Elaine
Played by Elizabeth Perkins
Elaine
Played by Elizabeth Perkins
Character Bio
Elaine, Polly’s mom, loves life. Charming, enthusiastically supportive, outrageous, earthy and adventurous... Elaine can never say no to herself. She’s quit smoking but “sometimes she wants a cigarette so badly, she has one.” Polly wouldn’t describe her as a bad mother, but other people would. For instance, for quite some time Polly’s after school program consisted of hanging out with an old hog vendor named, “John the hot dog man,” whose hot dog cart was covered with pictures of children. Basically your classic first suspect on “Law And Order: SVU. Now that Polly and Natalie are in the house, Elaine’s beginning to realize Polly’s childhood was not ideal. Always the optimist she believes that since she screwed Polly up in the first place, she can unscrew her. And Elaine figures she and Max are saving money -- they have a permanent house sitter so she and Max can do the traveling she’s always wanted to do. At first Elaine wasn’t sure about Polly and Natalie moving in, but now she worries they’ll leave. Especially since Natalie’s presence is improving her marriage.
Actor Bio
Elizabeth Perkins has distinguished herself with an eclectic mix of roles over her career. Her critically acclaimed performance in Weeds earned her 2006 and 2007 Golden Globe® nominations and 2006 and 2007 Emmy® nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Perkins made her feature film debut in Ed Zwick's About Last Night.... Her breakthrough performance was opposite Tom Hanks in the smash hit Big, directed by Penny Marshall, and she received critical acclaim for her performance in Barry Levinson's Avalon. In 1991 she starred opposite William Hurt in the touching drama The Doctor, and with Kevin Bacon in He Said, She Said. Perkins then went on to star in Indian Summer before bringing cartoon character Wilma Flintstone to life in the blockbuster motion picture, The Flintstones. She portrayed Dorey Walker in John Hughes' remake of the 1947 holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street, with Sir Richard Attenborough, and also co-starred opposite Kathleen Turner, Gwyneth Paltrow and Whoopi Goldberg in Moonlight and Valentino.
Other credits include From the Hip; Sweet Hearts Dance, with Jeff Daniels and Susan Sarandon; Alan Rudolph's Love at Large; Enid Is Sleeping; Lesser Prophets; Bruce Wagner's independent film, I'm Losing You, co-starring Frank Langella, Rosanna Arquette and Amanda Donohoe; Crazy in Alabama, directed by Antonio Banderas and co-starring Melanie Griffith, Paul Mazursky and Cathy Moriarty; the independent feature Under the Mimosa, co-starring Brad Renfro and directed and written by Bo Brinkman; 28 Days, opposite Sandra Bullock; Cats & Dogs; Finding Nemo, as the voice of Coral; Jiminy Glick in Lalawood; The Ring Two; Must Love Dogs; Fierce People, in which she starred opposite Diane Lane, and this year's HOP.
Perkins made her television debut in For Their Own Good. Her other television projects include Baby 2000, SHOWTIME's The Rescuers, What Girls Learn, Speak, the series From the Earth to the Moon and the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of My Sister's Keeper, opposite Kathy Bates.