Elizabeth McGovern
Acting • Born 1961-07-18
Biography
Elizabeth McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American film, television, and theater actress. In 1980, while studying at Juilliard, McGovern was offered a part in her first film, Ordinary People, in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Timothy Hutton. The following year she completed her education as an actress at the American Conservatory Theatre and at The Juilliard School, and began to appear in plays, first Off-Broadway and later in famous theaters. In 1981, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the film Ragtime. In 1984, she starred in Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America as Robert De Niro's romantic interest, Deborah Gelly. In 1989, she played Mickey Rourke's girlfriend in Johnny Handsome, directed by Walter Hill, and the same year she appeared as a rebellious lesbian in Volker Schlöndorff's thriller The Handmaid's Tale.
Filmography
89 credits
Once Upon a Time in America
Movie • 1984
Deborah Gelly
Johnny Handsome
Movie • 1989
Donna McCarty
A Shock to the System
Movie • 1990
Stella Anderson
The Handmaid's Tale
Movie • 1990
Moira
Kick-Ass
Movie • 2010
Mrs. Lizewski
The House of Mirth
Movie • 2000
Mrs. Carry Fisher
Ragtime
Movie • 1981
Evelyn Nesbit
Buffalo Soldiers
Movie • 2002
Mrs. Berman
King of the Hill
Movie • 1993
Lydia
She's Having a Baby
Movie • 1988
Kristy Briggs
The Wings of the Dove
Movie • 1997
Susan Stringham
Ordinary People
Movie • 1980
Jeannine Pratt
The Bedroom Window
Movie • 1987
Denise
Racing with the Moon
Movie • 1984
Caddie Winger
Hawkins
Movie • 2001
Susie Hawkins
Clash of the Titans
Movie • 2010
Marmara
Lovesick
Movie • 1983
Chloe Allen
The Favor
Movie • 1994
Emily
Wings of Courage
Movie • 1995
Noëlle Guillaumet
Angels Crest
Movie • 2011
Jane
Native Son
Movie • 1986
Mary Dalton
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
Movie • 2012
Mrs. Thatcham
The Summer of Ben Tyler
Movie • 1996
Celia Rayburn
Remembering Ragtime
Movie • 2004
Evelyn Nesbit (archive footage)
Clover
Movie • 1997
Sara Kate
The Queen At 90
Movie • 2016
Narrator
Daphne
Movie • 2007
Ellen Doubleday
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction
Movie • 1990
Vicki
Manila
Movie • 2000
Elizabeth
Broken Glass
Movie • 1996
Margaret Hyman
The Changeling
Movie • 1993
Beatrice-Joanna
Broken Trust
Movie • 1995
Janice Dillon
Swung
Movie • 2015
Dolly Adams
Me and Veronica
Movie • 1993
Fanny
Unexpected
Movie • 2015
Carolyn
The Man with Rain in His Shoes
Movie • 1998
Diane
Woman in Gold
Movie • 2015
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper
And Mrs.
Movie • 2024
Margaret
Showing Roots
Movie • 2016
Shirley
The Misadventures of Margaret
Movie • 1998
Till Turner
The Flamingo Rising
Movie • 2001
Edna Lee
A Room with a View
Movie • 2007
Mrs Honeychurch
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Movie • 2025
Cora Crawley
The Truth
Movie • 2006
Donna
The Commuter
Movie • 2018
Karen MacCauley
Tune in Tomorrow...
Movie • 1990
Elena Quince
Tales from Hollywood
Movie • 1992
Helen Schwartz
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Movie • 1984
Snow White
Inconceivable
Movie • 2008
Tallulah 'Tutu' Williams
The Chaperone
Movie • 2019
Norma
The Wife
Movie • 2017
Elaine Mozell
Screen Goddesses
Movie • 2012
Narrator
Downton Abbey
Movie • 2019
Cora Crawley
JFK Jr. and Carolyn's Wedding: The Lost Tapes
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Thursday the 12th
Movie • 2003
Candice Hopper
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Movie • 2022
Cora Crawley
Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters
Movie • 2011
Wallis Simpson (Voice)
Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale
Movie • 2025
Self
The Scarlet Pimpernel
TV • 1999
Marguerite Blakeney
Tales from the Crypt
TV • 1989
Laura Kendall
Three Moons Over Milford
TV • 2006
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV • 1999
Faith Sutton
Civil War: The Untold Story
TV • 2014
Narrator (voice)
Faerie Tale Theatre
TV • 1982
Snow White
California Fever
TV • 1979
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Celia
The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire
TV • 2003
If Not for You
TV • 1995
Jessie Kent
Freezing
TV • 2008
Downton Abbey
TV • 2010
Cora Crawley
Performance
TV • 1991
Helen Schwartz
Performance
TV • 1991
Margaret Hyman
The Kumars
TV • 2014
Self
Ashenden
TV • 1991
Aileen Somerville
Big Fat Quiz
TV • 2004
Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV • 2019
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Edna Lee
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
TV • 2009
Self - Guest
War of the Worlds
TV • 2019
Helen Brown
Modern Family
TV • 2009
California Mom (archive footage)
Loose Women
TV • 1999
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self
A Little Late with Lilly Singh
TV • 2019
Self
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV • 1989
Dame Celia Westholme
Performance
TV • 1991
Beatrice-Joanna
Talamasca: The Secret Order
TV • 2025
Helen
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self - Guest
10 Minute Tales
TV • 2009
Ex-Wife