Lauren Ambrose Biography

Lauren Ambrose (born February 20, 1978) is an American actress and singer. 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).

She is the lead singer of the ragtime band Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class.

Early life

Ambrose was born Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Frank D'Ambruoso, a caterer and Anne (ne Wachtel), an interior designer. She is of Italian descent on her father's side 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. Ambrose returned to Broadway in Exit the King (by Eugne 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". For her performance as Kitzinger, Ambrose received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress In Television.

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.

Personal life

Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel of Needham, MA since September 2001. They have two children.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	In & Out	Vicky Rayburn
1998	Can't Hardly Wait	Denise Fleming
1998	Summertime's Calling Me	Tami
2000	Swimming	Frankie Wheeler
2000	Psycho Beach Party	Florence 'Chicklet' Forrest
2004	Admissions	Evie Brighton
2006	Diggers	Zoey
2007	Starting Out in the Evening	Heather Wolfe
2009	'	Emma
2009	Cold Souls	Stephanie
2009	Where the Wild Things Are	KW (voice)
2009	Tonight at Noon	Mae
2009	'	Mindy
2011	Grassroots	Emily Bowen
2011	I'm Coming Over	Greta	Short film
2011	About Sunny	Angela
2012	Sleepwalk with Me	Abby
2012	Wanderlust	Almond
2012	'	Maria	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Law & Order	Jessica	Episode: "Skin Deep"
1993	Law & Order	Maureen McKinnon	Episode: "Pride and Joy"
1995	'	Audience Member	Episode: "3.10"
1998	Law & Order	Valerie Maxwell	Episode: "Damaged"
1999	Party of Five	Myra Wringler	5 episodes
2001-05	Six Feet Under	Claire Fisher	63 episodes
2008	'	Coco Tompkins	6 episodes
2009	Loving Leah	Leah Lever	Television movie
2011	Torchwood: Miracle Day	Jilly Kitzinger	7 episodes
2011	Weekends at Bellevue	Ellie Harlow	Television movie
2012	Coma	Susan Wheeler	2 episodes
2013	Robot Chicken	Anita Radcliffe / Natasha Fatale (voice)	Episode: "Papercut to Aorta"
2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Vanessa Mayer	2 episodes
2014	Deliverance Creek	Belle Gatlin Barlow	Television movie
2015	Dig	Debbie Morgan	8 episodes
2016	The X-Files	Special Agent Liz Einstein	2 episodes

Other work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Darkness	Jenny Romano	Video game
2011	Across The Universe	Narrator	Audiobook

Award and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Six Feet Under
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Drama Actress
2003	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2005	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2006	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2009	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film	Loving Leah
2012	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Female	About Sunny
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress on Television	Torchwood: Miracle Day