Celia Weston
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Direct from Spartanburg, South Carolina, this tall, blonde actress has earned the
respect of stage and film audiences alike for her many touching
portrayals of matter-of-fact, down-to-earth Southern folk. For someone
who first attracted attention as a hash-slinging replacement for
Diane Ladd (herself a replacement for the
ever-popular Polly Holliday) in the
final, languishing years of the popular CBS sitcom
Alice (1976), Celia Weston certainly
has evolved into one of the more sought-after character performers of
"Deep South" film drama.
Born December 14, 1951, and raised in South Carolina, Celia, along with
her sister, enjoyed creating their own little world of characters,
acting out small skits and later began appearing in local plays. She
did not, however, meet the unanimous encouragement of her family when
the one-time art and psychology major at Salem College in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, decided to do an abrupt about-face and
study acting. She earned an Artist Diploma in Drama at the North
Carolina School of the Arts before moving to London to continue her
training. More than determined, she eventually returned to the States
in 1977 and studied with Uta Hagen and
Herbert Berghof while slinging hash
herself in New York City. In between, there was sporadic regional and
off-off-Broadway work along with summer stock. At age 28, Celia made a
big leap with her Broadway debut in "Loose Ends" (1979) starring
Kevin Kline. Following her prime theater
role in Edward Albee's "The Lady from
Dubuque" in 1980 and a small part in
Clint Eastwood's film
Honky Tonk Freeway (1981),
Hollywood showed her the money when she became the new Southern-fried
waitress in town alongside Linda Lavin and
Beth Howland on the "Alice" series.
Her character of Jolene was given rather short shrift during the four
seasons (1981-1985) she appeared. Although Celia valiantly tried the
invest the role with some sass, she was the newcomer and was
too often overshadowed by the other two. Following the show's demise,
she had a number of lean years before her luck changed again. In 1988,
she was handed a couple of featured roles in the movies
Stars and Bars (1988) and
A New Life (1988). Her penchant for
toned-down, unaffected realism was not overlooked. While interspersing
theater roles with the sudden upswing of film parts now coming her way,
she finally came into her own in both venues in the mid-to-late 1990s.
After earning critical applause for her brittle dramatic turn as the
backwoods mother of a murdered child in
Dead Man Walking (1995), she
went on to win an Outer Critics Award and Tony nomination for her
Southern matron in Broadway's acclaimed "The Last Night of Ballyhoo"
(1997).
Preferring art-house obscurity to mainstream popularity, Celia has
stayed true for the most part with classier, character-driven drama and
it has paid off in career dividends. An always interesting presence,
her gals can tangle and backbite with the best of them or show true
grit and/or extreme emotional fragility at times of unbearable sorrow.
Celia has also played a variety of dialects over the years. A
gregarious and eccentric turn as a possible mother to a searching
Ben Stiller in the wonderful
Flirting with Disaster (1996)
led to her Civil War wife in
Ride with the Devil (1999);
her grieving, prejudicial Teutonic mother in
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999);
the part of Cate Blanchett's haughty aunt
in
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999);
and the Southern belle-like mental patient in K-Pax (2001). In
addition, her Southern roots have complimented such
Tennessee Williams' plays as "Summer
and Smoke" and "Suddenly Last Summer" on Broadway.
Into the millennium, Celia is still going strong. She has been a
vibrant presence in such ensemble films as
In the Bedroom (2001),
Far from Heaven (2002) and
The Village (2004). In 2005, she
received one of her best roles in years as the dressed-down Southern
matriarch in the obscure independent film
Junebug (2005), which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival.
