Amy Irving Biography

Fast Facts

• Father is film and stage director Jules Irving, who cofounded the San Francisco Actor's Workshop, and mother is actor Priscilla Pointer, who starred in Amy's film debut, Carrie (1976), as her character's mother
• Auditioned for Princess Leia in Star Wars (1977), and although the part went to Carrie Fisher, the two became such close friends that Fisher moved into Irving's Laurel Canyon house when the latter moved out to join boyfriend Steven Spielberg
• Made Broadway debut in 1981 in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, replacing Jane Seymour in the role of Mozart's wife, Constanze
• Other Broadway work includes a 1983-84 revival of George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House and the original 1994 production of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, which earned her Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play, respectively
• Other accolades include a 1988 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play and an Obie Award for Athol Fugard's The Road to Mecca