Birth nameEllen Rona Barkin Birth information16 April 1954, New York City, New York, USA BioOffbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born in 1954 of Jewish parentage, the daughter of a chemical salesman and hospital administrator. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New York area, she wanted to be an actress as early as her teens and was eventually accepted into Manhattan's High School of the Performing Arts.Barkin then attended Hunter College and received her degree after double majoring in history and drama. At one point she wanted to teach ancient history, but instead turned her thoughts back to her first love - acting. Barkin then continued her education at New York's Actor's Studio. Fearful of the auditioning process, she studied acting for seven years before finally landing her first audition. While continuing her studies, she worked as a waitress at the avant-garde Ocean Club. Performing off-Broadway in such plays "Shout Across the River" (1979), "Extremities" (1983), "Fool for Love" (1984) and "Eden Court" (1985), she was applauded across the board for her first film lead in Diner (1982) opposite Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern, and pursued tough-cookie sex status thereafter with such quirky roles in The Big Easy (1987) starring Dennis Quaid and Siesta (1987) with Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, whom she married in 1987 and separated from in 1993 after producing a son and daughter. She and Byrne divorced in 1999.With trademark squinting eyes and slightly off-kilter facial features, Barkin continued the fascination of her seamy/steamy girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks status most notably opposite Al Pacino in the thriller Sea of Love (1989). In addition, she was well cast as Robert De Niro's abused wife in This Boy's Life (1993), and portrayed Calamity Jane in Wild Bill (1995) with earnest. Other impressionable offbeat projects included roles in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and Mercy (2000). On TV she was well cast in the mini-movie Clinton and Nadine (1988) (TV) and won an Emmy award for her gripping performance in Before Women Had Wings (1997) (TV) opposite Oprah Winfrey as another abused wife who, in this case, turns her violent anger on her own daughters.In 2000 Barkin married billionaire Ron Perelman, eleven years her senior and chairman of the Revlon company, and put her career relatively on hold. They went through an acrimonious divorce in 2006.Just prior to her divorce, in late 2005 Barkin ventured into independent film production with Applehead Pictures, a company she set up with brother George Barkin, who is a scriptwriter and former editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times, and former Independent Film Channel executive Caroline Kaplan.In her first major acting appearance since her divorce from Perelman, Barkin co-starred in Ocean's Thirteen (2007) with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and former co-star Pacino.She currently (2007) lives with her two teenage children in Manhattan.

It looks like Chace Crawford is going to keep hanging out on the Upper East Side. Crawford will be join Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland in Joel Schumacher's Twelve. The Gaumont, Radar Pictures and Original Media flick will be based on a novel by Nick McDonell about drug addiction and violence among Manhattan's wealthy youth. It follows a 17-year-old high school dropout who takes up drug dealing. Things get complicated when his cousin is viciously killed and best friend accused of committing the crime. Variety reports that production begins on April 20th in New York and the film should be ready for a winter 2010 release. While there's no official word on the roles each actor will take on, I'm going to put my money on Rory Culkin playing the high school senior turned drug dealer. Roberts will obviously take the book's lead

Read the full article on cinemablend.com

The book "Twelve" is getting a big-screen treatment from director Joel Schumacher. Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland are set to star!
Based on the 2002 book by Nick McDonell, "Twelve" is about teenage drug use set in New York's Upper East Side.
Wikipedia says:
"Twelve is a novel by Nick McDonell about drug addiction, violence and sex among mainly wealthy Manhattan teenagers. The title refers to a new designer drug which the protagonist of the novel, White Mike, sells. The drug is referred to as a cross between cocaine and ecstasy."
Hhmmm, interesting! Jordan Melamed ("Manic") wrote the screenplay.
Production will begin April 20 in New York.
Manny

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Joel Schumacher’s looking to get gritty with his new film – he’s set Kiefer Sutherland, Rory Culkin, Emma Roberts and Ellen Barkin to star in drug tale Twelve. Adapted from Nick McDonnell’s book – which he wrote when he was 17 in 2002 – the plot follows a high school dropout who turns to dealing drugs. At first, it seems to be the perfect way to earn money. But then his cousin in slaughtered in a playground and his best friend is arrested for the murder. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is...
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jwhite

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