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Anna Thomson

Born in New York City on September 18, 1953, Anna Thomson is an American actor whose career has moved between New York theatre, Hollywood productions, television and independent film. Rather than settling into a conventional leading-lady path, she built a body of work around supporting parts and demanding character roles. Thomson made her acting debut in the 1975 Off-Broadway play Kid Champion. Her friend Christopher Walken, whom she regarded as her “godfather in cinema,” helped encourage her early screen career. She made her film debut in the 1979 war-veteran drama Night-Flowers, followed by minor appearances in Heaven’s Gate, Desperately Seeking Susan, At Close Range, Something Wild, Wall Street and Fatal Attraction. She also remained active on the New York stage, appearing in Uncommon Women and Others, The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs and Barbarians. Her film work became more prominent in the 1990s. Thomson appeared in True Romance, The Crow and Bad Boys, while Unforgiven gave her a major supporting role as the prostitute whose disfigurement sets the story in motion. On television, she played Anna Rostov in The Colbys and appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show and HBO’s sketch comedy Hardcore TV. A particularly distinctive chapter of Thomson’s career came through her collaborations with Israeli filmmaker Amos Kollek. Sue, Fiona and Fast Food Fast Women helped earn her cult status in France and placed her at the center of films far removed from polished Hollywood convention. By the end of the 1990s, Thomson had grown distant from the American film industry, and by 2001 she had parted ways with her US acting agent. Her last major film performances included François Ozon’s 2000 comedy Water Drops on Burning Rocks, in which she played an embittered transgender woman, and Kollek’s Bridget in 2002, where she portrayed a widowed single mother sinking into alcoholism and despair. Bridget remains her final collaboration with Kollek to date.