Rebecca Pidgeon
Encyclopedia
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter
. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet
.
parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, United States, while her father was a visiting professor at MIT. Her family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1970. She thus holds dual American
/British
citizenship. Growing up in Edinburgh, she was a teenage friend of singer Shirley Manson
.
Pidgeon attended drama college and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
alongside Clive Owen
, Liza Tarbuck
and Serena Harragin. After some promising work as an actress in the UK, she moved back to the US.
. Pidgeon left Ruby Blue shortly after the band signed a major record label and was beginning to gather both commercial and critical success. She appeared in her first feature film in 1988, The Dawning
. She then decided to concentrate on her acting career, starring in David Mamet's plays and films, initially in the movie Homicide
, then in the play Oleanna
, a part written for her by Mamet. Pidgeon composed the music for the film version which starred Debra Eisenstadt in her role.
Returning to music in 1994, she released the solo album The Raven, followed by New York Girls' Club. A further album, The Four Marys, a collection of traditional Celtic folk songs, followed in 1998. In October 2005, she released Tough on Crime, which featured Walter Becker
on guitar and the late Billy Preston
on keyboards. Her most recent album, Behind the Velvet Curtain: Songs from the Motion Picture Redbelt
, includes a cover version of the Beach Boys
song, "Wouldn't It Be Nice
?" and a duet with Luciana Souza
.
Pidgeon has had starring roles in several of Mamet's films, including The Spanish Prisoner
(1997), The Winslow Boy
(1999) and Heist
(2001). She had a small role in the 2008 movie Redbelt
written and directed by Mamet, and also performed the music in it. Her most recent major film appearance was in the 2010 action-comedy Red
.
She appeared in the U.S. television series The Unit
, playing Charlotte Ryan. She also had a role opposite Tom Selleck in the CBS TV movie Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) where she played the role of Leeann Lewis, a murder-bank robbery suspect.
. She met Mamet while acting in his play Speed-the-Plow during its run at the National Theatre, London
. Though he was married at the time to actress Lindsay Crouse
, Mamet began a relationship with Pidgeon. In 1990, Mamet divorced Crouse and he married Pidgeon in 1991. She and Mamet have two children, Clara and Noah. Pidgeon, who was born to a non-practicing Christian
family, has converted
to Mamet's Jewish faith.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
.
Early life
Pidgeon was born to EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, United States, while her father was a visiting professor at MIT. Her family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1970. She thus holds dual American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
/British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
citizenship. Growing up in Edinburgh, she was a teenage friend of singer Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson
Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
.
Pidgeon attended drama college and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
alongside Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
, Liza Tarbuck
Liza Tarbuck
Liza Tarbuck is an English actress and television and radio presenter, and daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck.She trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA graduating in 1986 alongside Clive Owen, Rebecca Pidgeon and Serena Harragin.-Acting:...
and Serena Harragin. After some promising work as an actress in the UK, she moved back to the US.
Career
From 1986 to 1990, Pidgeon was the lead singer of the British folk/pop band Ruby BlueRuby Blue
Ruby Blue were a UK folk rock/pop band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by Rebecca Pidgeon, they released a total of four albums, beginning with Glances Askances in 1987 and Down From Above in 1990. The original members of the band were Rebecca and Roger Fife...
. Pidgeon left Ruby Blue shortly after the band signed a major record label and was beginning to gather both commercial and critical success. She appeared in her first feature film in 1988, The Dawning
The Dawning
The Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
. She then decided to concentrate on her acting career, starring in David Mamet's plays and films, initially in the movie Homicide
Homicide (1991 film)
Homicide is a mystery film crime drama written and directed by David Mamet, and released in 1991. The film's cast includes Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, and Ving Rhames...
, then in the play Oleanna
Oleanna (play)
Oleanna is a two-character play by David Mamet, about the power struggle between a university professor and one of his female students, who accuses him of sexual exploitation and, by doing so, spoils his chances of being accorded tenure...
, a part written for her by Mamet. Pidgeon composed the music for the film version which starred Debra Eisenstadt in her role.
Returning to music in 1994, she released the solo album The Raven, followed by New York Girls' Club. A further album, The Four Marys, a collection of traditional Celtic folk songs, followed in 1998. In October 2005, she released Tough on Crime, which featured Walter Becker
Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist and a co-writer of Steely Dan.-Career:...
on guitar and the late Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
on keyboards. Her most recent album, Behind the Velvet Curtain: Songs from the Motion Picture Redbelt
Behind the Velvet Curtain: Songs from the Motion Picture Redbelt
Behind the Velvet Curtain: Songs from the Motion Picture Redbelt is the original motion picture soundtrack for the film Redbelt. All but one song, "Wouldn't it Be Nice" a cover of The Beach Boys hit, were written by Rebecca Pidgeon. The song "Been and Gone" was co-written by Rebecca Pidgeon and...
, includes a cover version of the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
song, "Wouldn't It Be Nice
Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the opening track on the 1966 album Pet Sounds and one of the most widely recognized songs by the American rock band The Beach Boys...
?" and a duet with Luciana Souza
Luciana Souza
Luciana Souza is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who has crossed over into classical music.Daughter of poet Tereza Souza and singer-composer-guitarist Walter Santos, she grew up in São Paulo. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston from which she received a Bachelor's...
.
Pidgeon has had starring roles in several of Mamet's films, including The Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara and Ricky Jay...
