Deanna Dunagan
Deanna Dunagan is a Chicago-based American actress. Although Dunagan has appeared on television and in films, she is most admired for her work as a stage actress. She is best known for her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Violet Weston in Tracy Letts' and for her portrayal of Nana in M. Night Shyamalan's 2015 film The Visit. She has also appeared in the recurring role of Mother Bernadette on the Fox television series The Exorcist, and Dr. Willa Sipe in the 2018 film An Acceptable Loss by writer Joe Chappelle.
Early life and education
Dunagan was born and raised in Monahans, Texas, United States, the daughter of Kathlyn and John Conrad Dunagan. The eldest of five children, her father was a Coca-Cola bottler and president of the Texas Historical Association; her mother was a stay-at-home parent with an active presence in the community. In an interview, Dunagan light-heartedly described her extended family, "My heritage is a long line of Southern Baptist and Methodist preachers. And aren't they all just frustrated actors?"Dunagan earned a degree in music education from the University of Texas, Austin. She married her high school sweetheart and gave birth to a son; but the marriage ended a few years later. Following her divorce, Dunagan's parents agreed to fund graduate studies at Trinity University, Texas through the Dallas Theater Center. While writing her Master's thesis, Dunagan lived in Mexico. She was engaged to a bullfighter, but they never married, and she went on to pursue her acting career in the United States.
Career
Dunagan began her acting career touring in dinner theater and later performing in regional theaters such as the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville before trying her luck in New York City. She made her Broadway debut in the 1979 production of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at Circle in the Square as an understudy for Ann Sachs. Sachs became ill at one point during the show's run and Dunagan filled in for her with great success. This exposure led to her to being signed with International Creative Management.In 1981, Dunagan performed in the first national tour of Children of a Lesser God. During the tour, Dunagan visited Chicago for the first time and immediately fell in love with the city. After the end of the tour, Dunagan moved to Chicago and has lived there ever since, performing in more than 30 theaters in the Chicago area. Her work on the Chicago stage has garnered her three Joseph Jefferson Awards and three After Dark Awards.
She has worked in films including The Visit, The Naked Face, Running Scared, Men Don't Leave, and Losing Isaiah. She has also appeared in made for television movies, in the TV mini-series A Will of Their Own and Amerika, and as a guest star on the television shows Prison Break, What About Joan, Missing Persons, and The Strain. She has had recurring roles in Unforgettable and The Exorcist.
In 2007-2008, Dunagan returned to Broadway in the Steppenwolf Theatre's production of Tracy Letts' , having originated the role in Chicago. For her performance, Dunagan won a Tony Award, Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. She went on to portray Violet Weston in productions in London's West End in 2009 and in Sydney, Australia in 2010.
She returned to New York in 2017 to Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway to perform in the world premiere of The Treasurer.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979 | Man and Superman | Understudy | Circle in the Square Theatre |
| 1980 | Sunset/Sunrise | Diane | Actors Theatre of Louisville |
| 1981 | Children of a Lesser God | Performer | National Tour |
| 1988 | Stepping Out | Performer | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 1991 | Still Waters | Performer | Victory Gardens Theater |
| 1991 | Coriolanus | Performer | Next Theatre Company |
| 1992 | Private Passage | Performer | Odyssey Theatre |
| 1992 | ' | Performer | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 1992 | Inspecting Carol | Performer | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 1996 | ' | Deborah Harford | Goodman Theatre |
| 1996 | ' | Rhonda | Victory Gardens Theatre |
| 1996 | Slaughterhouse-Five | Performer | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 2001 | Cahoots | Gwendoline | Victory Gardens Theatre |
| 2001 | ' | Trudi Stein | Victory Gardens Theatre |
| 2001 | Butley | Edna Shaft | Writers Theatre |
| 2002 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Performer | Apple Tree Theatre |
| 2002 | ' | Performer | American Theatre Company |
| 2003 | Wedding Band | Herman's Mother | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 2003 | James Joyce's The Dead | Aunt Julia Morkan | Court Theatre |
| 2003 | Bounce | Ensemble | Goodman Theatre |
| 2004 | ' | Performer | Remy Bumppo |
| 2006 | I Never Sang for My Father | Margaret | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
| 2006 | ' | Performer | Remy Bumppo |
| 2006 | Ten Little Indians | Emily Brent | Drury Lane Oakbrook |
| 2007-2010 | ' | Violet Weston | Chicago, London, Sydney & Broadway |
| 2012 | A Little Night Music | Madame Armfeldt | Writers Theatre |
| 2013 | Other Desert Cities | Polly Wyeth | Goodman Theatre |
| 2013 | The North China Lover | M | Lookingglass Theatre Company |
| 2015 | Marvin's Room | Aunt Ruth | Shattered Globe Theater, Chicago |
| 2017 | The Treasurer | Ida Armstrong | Playwrights Horizons |