Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American actress whose movies include Witness, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, Top Gun, and The Accused.

Life and career

Career

McGillis attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division, where she performed in William Congreve's Love for Love, directed by John Blatchley. She graduated in 1983 and began landing acting roles shortly thereafter. Her breakout role was that of an Amish mother in the movie Witness with Harrison Ford, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Her next high profile role was that of flight instructor, Charlie, in the 1986 fighter-pilot film Top Gun with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. After 1988's The Accused, McGillis appeared in dozens of television and film roles throughout the 1990s before taking a break from acting for a few years.

In 2004, she appeared in the stage play The Graduate as Mrs. Robinson, touring the United States. She began working in television again in 2006, and then in 2007, she joined the cast of Showtime's The L Word for its fifth season.

McGillis starred in a Pasadena Playhouse stage production of Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman in May 2009, co-starring with Julia Duffy.

On 2 September becomes a role in the Vampire Roadmovie Stake Land, the movie is directed by Jim Mickle, she stars alongside Debbie Rochon and Danielle Harris.

McGillis will next be featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute scheduled for release in 2010. The documentary is being made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral and will feature Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith as well as William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt. The feature is narrated by Kelly McGillis.

Kelly will also be appearing in a production of Frankie and Johnie in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally touring the UK in 2010

Personal life

McGillis was born in Newport Beach, California, the daughter of Joan (née Snell), a homemaker, and Donald McGillis, a general practitioner of medicine. She married Boyd Black in 1979, divorcing in 1981. She married Fred Tillman in 1989, and they had two daughters: Kelsey and Sonora. The couple divorced in 2002 and she is currently single. She and her daughter Sonora live in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.

In 1982, McGillis was assaulted and raped in her home by the escaped rapist Leroy Johnson after McGillis came home from work. This experience encouraged the actress to pursue her film role as the lawyer who supports Jodie Foster's character in The Accused. McGillis was originally approached for the role of the rape victim in that film. She turned it down, feeling it would be too close to her real life ordeal. The part eventually went to Jodie Foster, who won an Oscar for her performance.

McGillis had once owned Kelly's, a restaurant in Key West, Florida, that she and her ex-husband founded. Although the restaurant is still open, she says she is "no longer a part of that restaurant at all," since her second divorce, according to a 2006 TV interview on Good Day Sacramento.

McGillis, long rumored to be a lesbian, came out in April 2009 during an interview with SheWired.com, an LGBT-oriented web site. She said that coming to terms with her sexual orientation has been an ongoing process since age 12, and she was long convinced that God was punishing her for being gay.

Filmography

• McGillis is currently filming UniGlobe Entertainment's Cancer docudrama 1 a Minute with Olivia Newton-John, Namrata Singh Gujral, Jaclyn Smith, Melissa Etheridge, William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin, Mumtaz, Diahann Carroll and Priya Dutt.
• Supergator (2007) .... Kim Taft
• Black Widower (2006) (TV) .... Nancy Westveld
• The Monkey's Mask (2000) .... Professor Diana Maitland
• At First Sight (1999) .... Jennie Adamson
• Painted Angels (1998) .... Nettie
• North (1994) .... Amish Mom
• The Babe (1992) .... Claire Hodgson Ruth
• Winter People (1989) .... Collie Wright
• The House on Carroll Street .... (1988] .... Emily
• Cat Chaser .... (1988) .... Mary DeBoya
• The Accused (1988) .... Kathryn Murphy
• Made in Heaven 1987) .... Annie Packert/Ally Chandler
• Ha-Holmim (1987) .... Anda
• Top Gun (1986) .... Charlotte 'Charlie' Blackwood
• Private Sessions (1985) (TV) .... Jennifer Coles
• Witness (1985) .... Rachel Lapp
• One Life to Live (1968) (TV series) .... Glenda Livingston #1 (1984)
• Sweet Revenge (1984) (TV) .... Katherine Dennison Breen
• Reuben, Reuben (1983) .... Geneva Spofford

References

1. According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
2. [1]
3. Kelly McGillis a Top Gun in Stake Land
4. Badass Stake Land Teaser
5. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/indian-star-rallies-celebrity-support-for-cancer-movie_1118440
6. http://www.whatsonstage.com/tickets/london/T01457478252/.html
7. Kelly McGillis Biography (1957-)
8. Google Books - Ten-Tronck's Celebrity Directory
9. [2]
10. Sex Offender Apologizes for McGillis Rape.
11. SheWired.com: Kelly McGillis Says She's Gay on SheWired's 'Girl Rock'
12. The Advocate: Top Gun Star Comes Out: Not Tom

External links