(1997), The Winslow Boy
The Winslow Boy
thumb|1st edition cover The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.-Performance History:...
(1999) and Heist
Heist
A heist is a term used to describe a robbery from an institution such as a bank or a museum, or any robbery in which there is a large haul of loot.Heist in fiction may refer to:*Heist , directed by David Mamet...
(2001). She had a small role in the 2008 movie Redbelt
Redbelt
Redbelt is a 2008 martial arts film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film opened in wide release in the United States and Canada on May 9, 2008.-Plot:...
written and directed by Mamet, and also performed the music in it. Her most recent major film appearance was in the 2010 action-comedy Red
Red (2010 film)
RED is a 2010 American action comedy film loosely inspired by the three-issue comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage...
.
She appeared in the U.S. television series The Unit
The Unit
The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
, playing Charlotte Ryan. She also had a role opposite Tom Selleck in the CBS TV movie Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) where she played the role of Leeann Lewis, a murder-bank robbery suspect.
Personal life
Pidgeon is married to the American writer and director David MametDavid Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
. She met Mamet while acting in his play Speed-the-Plow during its run at the National Theatre, London
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. Though he was married at the time to actress Lindsay Crouse
Lindsay Crouse
-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
, Mamet began a relationship with Pidgeon. In 1990, Mamet divorced Crouse and he married Pidgeon in 1991. She and Mamet have two children, Clara and Noah. Pidgeon, who was born to a non-practicing Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
family, has converted
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
to Mamet's Jewish faith.
Discography
- The Raven (1994)
- The New York Girl's Club (1996)
- The Four Marys (1998)
- Tough on Crime (2005)
- Behind the Velvet Curtain (2008)
Filmography
- 1987: Bust as Sarah (2 episodes)
- 1988: The DawningThe DawningThe Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
as Nancy Gulliver - 1988: Campaign as Sally Byfleet
- 1989: Screen One: She's Been Away as Young Lillian (1 episode)
- 1991: Uncle Vanya as Sonya
- 1991: HomicideHomicide (1991 film)Homicide is a mystery film crime drama written and directed by David Mamet, and released in 1991. The film's cast includes Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, and Ving Rhames...
as Miss Klein - 1992: The Water EngineThe Water EngineThe Water Engine is a play by David Mamet that highlights the sometimes violent suppression of a disruptive alternative energy technology. The storyline setting of 1934 likely coincides with the real-life experiences of Texans Henry "Dad" and Charles H. Garrett who, in 1935, received a U.S. Patent...
as Connie - 1997: The Spanish PrisonerThe Spanish PrisonerThe Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara and Ricky Jay...
as Susan Ricci - 1999: The Winslow BoyThe Winslow Boy (1999 film)The Winslow Boy is a 1999 period drama film directed by David Mamet. Starring Nigel Hawthorne, Rebecca Pidgeon, Jeremy Northam and Gemma Jones. Set in London before World War I, it depicts a family defending the honor of its young son at all cost. The screenplay was adapted by Mamet based on ...
as Catherine Winslow - 2000: CatastropheCatastrophe (play)Catastrophe is a short play by Samuel Beckett, written in French in 1982 at the invitation of A.I.D.A. and “[f]irst produced in the Avignon Festival … Beckett considered it ‘massacred.’” It is one of his few plays to deal with a political theme and, arguably, holds the title of Beckett's most...
as The Director's Assistant - 2000: State and MainState and MainState and Main is a 2000 comedy film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rebecca Pidgeon, about the on-location production in Waterford, Vermont of a film called The Old Mill...
as Ann - 2001: HeistHeist (film)Heist is a 2001 crime film, written and directed by David Mamet, which stars Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, and Sam Rockwell.-Plot:...
as Fran Moore - 2002: Advice and Dissent as Ellen Goldman
- 2004-2005: The ShieldThe ShieldThe Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
as Joanna Faulks (3 episodes) - 2005: Shopgirl as Christie Richards
- 2005: EdmondEdmond (film)Edmond is a 2005 drama-thriller film starring William H. Macy, based on the play of the same name. It was written by David Mamet and directed by Stuart Gordon....
as Wife - 2006: ProvokedProvoked (film)Provoked is a 2007 UK based English language film, directed by Jag Mundhra. It stars Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, Nandita Das and Steve McFadden. The film is loosely based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who killed her abusive husband.Cinematography...
as Miriam - 2006: In Justice as Charlotte Conti (3 episodes)
- 2006-2009: The UnitThe UnitThe Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
as Charlotte Ryan (14 episodes) - 2007: Jesse Stone: Sea Change as Leeann Lewis
- 2008: RedbeltRedbeltRedbelt is a 2008 martial arts film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film opened in wide release in the United States and Canada on May 9, 2008.-Plot:...
as Zena Frank - 2008: How to BeHow To BeHow to Be is an award-winning independent comedy/drama feature film written and directed by Oliver Irving. It is about a young man named Art, played by Robert Pattinson, who is going through a quarter-life crisis....
as Mother - 2008: Cat City as Victoria Compton
- 2009: The Lodger as Dr. Jessica Westmin
- 2010: Glenn Martin DDS as Unknown (1 episode, voice)
- 2010: RedRed (2010 film)RED is a 2010 American action comedy film loosely inspired by the three-issue comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage...
as Cynthia Wilkes - 2012: Come Back to SorrentoCome Back to Sorrento (film)Come Back to Sorrento is a drama film directed by Michael Worth starring Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy....
as Unknown (pre-production)