ELIZABETH PERKINS (Dr. Emma Temple) has been well known to film audiences since her breakthrough role in Penny Marshall’s smash hit comedy “Big,” in which she starred opposite Tom Hanks.
Born in Queens, New York, and raised in Vermont, Perkins later attended the prestigious Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and began her career on the stage. Returning to New York, she made her theatrical debut in Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” and subsequently performed with Playwrights’ Horizon, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the Steppenwolf Theater. She more recently appeared in John Patrick Shanley’s dark comedy “Four Dogs and a Bone” at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.
Perkins made her feature film debut in 1986 in Edward Zwick’s “About Last Night…,” a screen adaptation of the David Mamet play “Sexual Perversity in Chicago.” She went on to star in “Big,” as well as Robert Greenwald’s drama “Sweet Hearts Dance,” with Susan Sarandon and Jeff Daniels; and Alan Rudolph’s romantic thriller “Love at Large,” opposite Tom Berenger. She earned critical acclaim for her performances in Barry Levinson’s “Avalon” and Randa Haines’ drama “The Doctor,” opposite William Hurt. Perkins also starred in two classic family films: the live-action, big-screen adaptation of “The Flintstones,” in which she played the Stone Age housewife Wilma Flintstone; and the remake of the holiday favorite “Miracle on 34th Street.” Perkins’ other film credits include “He Said, She Said,” opposite Kevin Bacon; “Indian Summer”; “Moonlight and Valentino,” with Whoopi Goldberg, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jon Bon Jovi; Antonio Banderas’ “Crazy in Alabama”; “28 Days,” with Sandra Bullock; and “Cats & Dogs.” In addition, she lent her voice to the animated blockbuster “Finding Nemo.” Perkins has several films upcoming, including “Kids in America,” “Fierce People,” and “Must Love Dogs.”
On television, Perkins portrayed Marilyn Lovell in the Tom Hanks-produced miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” and starred in the acclaimed drama “If These Walls Could Talk 2.” Her credits also include such longform projects as “My Sister’s Keeper” and “What Girls Learn,” and the series “Battery Park.” She also has a starring role in the NBC miniseries “Hercules,” to air in 2005.
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