Film Forum

On Monday, April 2, Film Forum presents a special evening of conversation and film clips with actress Lois Smith, moderated by Foster Hirsch and produced by Bruce Goldstein. Special admission: $25 non-members; $15 for Film Forum members. 

From her unforgettable movie debut opposite James Dean in Kazan’s East of Eden in 1955 up through her two sterling performances, in 2017, in Marjorie Prime and Lady Bird, Kansas-born Lois Smith has an astounding resumé. In an over-60-years-and-counting career in theater, television and movies — her credits including everything from Five Easy Pieces (as Jack Nicholson’s neurotic sister) and Fatal Attraction to TV’s Desperate Housewives and the soap opera One Life to Live — she has created characters both tart and sweet, vulnerable and resilient, proving that, for great actors, there are no small parts. While she remains a commanding presence as a supporting actress, tonight she’s the one and only star. 

Lois Smith recently appeared in both the feature film and Playwrights Horizons production of Marjorie Prime, and can also currently be seen in the feature Lady Bird. She also appeared at the Signature in Annie Baker’s John, for which she received a Lucille Lortel nomination; Tony Kushner’s The Illusion and Horton Foote’s The Old Friends and The Trip to Bountiful, winning many awards for the latter. Other favorite stage roles include The Grapes of Wrath and Buried Child (Tony nominations for both), Broadway productions originating at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, and Amy Herzog’s After the Revolution at Playwrights Horizons.  Her first film was East of Eden.  Many others followed, including The Comedian, Five Easy Pieces, Minority Report, Twister, Dead Man Walking, How to Make an American Quilt, Four Friends, and Please Give. Numerous television credits include, most recently, Sneaky Pete, Younger, Blacklist, The Affair, Grace & Frankie, The Americans, and True Blood.

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