Ann Dowd

Ann Dowd
Dowd at the Peabody Awards (2012)
Born	(1956-01-30) January 30, 1956 (age 60) Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Lawrence Arancio (1984-present; 3 children)
Children	Liam, Emily, Trust Arancio

Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American film, television, and theatre actress. She appeared as Sandra in the movie Compliance for which she received the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress. Dowd has played supporting roles in several films, including Philadelphia, Green Card, Lorenzo's Oil, Garden State, The Informant!, Marley & Me, The Manchurian Candidate, Flags of Our Fathers, and Side Effects. Dowd was a series regular on Nothing Sacred and the HBO series The Leftovers.

Ann Dowd was born on January 30, 1956 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the daughter of John (1926–1974) and Dolores (née Clark) Dowd. She is one of seven children (siblings, Kathleen, John, Elizabeth, Clare, Deborah, and Gregory), who were raised by her single mother after her father died when she was a senior in high school. Her mother later remarried to Philip Dean (1929–2010), a doctor. Her brother, Gregory, is a doctor of veterinary medicine and another brother, John Dowd Jr., works for The Dowd Agencies, an insurance company started by her great-grandfather. Her paternal grandfather was James "Kip" Dowd, a former Major League baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dowd's family is Irish Catholic. She attended the Williston Northampton School, where she performed in school plays. Dowd became interested in acting at a young age but was dissuaded by her family at first because they did not approve of her pursuing an acting career. She graduated in 1978 from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass where much of Dowd's family also attended and she was a premed student and took acting classes. Dowd credits her instructors and roommate at that time for persuading her to forgo medical school and follow her passion for acting. She traveled to New York City to audition for the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul University in Chicago, where she received an MFA in Acting. While at Depaul, Dowd received a prestigious scholarship from the Sarah Siddons Society, an award that had also gone to Carrie Snodgress. Dowd was classmates with Elizabeth Perkins and also worked as a waitress during this time.