Mia Farrow - Biography

Last Editor: raymankelly				Mia Farrow Biography -   Name : Mia Farrow Birth name : Maria de Lourdes Villiers-Farrow Born : February 9, 1945 (1945-02-09) (age 62) Los Angeles, California Spouse(s) : Frank Sinatra (1966-1968) André Previn (1970-1979) Notable roles : Allison Mackenzie in Peyton Place Rosemary Woodhouse in Rosemary's Baby Cenci in Secret Ceremony Mary in John and Mary Tina Vitale in Broadway Danny R

Mia Farrow Trivia -

Mia Farrow is daughter of John Farrow and Maureen O'Sullivan. She is sister of John Charles Farrow, Prudence Farrow, Stephanie Farrow, Tisa Farrow, Patrick Farrow and Michael Farrow. She was on the first cover of People Magazine. John Lennon wrote "Dear Prudence" for her younger sister Prudence Farrow. She auditoned for the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music (1965). She hit #111 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts with "Lullaby from Rosemary's Baby (1968)" in August of 1968. She is the first American actress to be accepted as a member of London's prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company. Her godparents were gossip columnist Louella Parsons and famed director George Cukor. April 2002 - refused to co-operate with request that clips from some of her performances in Woody Allen films could be used for upcoming Turner Classic Movies tribute to the director, her ex-lover since infamous break-up in 1996. Mia and her family live in huge rent-controlled apartment building right next door to Manhattan's legendary Dakota apartment house, which starred as the devilish locale in Rosemary's Baby (1968). Dakota is also the building where her friend, John Lennon, lived and in front of which he was shot to death. Her mother attended private school with fellow actress Vivien Leigh, and Leigh gave Farrow's career a push when she made her off-Broadway debut playing Cecily in a New York revival of "The Importance of Being Earnest". Leigh put out personal phone calls to make sure that agents and casting directors saw the show. She is a UNICEF Special Representative. Her measurements: 32-22-34 (as a 1960s starlet), 33 1/2-24-35 (in 1996),. Daughter Mallone attends Bard College, class of 2007. Was one of the bridesmaids when Liza Minnelli married David Gest in a lavish ceremony on March 16, 2002. Farrow and Minnelli have been friends since childhood. She is of Irish extraction from her mother's side. She was the voice of the Unicorn/Amalthia in the 1982 animated version of The Last Unicorn (1982) and will be portraying the Molly Grue character in the up coming live action remake set for 2006. She contracted Polio at the age of nine. She is portrayed by Nina Siemaszko in Sinatra (1992) (TV) and by Patsy Kensit in Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995) (TV). She and Woody Allen made 13 movies together: Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Alice (1990), Another Woman (1988), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), September (1987), Husbands and Wives (1992), A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), New York Stories (1989), Radio Days (1987), Shadows and Fog (1991) and Zelig (1983). Former stepmother of Nancy Sinatra, Tina Sinatra and Frank Sinatra Jr. Returned to the New York stage in September 2005 to appear off-Broadway in the play, "Fran's Bed." Mia Farrow's performance was widely praised by NY critics. Her former step-children, Frank Sinatra Jr. (b. 1944), and 'Nancy Sinatra.' (b. 1940) were older than her. Elder brother Michael (born 1939) perished in a 1958 plane crash while taking flying lessons. Father died when she was 17. Is, to the day, 2 years younger than Joe Pesci. Was featured on People's first published issue, March 4, 1974. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2007 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actress category for her roles in the films Arthur et les Minimoys (2006) and The Omen (2006), however, she failed to receive a nomination. Had she gotten the nomination, it would have been her first in 24 years. She was previously nominated for Worst Actress for her performance in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), at the 1983 Razzie Awards. In February of 2007 - as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador - she toured the Central African Republic and Chad for a week each. Her goal was to bring worldwide attention to those impoverished African countries. Turned down the role of Mattie Ross in the 1969 now classic True Grit (1969) opposite John Wayne, a decision she now cites as the worst mistake she has made in her career. Mia has 15 children. She has three biological children with André Previn: twins Matthew Phineas and Sascha Villiers, and Fletcher Farrow Previn. She adopted three children while married to Previn: Soon-Yi Previn, Lark Song and Summer Song (aka Daisy Previn). She has one biological child with Woody Allen: Satchel O'Sullivan Farrow (now known as Ronan Seamus Farrow). She adopted two children while with Allen: Moses Farrow (aka Misha), Dylan O'Sullivan Farrow(aka Mallone). She has adopted six children as a single mother: Tam Farrow, Isaiah Justus Farrow, Quincy Farrow (aka Kaeli-Shea Farrow), Frankie-Minh Farrow, Thaddeus W. Farrow and Gabriel Wilk Farrow. Tam Farrow died in March of 2000 at age 19 of a heart ailment. Lark Farrow died in December of 2008 at age 35. When Farrow first met husband-to-be Frank Sinatra in 1964, she was 19 and he 48, a fact that prompted Dean Martin to quip that he owned a bottle of Scotch older than Farrow. At one time, was scheduled to star in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) with Geneviève Bujold. The film was eventually made with Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave in the leads. In 2008, she was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world. Natasha Richardson was the godmother of two of Mia's adopted children. On March 22, 2009, Mia Farrow attended the funeral of her good friend and former costar, Natasha Richardson. Farrow announced that on April 27, 2009, she will begin a fast of water only in solidarity with the people of Darfur and as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease.

