Suzy Amis
Encyclopedia
Susan Elizabeth "Suzy" Amis (born January 5, 1962) is an American former film actress and former model.
, Amis first worked as a Ford
model before she began acting in the 1980s. She made her feature film debut in the 1985 comedy film Fandango
, opposite Kevin Costner
. Following Fandango, Amis next had roles in Rocket Gibraltar
(1988), Where the Heart Is
, and Rich in Love
(1993). In 1993, she appeared as Josephine "Jo" Monaghan in The Ballad of Little Jo
. Amis later appeared in Blown Away
(1994), The Usual Suspects
(1995) and the blockbuster Titanic
(1997) in which she played Lizzy Calvert, the granddaughter of Rose DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart
). That same year, she starred opposite Tom Selleck
in the western Last Stand at Sabre River and acted in the cult-classic Nadja
. Amis left acting after her last screen appearance in the 1999 film, Judgement Day.
In 2005, Amis founded MUSE Elementary, a Reggio
-inspired, independent, non-profit school in the Topanga, California
area of Los Angeles
.
, whom she met while filming Titanic. Amis and Cameron have three children: Claire, Quinn, and Elizabeth Rose. She also has a son, Jasper, with first husband, Sam Robards
.
Career
Born in Oklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, Amis first worked as a Ford
Ford Models
The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...
model before she began acting in the 1980s. She made her feature film debut in the 1985 comedy film Fandango
Fandango (1985 film)
Fandango is a 1985 American film directed by Kevin Reynolds.It was originally a 30-minute black and white student film titled "Proof" made by Reynolds while he was attending USC film school. It was a parody of Greek life at his alma mater Baylor University...
, opposite Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
. Following Fandango, Amis next had roles in Rocket Gibraltar
Rocket Gibraltar
Rocket Gibraltar is an American film released in 1988, directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Burt Lancaster and Patricia Clarkson. In the movie, an aging patriarch reunites his entire family for his birthday, but personal and social problems abound.-Cast:...
(1988), Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1990 film)
Where the Heart Is is a 1990 romantic comedy film directed by John Boorman, and starring Dabney Coleman and Uma Thurman.-Plot summary:Stewart McBain is a successful self-made demolitions expert who blows up buildings for a living. In the midst of one such project, a group of protesters stops the...
, and Rich in Love
Rich in Love
Rich in Love is a 1993 drama film based on the 1987 novel with the same name by Josephine Humphreys. The film stars Albert Finney, Katherine Erbe, Kyle MacLachlan, Jill Clayburgh, Suzy Amis, and Ethan Hawke.-Plot:...
(1993). In 1993, she appeared as Josephine "Jo" Monaghan in The Ballad of Little Jo
The Ballad of Little Jo
The Ballad of Little Jo is a 1993 western film inspired by the true story of a society woman who tries to escape the stigma of bearing a child out of wedlock by going out to the West, and living disguised as a man...
. Amis later appeared in Blown Away
Blown Away (1994 film)
Blown Away is a 1994 action film starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones. It was directed by Stephen Hopkins.-Plot:Ryan Gaerity , an Irish terrorist, escapes from his cell in a castle prison in Northern Ireland....
(1994), The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Pete Postlethwaite....
(1995) and the blockbuster Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
(1997) in which she played Lizzy Calvert, the granddaughter of Rose DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart
Gloria Stuart
Gloria Frances Stuart was an American actress, activist, painter, bonsai artist and fine printer. Over a Hollywood career which spanned, with a long break in the middle, from 1932 until 2004, she appeared on stage, television, and film, for which she was best-known...
). That same year, she starred opposite Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
in the western Last Stand at Sabre River and acted in the cult-classic Nadja
Nadja (film)
Nadja is a 1994 film by Michael Almereyda starring Elina Löwensohn as the creature Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing. As the character's names suggest, Nadja is a vampire film, but treating elements of the genre in an understated arthouse style....
. Amis left acting after her last screen appearance in the 1999 film, Judgement Day.
In 2005, Amis founded MUSE Elementary, a Reggio
Reggio Emilia approach
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was started by Loris Malaguzzi and the parents of the villages around Reggio Emilia in Italy after World War II. The destruction from the war, parents believed, necessitated a new, quick approach...
