From the adorably quirky "Ann" in
State and Main (2000) to a sister seeking justice in
The Winslow Boy (1999) to the tightly wound risk-taker and hidden co-conspirator "Susan" in
The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Rebecca Pidgeon has portrayed a wide range of multifaceted characters in both film, television and on the stage.
Pidgeon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to British parents, Elaine (nee Simpson), a yoga teacher, and Carl R. Pidgeon, a professor then teaching at MIT. She spent much of her childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her paternal grandmother's sister was visual artist
Olga Lehmann, and Rebecca's ancestry is English, as well as Scottish, German, and French.
She appeared alongside Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in
RED (2010) for director
Robert Schwentke. Her television credits include
Phil Spector (2013) (for HBO opposite
Al Pacino), and
Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) (for CBS opposite
Tom Selleck). She had recurring roles on the hit series
The Unit (2006) for CBS and
The Shield (2002) for F/X, and had a regular role on
In Justice (2006) for ABC.
She did memorable turns in Uncle Vanya for The BBC and in Samuel Beckett's Catastrophe, opposite Sir John Gielgud and Harold Pinter for Channel 4. Pidgeon played "Deeny" in The Old Neighborhood on Broadway and "Claire" in Boston Marriage at The Geffen Playhouse. She originated the role of "Carol" in Oleanna which had its world premiere at the Orpheum Theatre, off-Broadway. The character was described by one critic as "Mamet's most fully realized female character...a mousy, confused cipher". As a member of the Royal National Theatre in London, she received stellar notices for her work in Speed-the-Plow and The Changeling.
A member of The Atlantic Theatre Company, where she starred in Dangerous Corner, Pidgeon is a graduate of London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In addition to her accomplished career as an actress, Pidgeon is a singer/songwriter, whose latest album Slingshot was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Pidgeon is married to playwright/director
David Mamet. Her children are Noah and
Clara Mamet, an actress, and actress
Zosia Mamet is her stepdaughter. She is a convert to Judaism.