Rebecca Pidgeon

Actress-singer Rebecca Pidgeon carved out a fascinating career that kept her from being lost in the shadow of her famous spouse, playwright David Mamet. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pidgeon moved as a child to Scotland and later attended the esteemed Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Along with guitarist Roger Fife, she formed the band Ruby Blue in 1986. She soon began a parallel acting career, appearing on the TV show "Bust" (ITV, 1987) and in the miniseries "Campaign" (BBC, 1988). After making her feature debut in "The Dawning" (1998), she was appearing in the London production of "Speed-the-Plow" when she met her future husband. She left Ruby Blue in 1990 to pursue acting full-time, and married Mamet in 1991. She began working frequently with her spouse, including appearing in the film version of "Homicide" (1991), which Mamet also directed. The couple would also work together on the films "The Spanish Prisoner" (1997), "The Winslow Boy" (1999), "State and Main" (2000), and "Heist" (2001). She also returned to music, releasing a string of solo albums. Beyond working with Mamet, she appeared with Claire Danes and Steve Martin in "Shopgirl" (2005), and opposite Tom Selleck in the TV movie "Jesse Stone: Sea Change" (2007). She also joined the cast of the Mamet produced military drama "The Unit" (CBS, 2006-09) and appeared opposite Bruce Willis in "RED" (2010). While continuing to make music, she began acting less frequently. She appeared in the third film of the "Divergent" series, "Allegiant" (2016), but the movie struggled at the box office. Pidgeon later found herself in a high-profile and controversial project when she joined Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson for "Bird Box" (Netflix, 2018). The film, which focuses on a mysterious entity that elicits mass-suicides, was criticized for including footage from an actual train wreck, seemingly intimating that the tragedy was tied to the film's supernatural storyline.