Full Name: Jennifer Lynn Connelly

Age: 32

Date of Birth: December 12, 1970

Place of Birth: Catskill Mountains, New York State, USA

Height: 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 meters)

Eye Color: Green

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Current Residence: Manhattan, New York, USA 

Jennifer Connelly grew up in Brooklyn Heights, just across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, except for the four years her family spent in Woodstock, New York. Back in Brooklyn Heights, she attended Saint Ann's school. Her father was in the garment industry, and a close friend of the family was an advertising executive. When Jennifer was 10, the friend suggested that her parents take her to a modelling audition. She began appearing in newspaper and magazine ads (such as Seventeen magazine) and soon moved on to TV commercials. A casting director saw Jennifer and introduced her to Sergio Leone, who was seeking a young girl to dance in his gangster epic "Once Upon a Time in America."

Jennifer enrolled at Yale, then transferred two years later to Stanford. Her first appearance on celluloid (uncredited) was on a British TV series called "Tales Of The Unexpected". Her first movie appearance was in "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984). In an interview to Entertainment Weekly, Jennifer said she owed that role to the fact that her nose matched co-star Elizabeth McGovern's. Jennifer has also appeared in a rock video: "I Drove All Night", a Roy Orbison Song, co-starring Jason Priestly. There is a rumor that she appeared briefly in a Duran Duran video. She also appeared in a Miller Beer commercial. During the mid-eighties Jennifer released a single called "Monologue Of Love" in Japan, in which she sings in Japanese a charming little song with a semi classical instruments arrangement.

Jennifer is trained in classical theatre and improvisation, having studied with the late drama coach Roy London and with Howard Fine and Harold Guskin. She did TV commercials in Japan (see above). At one point she was "engaged" in an unconventional sense (i.e. no real plans to marry), to Bill Campbell, her co-star in "The Rocketeer". They were together on and off for about 5 years. Jennifer currently lives in New York. She's five feet eight (about 1.72 m), speaks fluent Italian, French and semi-fluent Japanese. She was also a member of Gold's Gym in Venice Beach for a year or two, but is no longer active. She enjoys physical activities such as swimming, gymnastics, bike riding, and roller skating. She is an outdoors person - into camping, hiking and walking.

Jennifer is interested in Quantum Physics and philosophy. She is fairly level headed and grounded as a person, and is not overly seduced by the Hollywood fantasy. She likes horses. With music she likes Pearl Jam, SoundGarden, Jesus Jones, and 'whatever sounds nice on the radio'. Occasionally Jennifer wears a small picture of the Dalai Lama on a necklace. Her favorite colors are cobalt blue, hunter green, and "a very pale green/gray - sort of like the color of the sea". She likes to draw.

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Biography from "Labyrinth" production notes (circa 1986)

Jennifer Connelly was chosen by director Jim Henson from hundreds of young actresses he interviewed and auditioned on both sides of the Atlantic. "I knew she was right for the role of Sarah as soon as she walked into my office in New York", said Henson. "I wanted a girl who looked and could act that role and that age. And Jennifer was perfect."

Co-star David Bowie was just as enthusiastic: "Jennifer was absolutely right for the part of Sarah. She's extremely pretty, with looks rather like those of the teenage Elizabeth Taylor. She's also a damn good actress and was a joy to work with.

Jennifer was born on December 12, 1970, in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. When she was a baby, the family lived in New York City where, with the exception of two years, she attended the same school.

At ten she began doing modeling work through the Ford Agency, in New York, followed by TV commercials. These led to movie auditions and she made her acting debut in "Once Upon A Time In America" in 1983, at the age of twelve. Next came an Italian film, "Phenomena" (1984), followed by "Seven Minutes Into Heaven" (1986). Then came "Labyrinth". "Jim Henson was wonderful to work with," she says. "He is a very gentle and considerate person as well as a wonderful director. And David Bowie was just great and it was wonderful watching him shoot, varying his performance from take to take."

The ballroom sequence in the film was her "own personal favorite," she recalls. "I wore a beautiful silver ballgown, which was a refreshing change from the blue jeans I wore in almost every other scene. It was really a gorgeous set, with masses of huge chandeliers and thousands of flickering candles, hundreds of silken cushions and curtains, and masses of people in strange masks and ornate dresses. There was the thrill of dancing with David Bowie to one of the songs he composed especially for the film. There wasn't enough room, for technical reasons, to really dance around properly, but we just drifted slowly and gracefully (I hope!) to David's music, and he looked fabulous! It's all a sort of magical fantasy sequence inside a huge bubble."

During the filming of "Labyrinth", Jennifer attended school lessons at the studio, as required by law. After twenty-one weeks of film work, she returned to New York City -- and school. "It's like the end of a chapter of my life," she sighed.

Jennifer still lives in New York City with her parents and a big sheepdog called Petunia. In her spare time, she enjoys music, writing, reading poetry, cycling, going out with friends, and exploring the city.
 

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Quotes :

[about her son]: "I don't think I would be doing this quality of work if it hadn't been for my son. He's changed me. He's helped me to understand myself and find my place in the world."

[talking about her character in A Beautiful Mind]: "Alicia is the person who's trying to ground John Nash in reality and bring him home, literally, and back to what he was. In A Beautiful Mind, there are scenes that were painful and scary and sad. I didn't have to go through degradation as I did in Requiem for a Dream, but there is a lot of emotional terrain in this movie. There's a tragedy in the family, and it takes a toll on each of them as they try to live with each other."

"I so much enjoy being able to completely allow myself to be consumed by a role, and really grow in the process, once you've done that, it's hard to go back working on things you don't care about."

"Acting is great. When it works it is so fulfilling. You do the research and work with other talented people who are creative and compassionate and use all your faculties. The ability to express yourself completely is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Each film is a chapter in my life wherein I learn so much more about myself."

[talking about her son Kai]: "We've already done plays together. Very short plays. He dictates them to me. Sometimes he casts me, sometimes he doesn't. And when I'm in the play, he'll sometimes say to me, 'No Mom, you didn't say that right!'"

*information found at imbd