Six Feet Under

Background:

“I think it's such an amazing time of life, when you have to accept responsibility for yourself for the first time, you have to look at yourself for the first time, you have to look at your surroundings. I love playing young women coming of age, trying to figure things out, starting to see their lives for what they are.” Lauren Ambrose on her role in “Six Feet Under”

Emmy-nominated American actress of TV, film and stage easily recognized with her bright red hair Lauren Ambrose became a household name playing the youngest daughter Claire Fisher on the HBO award-winning series “Six Feet Under” (2001-2005), from which she picked up two Emmy nominations and co-won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Prior to her TV success, Ambrose was remembered for her frequent guest spots on the popular NBC series “Law & Order” (1992, 1993, 1998) and had a recurring role on the Fox drama “Party of Five” (1999). She returned to series TV after “Six Feet Under” in Fox's comedy, “The Return of Jezebel James” (2008). On the wide screen, the 5' 6” actress is probably best known for playing bright and cynical high school graduate Denise on the teen comedy “Can't Hardly Wait” (1998) and for her starring roles in the independent films “Swimming” and “Psycho Beach Party” (both 2000), where she earned an L.A. Outfest Award. Her more recent and forthcoming credits include “Diggers” (2006), “Starting Out in the Evening” (2007), “A Dog Year” (2008), “Tonight at Noon” (2008), “Cold Souls” (2008) and “Where the Wild Things Are” (2009).

Ambrose has a young son with her husband of seven-years, Sam Handel. When she is not working, the red-haired beauty loves cooking and doing household jobs with her husband. She is taking piano lessons.

New Haven's Daughter

Childhood and Family:

Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso, professionally known as Lauren Ambrose, was born on November 20, 1978, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Annie, an interior designer, and Frank D'Ambruoso, a supplier of Italian lineage. She has a younger brother named John. Lauren was educated at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, as well as Wilbur Cross High School, High School in the Community and Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. She studied voice and opera at Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Massachusetts.

In September 2001, Lauren was married to Sam Handel, a photographer who was originally from Boston. They had a son, Orson Handel, on January 16, 2007. The family currently live in New York City.

Psycho Beach Party

Career:

A classically trained opera singer, Lauren Ambrose became involved with acting via her training as a singer. At age 14, she made her off-Broadway debut in the Vineyard Theater's production of “Soulful Scream of a Chosen Son.” She continued to act in the New York stage with such companies as the Ensemble Studio Theater and Naked Angels. The New Haven, CT native made the leap into television in 1992 when she landed a guest spot in the NBC hit crime/drama “Law & Order,” playing Jessica, and a year later, she was invited back to the show, this time playing Maureen McKinnon for the episode “Pride and Joy.”

“I came to L.A. to work and become a better actress, not to be a star.” Lauren Ambrose

Hoping to further her career, a then-relatively unknown Ambrose decided to pack her stuff and headed to Los Angeles in 1996, leaving her beloved family behind in New Haven. The following year, she had her first taste in front of the film camera with a small role as Vicky, Kevin Kline's student, on the hailed comedy “In & Out,” directed by Franz Oz. Before long, the appealing girl attracted the attention of mainstream audiences with her celebrated role as the distrustful, but withdrawn Denise Fleming in the coming of age comedy/drama “Can't Hardly Wait” (1998), which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt. Also in 1998, she could be seen portraying Tami on the short film “Summertime's Calling Me” and returned to the well-liked series “Law & Order” to play Valerie Maxwell for the episode “Damaged.”

Ambrose's career took off after her success in “Can't Hardly Wait.” She starred as Grace Whitmore in her first series TV, the sitcom “Saving Graces” (1999), which was soon departed the airwaves, and joined the cast of the popular Fox drama “Party of Five” (also 1999) in the recurring role of a harassed teen named Myra Wringler. Ambrose proved she was gifted and engaging with her subsequent film role in the indie-comedy “Psycho Beach Party” (2000), based on a play by Charles Busch. Starring as a insane surfer dame, she was handed a Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film at the L.A. Outfest. She also enjoyed favorable reviews as the self-examining tomboy Frankie Wheeler in the independent coming of age drama “Swimming” (2000), which was screen at several festivals, including the 2001 Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

However, Ambrose did not reach stardom status until 2001 when she won the regular role of Claire Fisher on the HBO comedy/drama series “Six Feet Under,” opposite Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy and Mathew St. Patrick. As the youngest child in a family of undertakers, she differentiated herself by nabbing two consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2002 and 2003, and a 2002 Teen Choice nomination for TV-Choice Actress in a Drama Series. She also jointly received five Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and won two in 2003 and 2004. She stayed with the critically-acclaimed series until it came to an end in 2005. On working on the show, she stated, “I never thought about being on a series before. It seemed like such a big commitment. But I love going to work every day. This is not about ego, it's about work, and that's refreshing in this town.”

After the demise of “Six Feet Under,” Ambrose revisited stage after her 2004 performance in a significant revival of Sam Shepard's “Buried Child” at National Theater in London by starring on the Broadway revival of “Awake and Sing!” (2006), which marked her Broadway debut. Also in 2006, she played the supporting role of Zoey in the Katherine Dieckmann-directed comedy/drama film “Diggers.” She then costarred with Frank Langella in “Starting Out in the Evening” (2007), playing an pushful graduate student named Heather Wolfe, and teamed up with Jeff Bridges for the comedy/drama “A Dog Year” (2008). It was also in 2008 that Ambrose resurfaced on the small screen in the Fox new comedy “The Return of Jezebel James,” written and directed by Amy Sherman.

Recently, Ambrose has completed filming “Tonight at Noon” (2008), a drama helmed Michael Almereyda and also starring Ethan Hawke. She will play Stephanie in the comedy/drama “Cold Souls” (2008), along side Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, David Strathairn, Emily Watson and Katheryn Winnick, and provide the voice of KW for the based-on-children's book “Where the Wild Things Are” (2009), for director Spike Jonze.

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, “Six Feet Under,” 2004

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, “Six Feet Under,” 2003

• L.A. Outfest: Grand Jury Award - Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film, “Psycho Beach Party,” 2000