Illeana Douglas's father was the son of Hollywood actor Melvyn Illeana Douglas and his wife, the artist Rosalind Hightower.
36 Facts About Illeana Douglas
2.
Illeana Douglas had two older brothers, the late Stefan Gregor Hesselberg, a technician in the histology laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who trained racehorses in Verona, Italy, and Erik Hesselberg, a journalist.
3.
Illeana Douglas grew up in Connecticut, in the Old Saybrook area, and has said that she was raised in many other cities, in Massachusetts where her father lived, Connecticut where her mother lived, and New York, where her extended family lived.
4.
Illeana Douglas's maternal grandmother worked in the restaurant at Gertz department store in Astoria; her maternal grandfather was a welder.
5.
Illeana Douglas said that her maternal grandmother, a former Rockette, had wanted to be an actor.
6.
Illeana Douglas instilled in Douglas a love for the movies, which they attended together frequently when she was a child.
7.
Illeana Douglas said that during her summers with her grandfather, he introduced her to his interests, which included theater, elocution, reading, art, and history.
8.
Illeana Douglas has said that her grandfather's performance in Being There was influential on her own career.
9.
Illeana Douglas has said it took her a long time to reconcile the different lifestyles she was exposed to in her youth.
10.
Illeana Douglas identifies more with the Italian side of her family, and has said that she developed more of their "rhythms and ways" due to the amount of time she spent with them in Queens.
11.
Illeana Douglas attended American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she was a contemporary of Elias Koteas and Lou Mustillo.
12.
When she was 18 years old, Illeana Douglas went to work for Steve Rubell at the Morgans Hotel.
13.
Illeana Douglas worked briefly at Stand Up New York, and found the writing and acting easy, but found the performing difficult.
14.
Illeana Douglas did not like the raw comedy style then in vogue, and did not enjoy the lifestyle of a standup comic.
15.
Illeana Douglas said that Lorraine Bracco took Illeana Douglas under her wing during the shooting of Scorsese's Goodfellas, helping her to find an agent.
16.
Illeana Douglas acted in a low-budget movie called Grief that was accepted into Sundance, which led to her meeting director Allison Anders.
17.
Illeana Douglas had a supporting role in 1995's To Die For, a film that boosted her career in which the director Gus Van Sant taught her about the technical aspects of filmmaking, such as camera blocking, film lenses, and modulating a performance for film.
18.
Illeana Douglas had another supporting role in Ghost World.
19.
In 2016, Illeana Douglas appeared opposite Sean Astin in the independent feature film, Unleashed.
20.
On television, Illeana Douglas appeared in a memorable role as one of Garry Shandling's love interests towards the end of the series, The Larry Sanders Show, in 1998.
21.
Illeana Douglas played a television executive who started out as a prostitute who had Mohr as a regular customer.
22.
Illeana Douglas appeared in two episodes of the HBO TV series Six Feet Under, both of which earned Emmy nominations for Guest Actress in a Drama.
23.
Illeana Douglas appeared as Mrs Ari's sister Marci in the Season 7 finale of Entourage.
24.
In 2007, Illeana Douglas was added to the cast of Ugly Betty, playing Sheila, an editor for MODE magazine.
25.
Illeana Douglas spent time in Sweden shooting a TV show called Welcome to Sweden, which was produced by Amy Poehler and starred Greg Poehler and Lena Olin.
26.
Illeana Douglas has been the producer for several projects including Illeanarama, a collection of her short films for the Sundance Channel.
27.
From 2008 to 2012, Illeana Douglas starred in a web series sponsored by IKEA called Easy to Assemble, where she plays herself as an actor-in-recovery-from-acting who goes to work at IKEA.
28.
Illeana Douglas said that she had a great deal of autonomy from sponsor IKEA, whose only condition was that the show be suitable for children and families.
29.
In 2015, Illeana Douglas produced and mentored women filmmakers in developing a web-series for Jill Soloway called The Skinny.
30.
Illeana Douglas worked on a Turner Classic Movies series called Friday Night Spotlight, a prime-time show featuring a month-long festival of movies programmed by special guests.
31.
Illeana Douglas said that curating, writing, and working on this series allowed her to use her movie knowledge while making it funny, entertaining, and informative.
32.
In 2015, in association with the advocacy group, Women in Film, Illeana Douglas presented a month-long series on the TCM cable channel called "Trailblazing Women," an initiative to highlight women's contributions to the art of cinema.
33.
Illeana Douglas became involved in the project when she found out that the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest American movies didn't include any movies directed by women.
34.
In 2015 Illeana Douglas published a memoir called I Blame Dennis Hopper which was released through Flatiron Books.
35.
From 1989 until 1997, Illeana Douglas was in a relationship with director Martin Scorsese.
36.
Illeana Douglas said that the period after her divorce was difficult both emotionally and financially, and that she relocated from living in Los Angeles to the New York area, where she took classes at her former school, the Neighborhood Playhouse, and worked in theater.