Background:

Suzy Amis is an American former model and former actress. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Lizzy Calvert in “Titanic” (1997) and as Josephine 'Jo' Monaghan in “The Ballad of Little Jo” (1993), from which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild and an Independent Spirit Award, respectively. She jointly picked up a National Board of Review Award for her performance in “The Usual Suspects” (1995). Amis made her last acting appearance in 1999's “Judgment Day.”

Currently, Amis and her husband James Cameron live in Malibu, California. She has three children with Cameron and one son with former husband Sam Robards.


Susan Elizabeth

Childhood and Family:

 Suzy Amis was born Susan Elizabeth Amis on January 5, 1962, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her father, Dave Amis, owned and operated Amis Construction Company and Downtown Airpark in Oklahoma City. She is a graduate of the Actors Studio. She has three brothers, Dave, Scott and Charlie, and two sisters, Page and Rebecca.
 
Suzy married actor Sam Roberts (born December 16, 1961), the son of Jason Robards, Jr. and Lauren Bacall, from May 1986 until they divorced in 1994. The marriage produced one child, son Jasper E Robards (born in April 1990). While filming “Titanic” (1997), Suzy met the Canadian film director James Cameron (born August 16, 1954). The couple married on June 4, 2000. Together, they have one son, Quinn and two daughters, Claire and Elizabeth Rose (born December 29, 2006).


Titanic

Career:

Suzy Amis began modeling after her aunt submitted Amis' photo to model agency head Eileen Ford in 1980. It was not long before Eileen introduced Amis on TV's “The Merv Griffin Show” as 'The Face of the Eighties.' After three years of modeling in Europe, she returned to New York City in 1982 and then started to try acting.

Amis made her television acting debut when she landed the role of Penny McGraw in “Heart of Darkness” (1984), an episode of “Miami Vice.” In the following year, she debuted on the big screen with a small part as Kevin Costner's ex-girlfriend on “Fandango,” which was directed and written by  Kevin Reynolds. She met future husband Sam Robards during the set of the film.

After “Fandango,” Amis made her Off-Broadway stage debut in “Fresh Horses” (1986), and received a Theatre World Award for her performance. She next appeared with Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Dern and Lee Grant in “The Big Town” (1987), a drama film directed by Ben Bolt and Harold Becker and written by Clark Howard and Robert Roy Pool, played a teacher named Robin Torrence in the Martha Coolidge directed comedy film “Plain Clothes” (1988), with Arliss Howard, and was cast alongside Burt Lancaster and Patricia Clarkson in Daniel Petrie's “Rocket Gibraltar” (1988). She also played Maureen Cleveland in the comedy “Twister” (1989), opposite Crispin Glover, Harry Dean Stanton, Dylan McDermott, Jenny Wright and William S. Burroughs.  

Amis played Dabney Coleman's daughter, Chloe, in the John Boorman helmed comedy film “Where the Heart Is” (1990) and then Rae, the older daughter of the Odom family, in the drama film “Rich in Love” (1992), which was adapted from the 1987 novel with the same name by Josephine Humphreys. She next co-starred with Peter Gallagher and John C. McGinley in Tom Flynn's “Watch It” (1993) and played a hostess named Eileen Maloney in the based on play thriller “Two Small Bodies” (1993), opposite Fred Ward.

However, Amis did not gain much attention until she was cast as Josephine 'Jo' Monaghan on the Wester movie “The Ballad of Little Jo” (1993), alongside Bo Hopkins, Ian McKellen, David Chung and Heather Graham. Delivering a bright acting, she was nominated for a 1994 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Amis portrayed Jeff Bridges' wife on the action film “Blown Away” (1994), helmed by Stephen Hopkins, the character Cassandra on the vampire movie “Nadja” (1994), opposite Elina Löwensohn, Peter Fonda and Karl Geary, and Edie Finneran in Bryan Singer's “The Usual Suspects” (1995), from which she won a National Board of Review (NBR) for Best Acting by an Ensemble, which she shared with Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite and Giancarlo Esposito.  In 1996, she appeared in “Cadillac Ranch,” with Jim Metzler, Joe Stevens and Bill Wise, and Tony Randel's “One Good Turn,” with James Remar and Lenny von Dohlen.

In 1997, Amis had a small role as Rose's granddaughter, Lizzy Calvert, in the James Cameron blockbuster movie “Titanic,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The role brought her a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Also in 1997, Amis starred with Yancy Butler in Mark L. Lester's film adaptation of John Lutz's novel, “The Ex.” On the small screen, she appeared in three made for television films: “The Beneficiary” (as Connie Roos), “Last Stand at Saber River” (as Martha Cable) and “Dead by Midnight” (as Lisa Larkin/Dr. Sarah Flint).

In 1998, Amis co-starred with Howie Long, Scott Glenn, William Forsythe in “Firestorm,” a thriller/action film directed by Dean Semler and written by Chris Soth. She decided to quit acting after her last screen appearance in the direct to video release “Judgment Day” (1999), with Ice T, Mario Van Peebles, Coolio and Tommy “Tiny” Lister.

In 2005, Amis established MUSE Elementary, a Reggio inspired, independent, non profit school in the Topanga, California area of Los Angeles.


Awards:

National Board of Review (NBR): Best Acting by an Ensemble, “The Usual Suspects,” 1995
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