Embeth Davidtz
Acting • Born 1965-08-11
Biography
Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American-born South African actress and director. She has appeared in movies such as Schindler's List, Matilda, Bridget Jones's Diary, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men. In 2024 Davidtz made her directorial debut with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Alexandra Fuller about growing up on a farm in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The film had its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Davidtz was born on August 11, 1965, in Lafayette, Indiana, to South African parents John and Jean, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. The family later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then to South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry. She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa, where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. Davidtz graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. In 1992, Davidtz played the part of Sheila in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness alongside Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The third movie in the Evil Dead franchise would eventually become a big cult classic worldwide. In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. In 1995, Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First, and the Merchant Ivory Productions Feast of July.
Filmography
54 credits
Schindler's List
Movie • 1993
Helen Hirsch
The Hole
Movie • 2001
Dr. Philippa Horwood
Junebug
Movie • 2005
Madeleine
Bridget Jones's Diary
Movie • 2001
Natasha
Army of Darkness
Movie • 1992
Sheila
Bicentennial Man
Movie • 1999
Little Miss / Portia
Mansfield Park
Movie • 1999
Mary Crawford
Matilda
Movie • 1996
Miss Honey
Fracture
Movie • 2007
Jennifer Crawford
Not Okay
Movie • 2022
Judith
Murder in the First
Movie • 1995
Mary McCasslin
Fallen
Movie • 1998
Gretta Milano
The Gingerbread Man
Movie • 1998
Mallory Doss
Thir13en Ghosts
Movie • 2001
Kalina
Mutator
Movie • 1989
Jennifer
Winged Creatures
Movie • 2009
Lydia Jaspersen
The Emperor's Club
Movie • 2002
Elizabeth
3 Backyards
Movie • 2010
The Actress
Retribution
Movie • 2023
Heather Turner
Paranoia
Movie • 2013
Judith Bolton
Europa Report
Movie • 2013
Dr. Samantha Unger
Miracle Rising: South Africa
Movie • 2013
Self
Matilda's Movie Magic: The Making of 'Matilda'
Movie • 2005
Self
My Movie About Making 'Matilda' by Mara Wilson
Movie • 2005
Self
Sweet Murder
Movie • 1990
A Private Life
Movie • 1989
Older Karen
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Movie • 2011
Annika Blomkvist Giannini
The Amazing Spider-Man
Movie • 2012
Mary Parker
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Movie • 2014
Mary Parker
Feast of July
Movie • 1995
Bella Ford
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
Movie • 2014
Self
Deadly Matrimony
Movie • 1992
Dianne Masters
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Movie • 2025
Nicola Fuller
Last Rites
Movie • 1999
Dr. Lauren Riggs
Till Death Us Do Part
Movie • 1992
Katherine Palliko
The Garden of Redemption
Movie • 1997
Adriana
Simon Magus
Movie • 1999
Leah
Old
Movie • 2021
Adult Maddox
The Night of the 19th
Movie • 1991
Tessa van Dyk
Schindler's List: 25 Years Later
Movie • 2018
Self
An Oral History of: Schindler's List
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Californication
TV • 2007
Felicia Koons
Citizen Baines
TV • 2001
Ellen Baines Croland
Shackleton
TV • 2002
Rosalind Chetwynd
Love, Victor
TV • 2020
Mrs. Campbell
Grey's Anatomy
TV • 2005
Nancy Shepherd (uncredited)
The Morning Show
TV • 2019
Paige Jacobs
Ray Donovan
TV • 2013
Sonia Kovitzky
Mad Men
TV • 2007
Rebecca Pryce
In Treatment
TV • 2008
Amy
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
TV • 2015
Natasha Lytess
Tales of the Walking Dead
TV • 2022
Amanda
Grey's Anatomy
TV • 2005
Nancy Shepherd
Scrubs
TV • 2001
Maddie