Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Steaming (1981) and Hurlyburly (1984). She also received Best Actress In A Play nomination for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1992) and another Best Featured Actress in a Play nomination for The Heiress.
Ivey made her big screen debut playing the female lead role in the 1984 romantic comedy film, The Lonely Guy. She later appeared in the comedy films The Woman in Red (1984), Compromising Positions (1985), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Sister, Sister (1987), and the drama films The Devil's Advocate (1997) and Women Talking (2022), for which she received critical acclaim. On television, Ivey played the leading role in the NBC sitcom Down Home (1990-91), and played Bonnie Jean "BJ" Poteet during the final season of CBS sitcom Designing Women (1992-93). For her role in the television film What the Deaf Man Heard (1997), she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
Early life and education
Judith Lee Ivey was born on September 4, 1951, in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean, and Dorothy Lee (née Lewis; 1922—2023), a teacher.
From 1965 to 1968, she attended Union High School through tenth grade in Dowagiac, Michigan. She graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Illinois, in 1970, and then attended John A. Logan College, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), and Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.
Career
Ivey won two Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in a Play for Steaming in 1983 and Hurlyburly in 1985. She was nominated for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard in 1992 and a revival of The Heiress in 2013. Other Broadway theatre credits include Piaf, Bedroom Farce, Blithe Spirit, Voices in the Dark, and Follies. as well as the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. She received the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actress for that portrayal. Ivey portrayed Ann Landers in the solo play The Lady with All the Answers at the Cherry Lane Theatre (off-Broadway) in October 2009. She was nominated for Best Solo Performance for the Lucille Lortel Award and Drama Desk Award. In 2016, she returned to the Cherry Lane Theatre in Israel Horovitz's play Out of the Mouths of Babes with Estelle Parsons, directed by Barnet Kellman.
Ivey has appeared in numerous films, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Miles from Home, Compromising Positions, Harry & Son, The Woman in Red, Sister, Sister, In Country, Hello Again, The Lonely Guy, There Goes the Neighborhood, The Devil's Advocate, What Alice Found, and Flags of Our Fathers. She is now married to Tim Braine, and they have two children.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1984
|The Lonely Guy
|Iris
|
|-
|1984
|Harry & Son
|Sally
|
|-
|1984
|The Woman in Red
|Didi Pierce
|
|-
|1985
|Compromising Positions
|Nancy Miller
|
|-
|1986
|Brighton Beach Memoirs
|Blanche
|
|-
|1987
|Sister, Sister
|Charlotte Bonnard
|
|-
|1987
|Hello Again
|Zelda
|
|-
|1988
|Miles from Home
|Frances
|
|-
|1989
|In Country
|Anita
|
|-
|1990
|Everybody Wins
|Connie
|
|-
|1990
|Love Hurts
|Susan Volcheck
|
|-
|1990
|Alice
|Gossiping Matron
|uncredited
|-
|1992
|There Goes the Neighborhood
|Peedi Rutledge
|
|-
|1997
|Washington Square
|Aunt Elizabeth Almond
|
|-
|1997
|The Devil's Advocate
|Mrs. Alice Lomax
|
|-
|1997
|A Life Less Ordinary
|Celine's Mom
|
|-
|1998
|Without Limits
|Barbara Bowerman
|
|-
|1999
|Mystery, Alaska
|Joanne Burns
|
|-
|1999
|The Stand-In
|Mrs. Rosensweig
|
|-
|2003
|What Alice Found
|Sandra
|
|-
|2006
|Sweet Tornado DVD Extras
|Margo Jones
|direct-to-video
|-
|2006
|Flags of Our Fathers
|Belle Block
|
|-
|2010
|The Glass Menagerie
|Amanda Wingfield
|direct-to-video
|-
|2011
|A Bird of the Air
|Eleanor Reeves
|
|-
|2014
|Big Stone Gap
|Nan MacChesney
|
|-
|2017
|Cortez
|Sandy
|
|-
|2018
|The Bit Player
|Betty Shannon
|documentary
|-
|2020
|Through the Glass Darkly
|Mama Carmichael
|
|-
|2022
|Women Talking
|Agata Friesen
|Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Female Actor in a Canadian Film<br>AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actress<br>Independent Spirit Robert Altman AwardNational Board of Review Award for Best Cast<br>Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast<br>St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble<br>Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1980
|Search for Tomorrow
|Marilyn
|3 episodes
|-
|1982
|American Playhouse
|Louise
|Episode: "The Shady Hill Kidnapping"
|-
|1982
|Cagney & Lacey
|Gwen
|Episode: "Mr. Lonelyhearts"
|-
|1983
|Dixie: Changing Habits
|Sister Margaret
| rowspan="5" |TV movie
|-
|1984
|Piaf
|Madeline
|-
|1985
|The Long Hot Summer
|Noel Varner
|-
|1987
|We Are the Children
|Brenda Hayes
|-
|1990
|Decoration Day
|Terry Novis
|-
|1990–1991
|Down Home
|Kate McCrorey
|19 episodes
|-
|1992
|Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter
|Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells
| rowspan="2" |TV movie
|-
|1992
|Do Not Bring That Python in the House
|Mrs. Miller
|-
|1992–1993
|Designing Women
|B.J. Poteet
|22 episodes
|-
|1993
|Frogs!
