Elizabeth McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American film, television, and theater actress. In 1980, while studying at Juilliard, McGovern was offered a part in her first film, Ordinary People, in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Timothy Hutton. The following year she completed her education as an actress at the American Conservatory Theatre and at The Juilliard School, and began to appear in plays, first Off-Broadway and later in famous theaters. In 1981, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the film Ragtime. In 1984, she starred in Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America as Robert De Niro's romantic interest, Deborah Gelly. In 1989, she played Mickey Rourke's girlfriend in Johnny Handsome, directed by Walter Hill, and the same year she appeared as a rebellious lesbian in Volker Schlöndorff's thriller The Handmaid's Tale.

Filmography

• 2027Seasons
• 2025Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale — Cora Crawley
• Talamasca: The Secret Order — Helen
• 2024And Mrs. — Margaret
• 2022Downton Abbey: A New Era — Cora Crawley
• 2019Downton Abbey — Cora Crawley
• 2019The Chaperone — Norma, Producer
• War of the Worlds — Helen Brown
• 2018The Commuter — Karen MacCauley
• 2017The Wife — Elaine Mozell
• 2016Showing Roots — Shirley
• 2016The Queen At 90 — Narrator
• 2015Swung — Dolly Adams
• 2015Unexpected — Carolyn
• 2015Woman in Gold — Judge Florence-Marie Cooper
• Civil War: The Untold Story — Narrator (voice)
• 2012Cheerful Weather for the Wedding — Mrs. Thatcham
• 2012Screen Goddesses — Narrator
• 2011Angels Crest — Jane
• 2011Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters — Wallis Simpson (Voice)
• 2010Clash of the Titans — Marmara
• Downton Abbey — Cora Crawley
• 2010Kick-Ass — Mrs. Lizewski
• 2010Nature Amazing Places Hawaii — Writer
• 10 Minute Tales — Ex-Wife
• Modern Family — California Mom (archive footage)
• A Room with a View — Mrs Honeychurch
• Freezing
• 2008Inconceivable — Tallulah 'Tutu' Williams
• 2007A Room with a View — Mrs Honeychurch
• 2007Daphne — Ellen Doubleday
• 2006The Truth — Donna
• Three Moons Over Milford
• 2004Remembering Ragtime — Evelyn Nesbit (archive footage)
• The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire — Helen Shaw
• 2003Thursday the 12th — Candice Hopper
• 2002Buffalo Soldiers — Mrs. Berman
• 2001Hawkins — Susie Hawkins
• 2001The Flamingo Rising — Edna Lee
• 2000Manila — Elizabeth
• 2000The House of Mirth — Mrs. Carry Fisher
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Faith Sutton
• The Scarlet Pimpernel — Marguerite Blakeney
• 1998The Man with Rain in His Shoes — Diane
• 1998The Misadventures of Margaret — Till Turner
• 1997Clover — Sara Kate
• 1997The Wings of the Dove — Susan Stringham
• 1996Broken Glass — Margaret Hyman
• 1996The Summer of Ben Tyler — Celia Rayburn
• 1995Broken Trust — Janice Dillon
• If Not for You — Jessie Kent
• 1995Wings of Courage — Noëlle Guillaumet
• 1994The Favor — Emily
• 1993King of the Hill — Lydia
• 1993Me and Veronica — Fanny
• 1993The Changeling — Beatrice-Joanna
• 1992Tales from Hollywood — Helen Schwartz
• Ashenden — Aileen Somerville
• Performance — Helen Schwartz, Margaret Hyman, Beatrice-Joanna
• 1990A Shock to the System — Stella Anderson
• 1990The Handmaid's Tale — Moira
• 1990Tune in Tomorrow... — Elena Quince
• 1990Women and Men: Stories of Seduction — Vicki (segment "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt")
• Agatha Christie's Poirot — Dame Celia Westholme
• 1989Johnny Handsome — Donna McCarty
• Tales from the Crypt — Laura Kendall
• 1988She's Having a Baby — Kristy Briggs
• 1987The Bedroom Window — Denise
• 1986Native Son — Mary Dalton
• 1984Once Upon a Time in America — Deborah
• 1984Racing with the Moon — Caddie Winger
• 1984Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — Snow White
• 1983Lovesick — Chloe Allen
• American Playhouse — Mary Dalton, Helen Schwartz
• Faerie Tale Theatre — Snow White
• 1981Ragtime — Evelyn Nesbit
• 1980Ordinary People — Jeannine Pratt
• California Fever
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Celia, Edna Lee

Appearances as themselves (11)

• 2025Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale — Self
• A Little Late with Lilly Singh — Self
• 2019JFK Jr. and Carolyn's Wedding: The Lost Tapes — Self (archive footage)
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• The Kumars — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• Big Fat Quiz — Self - Guest
• Loose Women — Self
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self, Self - Guest
• 1981Chytilová Versus Forman — Self
• Omnibus — Self