as consistently animated as this one",<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/06/archives/film-australian-brilliant-career-by-gillian-armstrongthe-cast.html|title=Film: Australian 'Brilliant Career' by Gillian Armstrong:The Cast|last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=6 October 1979|work=The New York Times|access-date=20 September 2018|language=en}}</ref> while Luke Buckmaster, writing for ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2014, commented that Davis gave "a rousing performance as bull-headed protagonist Sybylla Melvyn. The term "once in a lifetime" tends to be slapped around like a bumper sticker, but this meaty role lives up to the accolade."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/australia-culture-blog/2014/feb/28/my-brilliant-career-rewatching-classic-australian-films|title=My Brilliant Career: rewatching classic Australian films|last=Buckmaster|first=Luke|date=2014-02-28|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

====1980s====
Her success continued with lead roles in the [[Australian New Wave]] films ''[[Winter of Our Dreams]]'' (1981), as a waif-like heroin addict; the drama ''[[Heatwave (film)|Heatwave]]'' (1982), as a radical Sydney tenant organizer; and the thriller ''[[Hoodwink (1981 film)|Hoodwink]]'' (1981), as a sexually repressed clergyman's wife.<ref name=":0" /> Of her performance in ''Winter of Our Dreams'', [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that: "Davis brought a kind of wiry, feisty intelligence to ''My Brilliant Career'', playing an Australian farm woman who rather felt she would do things her own way. She's wonderful again this time, in a completely different role as an insecure, distrustful, skinny street waif. [She] performs her movement magnificently.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/winter-of-our-dreams-1983|title=Winter of Our Dreams movie review (1983) {{!}} Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|website=www.rogerebert.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref>
Her international film career began when she played the younger version of [[Ingrid Bergman]]'s [[Golda Meir]] in the television [[docudrama]] ''[[A Woman Called Golda]]'' (1981), for which she received a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie]] nomination. She then played a terrorist based on [[Vanessa Redgrave]] in the British film ''[[Who Dares Wins (film)|Who Dares Wins]]'' (1982).<ref name="Judy1"/><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=11 September 2025|access-date=11 September 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-1982-1997/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation 1982-1997}}</ref>

She was cast as Adela Quested in [[David Lean]]'s final film ''[[A Passage to India (film)|A Passage to India]]'' (1984), an adaptation of [[E. M. Forster]]'s novel, and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].<ref name="Judy1"/> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' praised Davis for having "the rare gift of being able to look very plain (as the role calls for) at one moment and uncommonly beautiful at another.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793886.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 |title=''Variety'' review |access-date=10 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229073147/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793886.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 |archive-date=29 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Likewise, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "With makeup the color of smudged ivory, her pallor enhanced by the off-white linens she wears, Davis is daringly unattractive for a leading lady; that plainness is emphasized in the book. Davis' neuroticism, her way of twitching and thrusting her jaw and looking up hungrily beneath the brim of her straw hat, brings to life the ravenous sexuality beneath Miss Quested's decorous exterior."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/01/18/oh-so-tasteful-a-passage/39d90cc9-5073-4d53-a85a-16f3b8231a36/?noredirect=on|title=Oh, So Tasteful a Passage|last=Allanasio|first=Paul|date=18 January 1985|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref>

She returned to [[Cinema of Australia|Australian cinema]] for her next two films, ''[[Kangaroo (1986 film)|Kangaroo]]'' (1986), as a German-born writer's wife, and ''[[High Tide (1987 film)|High Tide]]'' (also 1987), as a foot-loose mother attempting to reunite with her teenage daughter who is being raised by the paternal grandmother. Her performance in the latter won her glowing praise. [[Pauline Kael]] called Davis "a genius at moods" and wrote, "As one of three backup singers for a touring Elvis imitator, Judy Davis is contemptuous of the cruddy act, contemptuous of herself. The film's emotional suggestiveness makes it almost a primal woman's picture: Judy Davis has been compared with Jeanne Moreau, and that's apt, but she's Moreau without the cultural swank, the high-fashion gloss. She speaks to us more directly."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.ws/paulinekaelreviews/h3.html|title=Pauline Kael|website=geocities.ws|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> She won additional [[Australian Film Institute Awards]] for both roles, and a [[National Society of Film Critics]] award for ''High Tide''{{'}}s brief American theatrical run.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120903841|title=Judy Davis wins U.S. film award|date=12 January 1989|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=18 November 2018|pages=3}}</ref>