Mia Farrow Detailed Biography -

Mia Farrow (born Maria de Lourdes Villiers-Farrow on February 9, 1945) is an American actress. Farrow has appeared in more than forty films and won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe award (and seven additional Golden Globe nominations), three BAFTA Film Award nominations, and a win for best actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Farrow is also notable for her extensive humanitarian work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Her latest effort is "www.miafarrow.org", containing a guide on how to get involved with Darfur activism, along with her photos and blog entries from Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic. Farrow is the daughter of John Farrow, an Australian film director, and Irish actress Maureen O'Sullivan. Both parents were practicing Catholics and Mia, born Maria de Lourdes Villiers-Farrow (in Los Angeles, California), had a Catholic upbringing. Her sister, Prudence Farrow, inspired The Beatles' song Dear Prudence. Farrow was stricken with polio as a child and spent a year in an iron lung. She made her film debut in a 1947 short subject with her mother; the short was about famous mothers and their children modeling the latest fashions for families. In the 1950s, she appeared in the Cold War educational film, Duck and Cover. Farrow screen-tested for the role of Liesl Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. That footage has been preserved, and appears on the fortieth Anniversary Edition DVD of The Sound of Music. Farrow began her acting career by appearing in supporting roles in several 1960s films. However, she achieved stardom on the popular nighttime soap opera Peyton Place as naive, waif-like Allison Mackenzie, a role she later abandoned at the urging of husband Frank Sinatra. Her first leading film role was in 1968's Rosemary's Baby, which was a major critical and commercial success at the time and continues to be widely regarded as a classic of the horror genre. Farrow's performance in Rosemary's Baby garnered numerous awards and established her as a leading actress. Film critic and author Stephen Farber described her performance as having an "electrifying impact… one of the rare instances of actor and character achieving a miraculous, almost mythical match. If Ira Levin's story shrewdly taps into every pregnant woman's fears about the stranger growing inside her, Mia Farrow gives those fears an achingly real and human force". Film critic Roger Ebert noted that "the brilliance of the film comes more from Polanski's direction, and from a series of genuinely inspired performances… The characters emerge as human beings actually doing these things. A great deal of the credit for this achievement must go to Mia Farrow, as Rosemary". Following Rosemary's Baby, Farrow starred in Secret Ceremony, opposite Elizabeth Taylor. The film divided critics, but has gone on to develop a devoted following. Farrow's other late 60's films include John and Mary, opposite Dustin Hoffman. In the 1970s, Farrow appeared in a number of notable films, including the 1971 thriller See No Evil, legendary French director Claude Chabrol's 1972 film Docteur Popaul, and the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, in which Farrow played "Daisy Buchanan". She also appeared in director Robert Altman's cult classic A Wedding in 1978. Farrow also appeared in a number of made for television films in the 1970s, most notably portraying the title role in a 1976 musical version of Peter Pan. In 1979, Farrow appeared on Broadway opposite Anthony Perkins in the play Romantic Comedy by Bernard Slade. In the 1980s and early 90's, Farrow's relationship with director Woody Allen resulted in numerous film collaborations. She appeared in nearly all of Allen's critically acclaimed films during this period, including leading roles in Hannah and Her Sisters (playing the title role of "Hannah"), The Purple Rose of Cairo, Broadway Danny Rose, and 1990s Alice, again as the title character. Farrow also played Alura, mother of "Kara" (Helen Slater), in the 1984 movie Supergirl and voiced the title role in 1982's animated film The Last Unicorn. Citing the need to devote herself to raising her young children, Farrow worked less frequently during the 90's. Nonetheless, she appeared in leading roles in several notable films, included 1994's Widows' Peak (an Irish film) and the 1995 films, Miami Rhapsody and Reckless. She also appeared in several independent features and made for television films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. She also wrote an autobiography, What Falls Away (New York: Doubleday, 1997). Farrow most recently appeared as "Mrs. Baylock", the Satanic nanny, in the 2006 remake of The Omen. Though the film itself received a lukewarm critical reception, Farrow's performance was widely praised, with the Associated Press declaring "thank heaven for Mia Farrow" and calling her performance "a rare instance of the new "Omen" improving on the old one". Filmcritic.com added "it is Farrow who steals the show", and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described her performance as "a truly delicious comeback role for Rosemary herself, Mia Farrow, who is chillingly believable as a sweet-talking nanny from hell". Farrow has completed work on several films released in 2007, including the romantic comedy The Ex and the first part of director Luc Besson's planned trilogy of fantasy films, Arthur and the Invisibles. In September 2006, she began shooting director Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, opposite Jack Black and Danny Glover. Farrow has been a high profile advocate for children's rights, working to raise funds and awareness for children in conflict affected regions, predominantly in Africa. She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has worked extensively to draw attention to the fight to eradicate polio, which she survived as a child. She has traveled to Darfur twice, in November 2004 and June 2006, joining her son Ronan Farrow, who has also worked for UNICEF in Sudan, in advocating for Darfuri refugees. Farrow's photographs of Darfur appeared in People magazine in July 2006 and she authored an article on the crisis, published in the Chicago Tribune on July 25, 2006. On February 5, 2007, Farrow authored an editorial for the Los Angeles Times. Her latest effort is www.miafarrow.org,[10] containing a guide on how to get involved with Darfur activism, along with her photos and blog entries from Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic. In 1968, Farrow famously traveled to India, where she spent the early part of the year at the ashram of the Maharishi in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, studying transcendental meditation. The visit gained worldwide media attention due to the presence of all four Beatles, Donovan, Mike Love (the Beach Boys lead singer), Prudence Farrow (Mia's younger sister who inspired John Lennon to write Dear Prudence), and Mia Farrow. Farrow married singer Frank Sinatra on July 19, 1966, when she was 21 and he was 50. While she was filming Rosemary's Baby with director Roman Polanski, Sinatra served her divorce papers in front of the cast and crew. The move came as a shock to Farrow, who did not think that Sinatra would divorce her because she had refused his prior demand that she quit filming in order to work on his movie The Detective. The split was finalized two years later. Farrow married German-American Jewish pianist André Previn in 1970. His former wife, songwriter Dory Previn, blamed Farrow for his leaving her and wrote a scathing attack in a song entitled "Beware of Young Girls". Farrow and Previn had three biological children (twins Matthew and Sascha, born in 1970; and Fletcher, born in 1974) together and adopted three children, one from Korea, the other two from Vietnam, Soon-Yi, Lark Song, and Daisy. André and Mia divorced in 1979, but they remained on good terms. Fletcher Previn appears in one of Farrow's Woody Allen films, Radio Days; Fletcher plays with the children in a scene set on a roof-top. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Farrow spent many years with director Woody Allen, but did not marry or live with him. The two had one biological son named Ronan Seamus Farrow. They also adopted a son and daughter together. They separated after Allen began a sexual relationship with Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, whom he later married. Their marriage reportedly left Farrow devastated. During the custody battle, Farrow filed child abuse charges against Allen, involving her other daughter, Dylan. Those charges were later dropped. Farrow has been a high profile advocate for adoption since the 1970s, adopting children from poverty stricken regions, many of whom were deemed "difficult to place" due to biological handicaps. She adopted three children and has three biological children with Andre Previn. She also adopted two children and has one biological child with Woody Allen. Farrow went on to adopt five additional children as a sole parent thereafter. Her last adoption was in 1995. Farrow has fifteen children, eleven of them adopted. She is active in agencies that encourage adoption, as evidenced by her involvement with UNICEF. Farrow is estranged from Soon-Yi Previn since Soon-Yi's marriage to Woody Allen. She called the loss a "tragedy" in The Observer (a U.K. Sunday newspaper) and remarked that "she's not coming back". Farrow said of Soon-Yi: "She was on the streets in Korea when she was captured and brought to the state orphanage. And in a way I can see from her perspective - a very limited perspective - that she's improved her situation. For a little orphan kid from Korea ... Perhaps she's not to be blamed." Farrow's adopted daughter, Tam Farrow, died in March 2000 at twenty-one years, after a long illness. Adopted Adopted