# Jeannie Berlin

Jeannie Berlin (born Jeannie Brette May; November 1, 1949) is an American film, television and stage actress and screenwriter, the daughter of Elaine May. She is best known for her role in the 1972 comedy film The Heartbreak Kid, for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She later played the leading role in Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975), and has acted in films such as Margaret (2011), Inherent Vice (2014), Café Society (2016), The Fabelmans (2022), and You Hurt My Feelings (2023). She also acted in the HBO miniseries The Night Of (2016), the Amazon Prime series Hunters (2020), and the HBO series Succession (2019–2023).

## Early life

Born in Los Angeles, California, Berlin is the daughter of actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and director Elaine May (née Berlin) and inventor Marvin May. Elaine May Berlin directed The Heartbreak Kid, in 1972, featuring Berlin, whose performance earned her Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Berlin chose to use her mother's maiden name for her stage name.

## Career

Berlin made her screen debut appearing in a supporting role in the made-for-television film In Name Only starring Eve Arden. She acted on the New York stage and began appearing in a number of films, including Getting Straight (1970), The Strawberry Statement (1970), Move (1970), The Baby Maker (1970), Portnoy's Complaint (1971), and Bone (1972).
In 1972, Berlin's performance in the comedy film The Heartbreak Kid, directed by her mother and with a screenplay by Neil Simon, garnered her Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She also won National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. In article for The New York Times by John Gruen he wrote: "What is more, every critic said that Jeannie looks, sounds and acts exactly like her mother. One critic even said that she is a much better actress than her mother . . . 'with real blood coursing through her.' Anyway, this piece will set out to prove that Jeannie Berlin, who looks, talks, and acts exactly like Elaine May, is, in fact, Elaine May's 23‐year‐old daughter, and a person in her own right, even though . . . well, there's just no denying it, she looks, sounds, and acts exactly like her mother."
In 1975, Berlin played a leading role in the romantic comedy film Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York. The film was not well received by critics: Stanley Eichelbaum from San Francisco Examiner noted that "Jeannie is cold and hasn't the inner glow the appeal and magnetism that an actress needs to carry a film." The following year, she had a leading role in "Old Fashioned Murder", an episode of the NBC detective drama series Columbo. Berlin did not act on film or television again until 1990, when she appeared in and co-wrote the screenplay for the comedy-drama film In the Spirit starring her mother alongside Marlo Thomas and Olympia Dukakis.
Berlin appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions in 1990s. She made her Broadway theatre debut in May's play After the Night and the Music in 2005. In 2012, she appeared in the play Other Desert Cities at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. After an extended absence of more than a decade from acting in films, in 2011 she co-starred in Margaret, a psychological drama film starring Anna Paquin. She received positive reviews from film critics and was nominated for the National Society of Film Critics and Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's crime film Inherent Vice (2014) and Woody Allen's romantic comedy-drama Café Society (2016).
In 2016, Berlin received positive reviews for her performance as prosecutor Helen Weiss in the HBO miniseries The Night Of. She was named a contender for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie nomination, which did not come to fruition. In 2018 she played the President of the United States in the Hulu drama series The First, and the following year was cast as Cyd Peach, the head of the Roys' Fox News–esque TV station in the HBO drama series Succession. In 2020, she had a recurring role in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Hunters playing the grandmother of the lead character. In 2022, she starred in the coming-of-age drama film The Fabelmans directed by Steven Spielberg.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | Getting Straight | Judy Kramer | |
| 1970 | The Strawberry Statement | Girl with Clipboard | |
| 1970 | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | Girl in Orphanage | |
| 1970 | Move | Myrna | |
| 1970 | The Baby Maker | Charlotte | |
| 1972 | Portnoy's Complaint | Bubbles Girardi | |
| 1972 | Bone | The Girl | |
| 1972 | I figli chiedono perché | | |
| 1972 | The Heartbreak Kid | Lila Kolodny | |
| 1973 | Why? | The Junkie | |
| 1975 | Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York | Sheila Levine | |
| 1990 | In the Spirit | Crystal | Also co-writer |
| 2011 | Margaret | Emily | |
| 2013 | Vijay and I | Mrs. Korokowski | |
| 2014 | Inherent Vice | Aunt Reet | |
| 2016 | Café Society | Rose Dorfman | |
| 2018 | The Boor | | Short film, writer and director |
| 2020 | Here After | Goldie | |
| 2022 | The Fabelmans | Haddash Fabelman | |
| 2023 | You Hurt My Feelings | Georgia | |
| 2023 | I'll Be Right There | Grace | |
| 2025 | The Bride! | | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1969 | In Name Only | Heather | Television film |
| 1971 | Two on a Bench | Harriet | Television film |
| 1976 | Columbo | Janie Brandt | Episode: "Old Fashioned Murder" |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Risa Barbeko | Episode: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" |
| 2016 | The Night Of | Helen Weiss | Miniseries |
| 2018 | The First | President Cecily Burke | Recurring role, 3 episodes |
| 2019–2023 | Succession | Cyd Peach | Recurring role, 8 episodes |
| 2019 | SMILF | Lillian Wheaton | Episode: Sh*t Man, I've Literally Failed" |
| 2020–2023 | Hunters | Ruth Heidelbaum | Recurring role, 10 episodes |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
| 1972 | National Society of Film Critics Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Heartbreak Kid | Won |
| 1972 | New York Film Critics Circle Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Heartbreak Kid | Won |
| 1972 | Golden Globe Award | Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture | The Heartbreak Kid | Nominated |
| 1972 | Academy Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Heartbreak Kid | Nominated |
| 2011 | Village Voice Film Poll | Best Supporting Actress | Margaret | Won |
| 2011 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Supporting Actress | Margaret | Nominated |
| 2011 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Supporting Actress | Margaret | 2nd place |
| 2011 | Indiewire Award | Best Supporting Performance | Margaret | 3rd place |
| 2023 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | The Fabelmans | Nominated |