Her final film of the decade, the Australian thriller ''[[Georgia (1988 film)|Georgia]]'' (1988), saw her play dual roles, a mother, Georgia, and her daughter Nina. For her performance, Davis earned another Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actress.

====1990s====
Davis had a cameo in [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Alice (1990 film)|Alice]]'' (1990), her first appearance in an Allen-directed film. The following year, she was featured in [[Joel Coen]]'s ''[[Barton Fink]]'',<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118112691|title=Intelligence as well as wit|last=Wuntch|first=Phillip|date=12 April 1994|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=18 November 2018|pages=15}}</ref> which won the ''[[Palme d'Or]]'' at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], and in [[David Cronenberg]]'s ''[[Naked Lunch (film)|Naked Lunch]]'', an adaptation of the hallucinogenic novel of the same name.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118140014|title=Judy Davis writes her own script|last=Koltnow|first=Barry|date=25 September 1994|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=18 November 2018|pages=25}}</ref>

She returned to [[E. M. Forster]] territory in ''[[Where Angels Fear to Tread (film)|Where Angels Fear to Tread]]'' and won an [[Independent Spirit Awards|Independent Spirit Award]] for her work as mannish woman author [[George Sand]] in ''[[Impromptu (1991 film)|Impromptu]]'', a romantic period drama with [[Hugh Grant]] as her consumptive lover, [[Frédéric Chopin]]. Davis was especially lauded for her performance as Sand, and [[Hal Hinson]] of ''The Washington Post'' wrote, "Judy Davis makes her entrances as if she were straddling a cyclone. She doesn't just walk in, she blows in on a torrent of extravagant self-assurance and wild temperament. Sand, who's the locus of this blissfully high-spirited romp about the circle of writers and musicians in 1830s Paris, never does anything halfway; her life is an experiment in full-throttle, passionate immersion, and that's why Davis is the ideal actress for the part. She's the most atmospheric of actors, perhaps the only one around capable of streaking the screen with lightning."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/impromptupg13hinson_a0a4fe.html|title='Impromptu' Review|last=Hinson|first=Hary|date=3 May 1991|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=12 December 2018}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

She earned an Emmy nomination and her first [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film]] for her portrayal of a real-life Second World War heroine [[Mary Lindell]] in the [[Hallmark Hall of Fame|CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame]] presentation ''One Against the Wind.'' Adrian Turner of ''[[Radio Times]]'' noted of her, "Judy Davis, one of the greatest and least "starry" actresses around, plays Lindell and shows the same sensitivity that she brought to her role in ''A Passage to India.''"<ref>{{cite web |last=Turner |first=Adrian |title=Review: 'One Against the Wind - review' |work=[[Radio Times]] |year=2018 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/9zrz/one-against-the-wind/ |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215224110/https://www.radiotimes.com/film/9zrz/one-against-the-wind/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Cast in Woody Allen's ''[[Husbands and Wives]]'' (1992), Davis performed the major role of Sally Simmons, one half of a divorcing couple.<ref name=":1" /> ''Husbands and Wives'' was well received, and Davis's performance drew high praise. [[Vincent Canby]] of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "Sally must be one of the most endearingly impossible characters Mr. Allen has ever written, and Ms. Davis nearly purloins the film"<ref>{{cite web |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |title=Review/Film -- Husbands and Wives; Fact? Fiction? It Doesn't Matter |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 September 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/18/movies/review-film-husbands-and-wives-fact-fiction-it-doesn-t-matter.html |access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> and [[Todd McCarthy]] of ''Variety'' thought Davis had revealed "a whole new side to her personality that has never surfaced onscreen before."<ref>{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |author-link=Todd McCarthy |title=Review: 'Husbands and Wives' |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=26 August 1992 |url=https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/husbands-and-wives-2-1200430482/ |access-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> For this performance, she earned both [[Academy Award|Oscar]] and [[Golden Globe]] nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

