Mia Farrow

Biography

Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( mə-REE-ə dee LOORDZ VIL-yərz FARR-oh; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress and activist. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the prime-time television soap opera Peyton Place and gained further recognition for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra. She achieved her career breakthrough and international acclaim as the titular character Rosemary in Roman Polanski's psychological horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968), receiving nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She went on to appear in several films throughout the 1970s, such as Follow Me! (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), and Death on the Nile (1978). Her younger sister is Prudence Farrow. Farrow was in a relationship with actor-director Woody Allen from 1980 to 1992 and appeared in thirteen of his films beginning with A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982). She received Golden Globe Award nominations for her roles in Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), and Alice (1990). She also acted in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Husbands and Wives (1992). In 1992, Farrow publicly accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow; Allen, who was not charged with a crime, has denied the allegation. Since the 2000s, Farrow has made occasional appearances on television, including a recurring role on Third Watch (2001–2003). She has also had supporting parts in such films as The Omen (2006), Be Kind Rewind (2008), and Dark Horse (2011) as well as the Netflix series The Watcher (2022). On stage, she returned to Broadway in the Jen Silverman play The Roommate (2025) for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Farrow is also known for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is involved in various international humanitarian activities. In 2008, Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world.

== Early life and family ==

Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow was born February 9, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, the third child and eldest daughter of Australian film director John Farrow and his second wife, the Irish actress Maureen O'Sullivan. She is one of seven children, with older brothers Michael Damien, Patrick, younger brother John Charles, and younger sisters Prudence, Stephanie, and Tisa. Her godparents were director George Cukor and columnist Louella Parsons. Farrow was raised in Beverly Hills, California, in a strict Catholic household. She was described by her family as an eccentric and imaginative child, and would occasionally put on performances with "toy daggers and fake blood" for passing celebrity tour buses. Aged two, she made her film debut in a short documentary, Unusual Occupations: Film Tot Holiday (1947). Farrow attended Catholic parochial schools in Los Angeles for her primary education. At nine years old, she contracted polio during an outbreak in Los Angeles County reportedly affecting 500 people. She was placed in an isolation ward for three weeks and later said the experience "marked the end of [her] childhood." In 1958, the Farrow family temporarily relocated to Spain, where her father was filming John Paul Jones (1959). Farrow, then age 13, made a brief uncredited appearance in the film. In September 1958, Farrow and her sister Prudence were sent to attend Marymount International School London, a convent-operated boarding school in Surrey, England while her father completed post-production on John Paul Jones in London. On October 28, 1958, Farrow's eldest brother Michael died in a plane crash near Pacoima, California while a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. After his burial, Farrow returned to boarding school in Surrey. Her family temporarily lived in the London Park Lane Hotel before renting a home in Chelsea. Farrow's father began drinking heavily, which strained the marriage. In her memoir, Farrow recalls witnessing violent arguments between her parents while visiting their Chelsea residence. When Farrow was 16, she returned with her family to the United States and continued her education at an all-girls Catholic school in Los Angeles, Marymount High School. (She is among its most famous alumnae.) Farrow subsequently studied at Bard College. During this time, her parents were struggling financially and her mother relocated to New York City to act in Broadway productions. Farrow's father remained in California, where he died the following year of a heart attack. Farrow was 17 years old. The family was left with little money after her father's death, prompting Farrow to begin working to help support herself and her siblings. She initially found work as a fashion model before being cast as a replacement in a New York stage production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

== Career ==

=== 1963–1969: Career beginnings and breakthrough ===

Farrow screen-tested for the role of Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965), but did not get the part. The footage has been preserved, and appears on the Fortieth Anniversary Edition DVD of The Sound of Music. She began her acting career in movies by appearing in supporting roles in several 1960s films, making her first credited appearance in Guns at Batasi (1964).

The same year, she achieved stardom on the primetime soap opera Peyton Place, playing naive, waif-like Allison MacKenzie. Farrow left the series in 1966 at the urging of Frank Sinatra, whom she married on July 19, 1966, when she was 21 and he was 50 years old. She appeared in her first featured role in the British spy film A Dandy in Aspic (1968). Farrow's first leading film role was in the psychological horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968), a critical and commercial success. It is regarded as a classic of the horror genre and was named the second-best horror film of all time (after Psycho) by The Guardian in 2010. Farrow won numerous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress, and became established as a leading actress. Film critic Stephen Farber said her performance had an "electrifying impact... one of the rare instances of actor and character achieving a miraculous, almost mythical match". Critic Roger Ebert called the film "brilliant" and wrote, "A great deal of the credit for this achievement must go to Mia Farrow, as Rosemary."

After Rosemary's Baby, Farrow was to be cast as Mattie in True Grit and was keen on the role. But before filming, she made Secret Ceremony in England with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Mitchum. While filming, Mitchum told her that True Grit director Henry Hathaway had a reputation for being rude to actresses. Farrow asked producer Hal Wallis to replace Hathaway. Wallis refused; Farrow quit the role, which was then given to Kim Darby. Secret Ceremony divided critics but has developed a devoted following. Farrow's other late 1960s films include John and Mary (1969), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.