Patricia Davies Clarkson born December 29, is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions.
Born and raised in New Orleans to a politician mother and school administrator father, Clarkson earned a degree in drama from Fordham University before attending the Yale School of Drama , where she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
After appearing in minor roles in the early and mids, she garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a drug-addicted actress in the independent drama High Art Perry Walker High School , [ 4 ] where she graduated in From to , Clarkson studied speech pathology at Louisiana State University before deciding she wanted to pursue a drama degree.
Clarkson has stated that in the early s, she went through a turbulent period in her career and was unable to find significant work. In , Clarkson had a small role in the critically acclaimed independent romantic comedy Playing By Heart , playing a woman at a bar who listens to a false story told by a man Dennis Quaid as part of his improv class.
In , Clarkson was cast in a supporting role in Todd Haynes 's period drama Far from Heaven , opposite Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid, playing the neighbor of a repressed housewife in the s.