She next co-starred with [[Kevin Spacey]] in the comedy film ''[[The Ref]]'' (1994), portraying a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks, with [[Denis Leary]] playing a thief who counsels their marriage.<ref name=":1" /> [[Roger Ebert]] called Davis "naturally verbal" and praised her for being able to "develop a manic counterpoint" in her arguments with Spacey "that elevates them to a sort of art form."<ref name="Ebert">{{cite news | last = Ebert | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Ebert | url = http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/03/909203.html | title = The Ref | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]  | date = 11 March 1994 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19991004012959/http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/03/909203.html | archive-date = 4 October 1999}}</ref> Similarly, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's [[Peter Travers]] found Davis "combustibly funny, finding nuance even in nonsense."<ref name= "Travers">{{cite magazine | last = Travers | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Travers | title = The Ref | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] }}</ref> Considered "one of the fiercest film actors around",<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/25/judy-davis-never-wanted-celebrity-interview|title=Judy Davis: 'I never wanted celebrity'|last=Gilbey|first=Ryan|date=2013-04-25|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Davis's other roles have included the mysterious, [[schizophrenic]] mother of a teenager in boarding school in ''[[On My Own (film)|On My Own]]'' (1993), the lifelong Australian Communist Party member reacting to the downfall of the Soviet Union in ''[[Children of the Revolution (1996 film)|Children of the Revolution]]'' (1996), two more Allen films, ''[[Deconstructing Harry]]'' (1997) and ''[[Celebrity (1998 film)|Celebrity]]'' (1998) and a highly-strung [[White House]] chief of staff in ''[[Absolute Power (film)|Absolute Power]]'' (1997). After appearing in ''Celebrity'', ''The Guardian'' newspaper wrote that Davis "in recent years has succeeded [[Diane Keaton]] and [[Mia Farrow]] as Allen's misfit muse."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jun/06/2|title=Read my lips...|date=1999-06-06|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Much of her work in the late 90s was for television, gaining a collection of [[Emmy Award]] nominations. She won her first Emmy for portraying the woman who gently coaxes a rigid military woman, [[Glenn Close]], out of the closet in ''[[Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story]]'',<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127280589|title=ER, Frasier success outshines dull ramblings by Emmy host|date=12 September 1995|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=18 November 2018|pages=8}}</ref> with subsequent nominations for her repressed Australian outback mother in ''[[The Echo of Thunder]]'' (1998), her portrayal of [[Lillian Hellman]] in ''[[Dash and Lilly]]'' (1999) and her frigid society matron in ''[[A Cooler Climate]]'' (1999).

====2000s====
Davis earned a second Emmy for her portrayal of [[Judy Garland]] in the television biographical film ''[[Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows]]'' (2001).<ref name="Judy2">{{cite news|author=Bernard Weinraub|date=10 December 2000|title=The Rewards And the Risks of Playing an Icon|work=The New York Times|access-date=3 May 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/10/arts/television-radio-the-rewards-and-the-risks-of-playing-an-icon.html}}</ref> In 2003, she earned another Emmy nomination for her interpretation of [[Nancy Reagan]] in the controversial biopic ''[[The Reagans]]''.  In 2004 she co-starred with [[Richard Dreyfuss]] in ''[[Coast to Coast (2003 film)|Coast to Coast]]''. In July 2006, she received her ninth Emmy nomination for her performance in the television film ''[[A Little Thing Called Murder]]''. Her tenth nomination came in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in the U.S. miniseries ''[[The Starter Wife (miniseries)|The Starter Wife]]'' for which she was awarded the [[Emmy]]. In August 2007, she appeared opposite [[Sam Waterston]] in an episode of ABC's anthology series ''[[Masters of Science Fiction]]''. She appeared on the TV mini-series ''Diamonds'' from 2008 to 2009.