More recent films include matronly parts in Joshua (2007), The Invasion (2007), The Box (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Goodbye to All That (2014), In the Radiant City (2016), Poms (2019) and Adam (2020). She has essayed just as many parts on both dramatic and comedic series TV, including regular/recurring roles on Our Willie (1913), Memphis Beat (2010), American Horror Story (2011), Modern Family (2009) and Hunters (2020).
respect of stage and film audiences alike for her many touching
portrayals of matter-of-fact, down-to-earth Southern folk. For someone
who first attracted attention as a hash-slinging replacement for
Diane Ladd (herself a replacement for the
ever-popular Polly Holliday) in the
final, languishing years of the popular CBS sitcom
Alice (1976), Celia Weston certainly
has evolved into one of the more sought-after character performers of
"Deep South" film drama.
Born December 14, 1951, and raised in South Carolina, Celia, along with
her sister, enjoyed creating their own little world of characters,
acting out small skits and later began appearing in local plays. She
did not, however, meet the unanimous encouragement of her family when
the one-time art and psychology major at Salem College in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, decided to do an abrupt about-face and
study acting. She earned an Artist Diploma in Drama at the North
Carolina School of the Arts before moving to London to continue her
training. More than determined, she eventually returned to the States
in 1977 and studied with Uta Hagen and
Herbert Berghof while slinging hash
herself in New York City. In between, there was sporadic regional and
off-off-Broadway work along with summer stock. At age 28, Celia made a
big leap with her Broadway debut in "Loose Ends" (1979) starring
Kevin Kline. Following her prime theater
role in Edward Albee's "The Lady from
Dubuque" in 1980 and a small part in
Clint Eastwood's film
Honky Tonk Freeway (1981),
Hollywood showed her the money when she became the new Southern-fried
waitress in town alongside Linda Lavin and
Beth Howland on the "Alice" series.
Her character of Jolene was given rather short shrift during the four
seasons (1981-1985) she appeared. Although Celia valiantly tried the
invest the role with some sass, she was the newcomer and was
too often overshadowed by the other two. Following the show's demise,
she had a number of lean years before her luck changed again. In 1988,
she was handed a couple of featured roles in the movies
Stars and Bars (1988) and
A New Life (1988). Her penchant for
toned-down, unaffected realism was not overlooked. While interspersing
theater roles with the sudden upswing of film parts now coming her way,
she finally came into her own in both venues in the mid-to-late 1990s.
After earning critical applause for her brittle dramatic turn as the
backwoods mother of a murdered child in
Dead Man Walking (1995), she
went on to win an Outer Critics Award and Tony nomination for her
Southern matron in Broadway's acclaimed "The Last Night of Ballyhoo"
(1997).
Preferring art-house obscurity to mainstream popularity, Celia has
stayed true for the most part with classier, character-driven drama and
it has paid off in career dividends. An always interesting presence,
her gals can tangle and backbite with the best of them or show true
grit and/or extreme emotional fragility at times of unbearable sorrow.
Celia has also played a variety of dialects over the years. A
gregarious and eccentric turn as a possible mother to a searching
Ben Stiller in the wonderful
Flirting with Disaster (1996)
led to her Civil War wife in
Ride with the Devil (1999);
her grieving, prejudicial Teutonic mother in
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999);
the part of Cate Blanchett's haughty aunt
in
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999);
and the Southern belle-like mental patient in K-Pax (2001). In
addition, her Southern roots have complimented such
Tennessee Williams' plays as "Summer
and Smoke" and "Suddenly Last Summer" on Broadway.
Into the millennium, Celia is still going strong. She has been a
vibrant presence in such ensemble films as
In the Bedroom (2001),
Far from Heaven (2002) and
The Village (2004). In 2005, she
received one of her best roles in years as the dressed-down Southern
matriarch in the obscure independent film
Junebug (2005), which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival.
More recent films include matronly parts in Joshua (2007), The Invasion (2007), The Box (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Goodbye to All That (2014), In the Radiant City (2016), Poms (2019) and Adam (2020). She has essayed just as many parts on both dramatic and comedic series TV, including regular/recurring roles on Our Willie (1913), Memphis Beat (2010), American Horror Story (2011), Modern Family (2009) and Hunters (2020).