|Passionatta
|TV movie
|-
|1993
|Frasier
|Lorraine (voice only)
|Episode: "I Hate Frasier Crane"
|-
|1993
|CBS Schoolbreak Special
|Counselor
|Episode: "Other Mothers"
|-
|1994
|Duckman
|Mother Mirabelle
|Episode: "T.V. or Not to Be"
|-
|1994
|On Promised Land
|Olivia
|TV movie
|-
|1994–1995
|The 5 Mrs. Buchanans
|Alexandria Buchanan
|17 episodes
|-
|1994–1995
|The Critic
|Eleanor Sherman
|23 episodes
|-
|1995
|Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story
|Laura McCormick
|TV movie
|-
|1996
|Buddies
|Maureen DeMoss
|14 episodes
|-
|1996
|The Summer of Ben Tyler
|Narrator
| rowspan="1" |TV movie
|-
|1997
|What the Deaf Man Heard
|Lucille
|Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
|-
|1999
|Half a Dozen Babies
|Doris Stauffer
|TV movie
|-
|2002
|Rose Red
|Cathy Kramer
| rowspan="2" |3 episodes
|-
|2002
|Will & Grace
|Eleanor Markus
|-
|2003
|Queens Supreme
|Susan Kelly
|Episode: "Mad About You"
|-
|2005
|Related
|Bob's Mom
|Episode: "Have Yourself a Sorelli Little Christmas"
|-
|2005, 2013
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
|Alice Parker / Jenny's Attorney
|2 episodes
|-
|2007
|Pictures of Hollis Woods
|Beatrice Gilcrest
|TV movie
|-
|2009
|Nurse Jackie
|Paula
|Episode: "Tiny Bubbles"
|-
|2010
|Past Life
|Laney
|2 episodes
|-
|2010
|The Whole Truth
|Bernadette Peale
|Episode: "Liars"
|-
|2011
|Big Love
|Renee Clayton
|Episode: "D.I.V.O.R.C.E."
|-
|2011
|Grey's Anatomy
|Barbara Robbins
|Episode: "White Wedding"
|-
|2012
|Person of Interest
|Sharon
|Episode: "Many Happy Returns"
|-
|2012
|White Collar
|Ellen Parker
|5 episodes
|-
|2012
|Modern Love
|Molly McElvane
| rowspan="2" |TV movie
|-
|2013
|Assistance
|Susan Johnson
|-
|2014
|Elementary
|Ruth Colville
|Episode: "The Many Mouths of Aaron Colville"
|-
|2016
|The Family
|Mrs. Asher
|4 episodes
|-
|2017
|Bloodline
|Belle's Mother
|Episode: "Part 27"
|-
|2018
|Instinct
|Social Worker Sheila
|Episode: "Tribal"
|-
|2019
|New Amsterdam
|Dr. Virginia Stauton
|4 episodes
|-
|2024
|Sweet Magnolias
|Bonnie Townsend
|4 episodes
|-
|2026
|Best Medicine
|Vanessa Best
|season 1 episode 9 "Doc Martin"
|}
Stage
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
!
|-
| 1979 || Bedroom Farce || Kate (Replacement) || Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway
| rowspan="16" |
|-
| 1981 || Piaf || Madeleine || Plymouth Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1982 || Steaming || Josie || Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1984 || Hurlyburly|| Bonnie || Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1986 || Precious Sons|| Bea || Longacre Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1987 || Blithe Spirit || Ruth || Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1991 || Park Your Car in Harvard Yard|| Kathleen Hogan || Music Box Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1999 || Voices in the Dark|| Lil || Longacre Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 2001 || Follies|| Sally Durant Plummer || Belasco Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 2009 || The Lady With All the Answers|| Ann Landers || Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2010 || The Glass Menagerie|| Amanda Wingfield || Laura Pels Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2012 || The Heiress || Lavinia Penniman || Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 2015 || The Audience || Margaret Thatcher || Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 2016 || Out of the Mouths of Babes|| Evvie || Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2017 || Fireflies|| Grace Bodell || Long Wharf Theater
|-
| 2019 || Greater Clements|| Maggie || Lincoln Center Theatre, Off-Broadway
|}