In film, she continued to earn good notices for her supporting roles in ''[[Swimming Upstream]]'' (2003), as a working-class mother, and in the films ''[[The Break-Up]]'' (2006) and ''[[Marie Antoinette (2006 film)|Marie-Antoinette]]''.

====2010s====
Davis appeared as Jill Tankard in a television drama film, ''[[Page Eight]]'' (2011), for which she was nominated for an Emmy. She played Dorothy de Lascabanes in ''[[The Eye of the Storm (2011 film)|The Eye of the Storm]]'' (2011), an adaptation of Patrick White's [[The Eye of the Storm (novel)|novel of the same title]], for which she won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She also had a major role as Woody Allen's psychiatrist wife in his ''[[To Rome with Love (film)|To Rome with Love]]''.

Davis co-starred with [[Helena Bonham Carter]] and [[Callum Keith Rennie]] in ''[[The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet]]'' (2013). She reprised her role of Jill Tankard in ''[[Salting the Battlefield]]'' (2014) and costarred with [[Kate Winslet]] in ''[[The Dressmaker (2015 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (2015), for which she won an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/asia/mad-max-dressmaker-share-australian-academy-awards-1201657144/|title='Mad Max,' 'Dressmaker' Split Australia's AACTA Awards|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=9 December 2015|work=Variety|access-date=18 November 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Although the film received mixed reviews, Davis's supporting performance was lauded by critics: Richard Ouzounian of the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' called her "sublime"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/tiff/2015/09/14/screening-at-tiff-tuesday-sept-15-the-dressmaker-room-sleeping-giant.html|title=Screening at TIFF Tuesday, Sept. 15: The Dressmaker, Room, Sleeping Giant
|work=The Star|location=Toronto|date=14 September 2015|access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref> and Justin Chang of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote, "Davis, whose performance here as a booze-swilling, dementia-addled and infernally sharp-tongued old matriarch is enough of a hoot to make one further wonder what she might have done with the role of Violet Weston in ''[[August: Osage County (film)|August: Osage County]]'', onscreen or onstage."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/the-dressmaker-review-kate-winslet-toronto-film-festival-1201593258/|title=Toronto Film Review: 'The Dressmaker'|date=15 September 2015|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>

In 2017, Davis received a [[Primetime Emmy]] nomination for her supporting performance as gossip columnist [[Hedda Hopper]] in [[Ryan Murphy (producer)|Ryan Murphy]]'s anthology television series [[Feud (TV series)|''Feud''.]] The following year, Davis co-starred with [[Aaron Pedersen|Aaron Pederson]] in the six-part ABC TV Series, [[Mystery Road (TV series)|''Mystery Road''.]] Davis's performance as the local police sergeant was praised, and ''The New York Times'' wrote, "The thing that really sets ''Mystery Road'' apart is the actress who signed on to play the outback sergeant Emma James: the great Judy Davis, playing a police officer for the first time in her career and starring in an Australian TV series for the first time in nearly 40 years. Ms. Davis is so firmly identified in the American mind with intense, often neurotic city-dwelling characters that it takes an episode or two to get used to her climbing in and out of a police car in the dusty, empty landscapes, wearing a baggy blue uniform that swallows her tiny frame. It seems at first as if she might not be right for the part, but eventually you see that she's perfect. James is a formidable woman stuck in the middle of nowhere because of the bonds of family and history, and Ms. Davis's preternatural intelligence and tightly capped energy serve her well."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/19/arts/television/mystery-road-review-judy-davis.html|title=''The New York Times'': 'Mystery Road' TV Review|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 August 2018|access-date=12 December 2018|last1=Hale|first1=Mike}}</ref>

