Years active 1976–present | ||
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Occupation Actress, producer, photographer | ||
The filmography of Jessica Lange comprises both film and television roles. In a career spanning forty years, she has appeared in overall thirty-three feature films, having two currently in post-production, seven TV movies and two series. In addition to theater arts, her name was credited in other works of non-fiction, such as documentaries. According to Box Office Mojo, thirty-one of Lange's feature films have grossed a total of approximately $1 billion worldwide with an average of $33.74 million per title.
Lange's acting debut in the monster movie King Kong (1976), for which she received her first Golden Globe Award, was followed by a role in the musical All That Jazz (1979); her second output delivered in the 1970s.
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in ten major motion pictures, five of which earned her Academy Award nominations and four at Golden Globes, respectively. Apart from the winner on both ceremonies Tootsie (1982), her other notable roles featured the films Frances (1982), Country (1984), or so far also her only work co-produced by herself, Sweet Dreams (1985), and Music Box (1989). Simultaneously, the actress received her initial exposure on stage in the summer theater production Angel on My Shoulder (1980), as well made her debut on TV, starring in a remake of the Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984); her only contribution to the medium over that period of time.
The subsequent decade, Lange was assigned a line-up of additional leads of comparable quality, appearing in ten theatrical films and three television productions. Among others, her 1990s titles included Men Don't Leave (1990), O Pioneers! (1992), Blue Sky (1994), A Streetcar Named Desire (1995), A Thousand Acres (1997), and Titus (1999). This time around, the actress was nominated for one Oscar which she won, four Golden Globes, winning two, and an Emmy; her first nomination ever. She would also receive additional nominations for some of then newly established accolades, such as were the Screen Actors Guild Award and Satellite Award; one per each. Beside gaining wider recognition on TV that featured her one-off voice role made for the medium, she reprised her role in another play by Williams for the Broadway's stage Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1992; sealed by a Theater World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award-nomination for Best Actress – Play, respectively.
As she reached fifties, her screen career began to decline. In exchange though, Lange found a rapport most notably on TV. As a result of starring in three productions, such as Normal (2003), Sybil (2007) and Grey Gardens (2009), she extended her accolades with next two Golden Globe nominations, and so did she for Emmy with winning one eventually. She would also earn additional two Satellite Awards nominations, and a SAG Award's; her second nomination. On screen however, the actress became a subject of secondary roles. Aside from Bonneville (2006) or her only lead part from the 2000s, she would mainly join supporting casts for another six major films following the millennium. Alongside, she thus continued to develop her stage credits on two separate occasions at least; on Long Day's Journey into Night (2000) at the London's Lyric Theatre, recognized with a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and on The Glass Menagerie (2005), back again for the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York. In 2009, she contributed to a soundtrack composed by Rachel Portman as a lead vocalist.
In the most recent decade, Lange has revitalized her performing craft by starring in FX's horror anthology, American Horror Story (2011–2015). The show has exposed her work to a whole new generation of TV viewers, earning her four Emmy nominations, of which she won two, four Golden Globe nominations, earning one win, three SAG award nominations, winning her first, and two Satellite Award nominations, having won a special achievement category. Among others, she has also received four nominations for the Critics' Choice TV Awards, earning one trophy, as well four nominations for the Saturn Award's, and one People's Choice Awards nomination. On screen in the 2010s, she initially followed with three supporting roles; in the romantic drama The Vow (2012), the erotic thriller In Secret (2013) and a remake of the 1974 crime film The Gambler in 2014. Her most recent productions include the dramedy web series Horace and Pete (2016) and the road trip comedy film Wild Oats (2016). On stage, Lange revised her 2000 role in a Broadway adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, produced by Ryan Murphy for which she won a Tony Award. Currently, Lange stars in FX's new series Feud: Bette and Joan as Joan Crawford.