Embeth Davidtz
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Lafayette, Indiana
Fans of Steven Spielberg's acclaimed Schindler's List (1993) will recognize actress Embeth Davidtz for playing the abused Jewish maid Helen Hirsch, while those who love Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series may remember her for playing the two-faced Sheila in the third Evil Dead installment, Army of Darkness (1992). Still others will recognize the actress for her strong work in such period dramas as Feast of July (1995) and Mansfield Park (1998).Born in Indiana but raised in South Africa, Davidtz is fluent in English and Afrikaans, having studied classical and contemporary drama in both languages. A graduate of Rhodes University, she made an auspicious theatrical debut with the country's National Theater Company, as Juliet in a production of Shakespeare's classic romantic tragedy, and she subsequently garnered considerable accolades for her theatrical work. Davidtz entered films playing the daughter of an interracial couple in the South African television movie A Private Life (1988) and went on to win the country's equivalent of an Oscar in the Afrikaaner psychological drama Night of the Nineteenth. As her early work might indicate, Davidtz has shown a preference for appearing in political dramas from her first days in film.A resident of the U.S. since 1991, Davidtz has appeared in numerous television movies and miniseries, including the 1992 crime thriller Deadly Matrimony. In 1995, she won more critical praise for her work as a young woman who causes a family crisis after being impregnated and deserted by her callous lover in an acclaimed adaptation of H.E. Bates' novel The Feast of July. As a change of pace, she played a kindhearted teacher in Danny DeVito's darkly comic adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel Mathilda (1996) and then it was back to straight political drama with Garden of Redemption (1997). In 1998, Davidtz co-starred with Kenneth Branagh, in Robert Altman's adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Gingerbread Man, as a low-rent caterer with more than her share of dirty secrets. That same year, she continued in a similarly sly vein as the conniving Mary Crawford in Patricia Rozema's controversial adaptation of Mansfield Park, injecting the proceedings with a savory dollop of manipulative eroticism.Over the coming years, Davidz would remain as active on screen as ever, appearing in films like Mansfield Park and Fracture, and on shows like Citizen Baines, In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
51% | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 |
|
$183.3M | 2014 |
7% | Paranoia |
|
$5.4M | 2013 |
81% | Europa Report |
|
$0.2M | 2013 |
72% | The Amazing Spider-Man |
|
$262.1M | 2012 |
87% | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
|
$102.6M | 2011 |
76% | 3 Backyards |
|
— | 2011 |
45% | Fragments |
|
— | 2008 |
71% | Fracture |
|
$39M | 2007 |
86% | Junebug |
|
$2.5M | 2005 |
50% | The Emperor's Club |
|
$14M | 2002 |
80% | Shackleton |
|
— | 2002 |
16% | Thirteen Ghosts (13 Ghosts) |
|
$41.7M | 2001 |
80% | Bridget Jones's Diary |
|
— | 2001 |
63% | Simon Magus |
|
— | 2001 |
50% | The Hole |
|
— | 2001 |
36% | Bicentennial Man |
|
— | 1999 |
77% | Mansfield Park |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Last Rites |
|
— | 1998 |
40% | Fallen |
|
— | 1997 |
59% | The Gingerbread Man |
|
— | 1997 |
No Score Yet | Garden of Redemption |
|
— | 1997 |
90% | Matilda |
|
— | 1996 |
67% | Feast of July |
|
— | 1995 |
50% | Murder in the First |
|
— | 1994 |
98% | Schindler's List |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Sweet Murder |
|
— | 1993 |
73% | Army of Darkness |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Till Death Us Do Part |
|
— | 1992 |
No Score Yet | Deadly Matrimony |
|
— | 1992 |
No Score Yet | Mutator (Time of the Beast) |
|
— | 1989 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
84% |
Grey's Anatomy
2005
|
|
|
55% |
Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
2015
|
|
|
94% |
Mad Men
2007-2015
|
|
|
57% |
Californication
2007-2014
|
|
|
88% |
In Treatment
2008-2010
|
|
|
83% |
Scrubs
2001-2010
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Citizen Baines
2001
|
|
|
Quotes from Embeth Davidtz's Characters
Little Miss / Portia: | But if this really works between us? You and I will never be accepted. We can't be married or anything. |
Little Miss / Portia: | What's right for most people in most situations isn't right for everyone in every situation! Real morality lies in following one's own heart. |
Little Miss / Portia: | I like you. I even understand you some of the time. But I'm not about to invest my emotions in a machine. |
Madeleine: | I even bite my toenails. |
Ashley: | You do not. |
Little Miss / Portia: | I have a friend who is very special to me. He's sweet and exceptionally intelligent, but, well - he's not really a - I mean, a relationship between us would be impossible. It would never, could never, work out. |
Little Miss / Portia: | (after Andrew has died, as a man) Can you do me a favor... would you mind unplugging me? That's an order. |
Little Miss / Portia: | Can you do me a favor... would you mind unplugging me? That's an order. |
Miss Honey: | Oh no, Matilda is a wonderful girl, and very bright. |
Agatha Trunchbull: | A bright child? |
Miss Honey: | Yes, she can multiply large sums in her head. |
Agatha Trunchbull: | So can a calculator. |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | You found me beautiful once... |
Ash (Ashley J. Williams): | Honey, you got real ugly... |
Mary Parker: | Peter, secrets have a cost! They're not for free! Not now, not ever! |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | I may be bad... but I feel gooood. |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | You shall die!!! |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | You shall die! |
Peter Parker/Spider-Man: | You found me weakness. It's small knives! |
Mary Parker: | You found my weakness. It's small knives! |
Spider-Man/Peter Parker: | You found me weakness. It's small knives! |
Spider-Man/Peter Parker: | You found my weakness. It's small knives! |
Madeleine: | I was born in Japan. |
Ashley: | You were not. |
Ashley: | You were not! |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | But what of all those sweet words you spoke in private? |
Ash (Ashley J. Williams): | Oh that's just what we call pillow talk, baby, that's all. |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | You found me beautiful once. |
Ash (Ashley J. Williams): | Honey, you got real ugly. |
Sheila/Evil Sheila: | But what of the things that we've shared? What of all the sweet words that you spoke in private? |
Ash (Ashley J. Williams): | Well, that's just what we call "pillow talk," baby. That's all. |
Ash (Ashley J. Williams): | Well, that's just what we call 'pillow talk,' baby. That's all. |