====2020s====
In 2020 she reunited with [[Ryan Murphy (filmmaker)|Ryan Murphy]] portraying Betsy Bucket in the drama series ''[[Ratched (TV series)|Ratched]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/01/ratched-sharon-stone-cynthia-nixon-10-cast-ryan-murphy-netflix-series-sarah-paulson-1202535205/|title='Ratched': Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon Among 10 Cast in Ryan Murphy's Netflix Series|author=Denise Petski|work=Deadline Hollywood|date=14 January 2019|access-date=20 January 2019}}</ref> Also that year she acted in the [[Apple TV+]] series ''[[Roar (2022 TV series)|Roar]]''. The following year she acted opposite [[Caleb Landry Jones]] in the psychological drama film ''[[Nitram]]'' (2021) directed by [[Justin Kurzel]]. The film premiered at the [[2021 Cannes Film Festival]] where it received positive reviews. Davis later earned the [[AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]].

===Stage===
Davis's stage work has been mostly confined to Australia. Early in her career, she played [[Romeo and Juliet|Juliet]] opposite [[Mel Gibson]]'s Romeo. In 1978, she appeared in ''Visions'' by [[Louis Nowra]] at the Paris Theatre Company in [[Sydney]]. In 1980, she portrayed French chanteuse [[Edith Piaf]] in [[Stephen Barry]]'s production of the [[Pam Gems]] play ''[[Piaf (play)|Piaf]]'' at the [[The Playhouse Theatre (Perth)|Perth Playhouse]].<ref name=SBobit>Allen, Paul [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/09/guardianobituaries1 Stephen Barry (obituary)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304195332/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/09/guardianobituaries1 |date=4 March 2017 }} ''The Guardian'', London, 9 November 2000</ref> She played both Cordelia and the Fool in a 1984 staging of ''[[King Lear]]'' by the [[Nimrod Theatre Company]], and also starred in its productions of [[August Strindberg|Strindberg]]'s ''Miss Julie'', [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s ''The Bear'', Louis Nowra's ''Inside The Island'' and, in 1986, the title role of [[Ibsen]]'s ''[[Hedda Gabler]]'' for the [[Sydney Theatre Company]].

In 2004, she starred in and co-directed [[Howard Barker]]'s play ''Victory'', as a [[Puritan]] woman determined to locate her husband's dismembered corpse.<ref>Fitzgerald, Michael [https://web.archive.org/web/20101029024829/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,630543,00.html The Restoration of Judy] at Time Magazine, 24 April 2004</ref> Other stage directorial efforts include [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan|Sheridan]]'s ''[[The School For Scandal]]'' and ''[[Barrymore (play)|Barrymore]]'' by [[William Luce]]<ref name="Judy3">{{cite news|author=Kerry O'Brien|date=9 August 1999|title= Judy Davies takes on directing|work=ABC 7.30 report|access-date=3 May 2013|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s42575.htm}}</ref> (all three for the Sydney Theatre Company). She created the role of The Actress in [[Terry Johnson (dramatist)|Terry Johnson]]'s ''[[Insignificance (film)#Background|Insignificance]]'' at the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]] in London,<ref>[http://www.westendtheatre.com/4571/awards/society-of-west-end-theatre-awards-1982/ "Society of West End Theatre Awards 1982"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829170452/http://www.westendtheatre.com/4571/awards/society-of-west-end-theatre-awards-1982/ |date=29 August 2011 }} at West End Theatre.com</ref> receiving an [[Olivier Award]] nomination, and appeared in a brief 1989 Los Angeles production of [[Tom Stoppard]]'s ''[[Hapgood (play)|Hapgood]]''. Writing for ''[[Philadelphia (magazine)|Philadelphia]]'' magazine, David Fox found her "marvelous in the title role, as charismatic and commanding on stage as she is in film."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillymag.com/things-to-do/2018/09/13/review-espionage-meets-physics-lantern-theaters-hapgood-no-sparks-fly/|title=REVIEW: Espionage Meets Physics in Lantern Theater's Hapgood, But No Sparks Fly|date=2018-09-13|website=Philadelphia Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref>

