Barbara Hershey
Birth Name: Barbara Lynn Herzstein
Birth Date: 1948-02-05
Birth Place: Hollywood, Jackson County, United States
Details
Alternate Names: 바바라 허쉬, Barbara Lynn Herzstein, باربارا هرشی
Physical Characteristics: N/A
Career
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Full Biography
Born Barbara Lynn Herzstein in Hollywood on February 5, 1948, Barbara Hershey is an American actress whose career has spanned over six decades. Raised by a horse-racing columnist father and an Arkansas-native mother, she was a shy child who found her voice through acting, eventually debuting on the television series Gidget at age 17. Her early years were marked by a free-spirited reputation and a high-profile relationship with actor David Carradine, during which she famously changed her stage name to Barbara Seagull for several years after an accidental encounter with the bird on a film set.
Her career reached new heights in the 1980s, a decade in which the Chicago Tribune hailed her as "one of America's finest actresses". During this period, she starred in several modern classics, including Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), the sports drama Hoosiers (1986), and the cult melodrama Beaches (1988). Hershey achieved a historic milestone at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first actress to win the Best Actress award in two consecutive years for Shy People (1987) and A World Apart (1988).
In the 1990s, she continued her streak of excellence, earning an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her chilling performance in the TV film A Killing in a Small Town (1990). Her work in Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996) garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Hershey successfully transitioned into the 21st century with powerful roles in diverse genres, such as the psychological thriller Black Swan (2010), where she played Natalie Portman's overbearing mother, and the popular horror franchise Insidious. She also found a new generation of fans as the formidable Cora (the Queen of Hearts) in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time. Most recently, she has appeared in projects like the horror film The Manor (2021) and the series Beacon 23 (2023), continuing to prove her enduring relevance in Hollywood.