-inspired, independent, non-profit school in the Topanga, California
Topanga, California
Topanga is a census-designated place in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. It is located in the Santa Monica Mountains. Occupying Topanga Canyon, it is often referred to by that name. Topanga is bounded on three sides by State Park or conservancy lands, and on the south by the Pacific...
area of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Personal life
Since June 4, 2000, Amis has been married to film director James CameronJames Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, whom she met while filming Titanic. Amis and Cameron have three children: Claire, Quinn, and Elizabeth Rose. She also has a son, Jasper, with first husband, Sam Robards
Sam Robards
Sam Prideaux Robards is an American actor.-Life and career:Robards was born in New York City, the son of actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film Tempest....
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Fandango Fandango (1985 film) Fandango is a 1985 American film directed by Kevin Reynolds.It was originally a 30-minute black and white student film titled "Proof" made by Reynolds while he was attending USC film school. It was a parody of Greek life at his alma mater Baylor University... |
The Girl | |
| 1987 | Aggie Donaldson | ||
| 1988 | Plain Clothes Plain Clothes (1988 film) Plain Clothes is a 1988 comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge. The film stars Arliss Howard and was released by Paramount Pictures. As of 2011, it is available on VHS and 'Internet video streaming' through Netflix.-Plot summary:... |
Robin Torrence | |
| 1988 | Rocket Gibraltar Rocket Gibraltar Rocket Gibraltar is an American film released in 1988, directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Burt Lancaster and Patricia Clarkson. In the movie, an aging patriarch reunites his entire family for his birthday, but personal and social problems abound.-Cast:... |
Aggie Rockwell | |
| 1989 | Twister Twister (1989 film) Twister is a 1989 comedy film starring Suzy Amis, Crispin Glover, Harry Dean Stanton, and Dylan McDermott.-Plot:Based on Mary Robison's 1981 novel Oh, the film relates the story of the eccentric Cleveland family during the event of a tornado's hitting their rural Kansas home... |
Maureen Cleveland | |
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is Where the Heart Is (1990 film) Where the Heart Is is a 1990 romantic comedy film directed by John Boorman, and starring Dabney Coleman and Uma Thurman.-Plot summary:Stewart McBain is a successful self-made demolitions expert who blows up buildings for a living. In the midst of one such project, a group of protesters stops the... |
Chloe McBain | |
| 1993 | Rich in Love Rich in Love Rich in Love is a 1993 drama film based on the 1987 novel with the same name by Josephine Humphreys. The film stars Albert Finney, Katherine Erbe, Kyle MacLachlan, Jill Clayburgh, Suzy Amis, and Ethan Hawke.-Plot:... |
Rae Odom | |
| 1993 | Watch It | Anne | |
| 1993 | Josephine "Jo" Monaghan | Alternative title: Little Man Jo | |
| 1993 | Two Small Bodies Two Small Bodies Two Small Bodies is a 1993 thriller starring Fred Ward and Suzy Amis. It was directed by the stage director Beth B.-Plot:The story is loosely connected to the true story of the death of the two children of Alice Crimmins who were discovered missing on July 14, 1965.-External links:* *... |
Eileen Mahoney | |
| 1994 | Blown Away Blown Away (1994 film) Blown Away is a 1994 action film starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones. It was directed by Stephen Hopkins.-Plot:Ryan Gaerity , an Irish terrorist, escapes from his cell in a castle prison in Northern Ireland.... |
Kate Dove | |
| 1994 | Nadja Nadja (film) Nadja is a 1994 film by Michael Almereyda starring Elina Löwensohn as the creature Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing. As the character's names suggest, Nadja is a vampire film, but treating elements of the genre in an understated arthouse style.... |
Cassandra | |
| 1995 | Edie Finneran | ||
| 1996 | Cadillac Ranch | C.J. Crowley | |
| 1996 | One Good Turn | Laura Forrest | |
| 1997 | Molly Kenyon | ||
| 1997 | Titanic Titanic (1997 film) Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal... |
Lizzy Calvert | |
| 1998 | Firestorm Firestorm (film) Firestorm is a 1998 action thriller film directed by Dean Semler, and starring Howie Long, Scott Glenn, William Forsythe and Suzy Amis.-Plot summary:... |
Jennifer | |
| 1999 | Judgment Day Judgment Day (film) Judgment Day is a 1999 direct-to-video science-fictionaction film directed by John Terlesky and starring Mario Van Peebles, Suzy Amis, and Ice T.-Plot:... |
Jeanine Tyrell | Direct-to-video release |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Miami Vice Miami Vice Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989... |
Penny McGraw | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Connie Roos | Television movie | |
| 1997 | Last Stand at Saber River | Martha Cable | Television movie |
| 1997 | Dead by Midnight | Lisa Larkin/Dr. Sarah Flint | Television movie |