In 2011, she portrayed the role of fading actress Irina Arkadina in [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Seagull]]'' at Sydney's [[Belvoir St Theatre]]. Paul Chai of ''[[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']]'' praised her performance as Irina, writing, "Davis manages to instill Irina with not only a diva's haughty air and crafty manipulation but also with the right hint of fragility, as evidenced in her concern about being upstaged by the youthful and beautiful Nina."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2011/legit/reviews/the-seagull-1117945491/|title=The Seagull|last1=Chai|first1=Paul|date=2011-06-20|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref>

==Awards and accolades==
{{Main|List of Judy Davis performances|List of awards and nominations received by Judy Davis}}

Davis has received numerous accolades including nine [[AACTA Awards]], two [[BAFTA Awards]], three [[Primetime Emmy Awards]], two [[Golden Globe Awards]], an [[Independent Spirit Award]], and a [[Screen Actors Guild Award]]. She also received nominations for two [[Academy Award]]s and a [[Laurence Olivier Award]]. She is the [[List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees|first Australian to receive Academy Award nominations in both categories]] of [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] and [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]{{efn|As of 2023, only [[Cate Blanchett]], [[Nicole Kidman]], [[Heath Ledger]], [[Margot Robbie]] and [[Geoffrey Rush]] have achieved this feat since Davis.}} and the fourth Australian actress to receive an Academy Award nomination.{{efn|As of 2023, twelve Australian women have been nominated for Academy Awards for acting. See the [[List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees#Best Actress|Best Actress]] and [[List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees#Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] sections of [[List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees]] for more information.}}

She has won [[British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]] for both [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|Best Actress]] and [[BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles|Most Promising Newcomer]] for the film ''[[My Brilliant Career (film)|My Brilliant Career]]'' (1979), and later received [[Academy Award]] nominations for ''[[A Passage to India (film)|A Passage to India]]'' (1984) and ''[[Husbands and Wives]]'' (1992). She earned a [[Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress]] nomination for the 1982 London production of ''[[Insignificance (play)|Insignificance]]''.

For her work on television, Davis won [[Primetime Emmy Award]]s for ''[[Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story]]'' (1995), for playing [[Judy Garland]] in ''[[Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows]]'' (2001) and ''[[The Starter Wife (miniseries)|The Starter Wife]]'' (2007) and the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film]] for ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' and ''One Against the Wind'' (1991).

==See also==
* [[List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Australian Women and Leadership|WLE0241b|Judy Davis}}
* {{IMDb name|1114|Judy Davis}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}

{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Judy Davis|Awards for Judy Davis]]
|list =
{{AACTA Award Best Actress in a Leading Role 2000–2019}}
{{AACTAAward BestSupportingActress 1981–2000}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Actress 1980-1999}}
{{Bafta Award for Most Promising Newcomer}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesLeadActress 2001-2025}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesSupportingActress}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressTVMiniseriesFilm}}
{{IndependentSpiritBestFemaleLead 1985–1999}}
{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Satellite Award Best Actress Television Miniseries or Film}}
{{ScreenActorsGuildAward FemaleTVMiniseriesMovie 1994-2009}}
}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Judy}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Perth, Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian film actresses]]
[[Category:Australian stage actresses]]
[[Category:Australian television actresses]]
[[Category:Australian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Australian women theatre directors]]
[[Category:Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Actress AACTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Actress BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners]]
[[Category:Best Supporting Actress AACTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Curtin University alumni]]
[[Category:National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Female Lead Independent Spirit Award winners]]
[[Category:Australian expatriate actresses in the United States]]