Overview (3)
| Born | in Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Birth Name | Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow |
| Height | 5' 4¼" (1.63 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Mia Farrow is the daughter of the director John Farrow and the actress and Tarzan-girl Maureen O'Sullivan. She debuted at the movies in 1959 in very small roles. She was noticed for the first time in the film Rosemaryn painajainen (1968) by Roman Polanski. She showed her talent also on TV and at the theatre, but her final breakthrough was when she met Woody Allen and became his Muse after the film Kesäyön seksikomedia (1982). After that, Woody Allen wrote many other roles for her.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Volker Boehm
Family (3)
| Spouse |
André Previn (10 September 1970 -
31 January 1979) (divorced)
(6 children)
Frank Sinatra (19 July 1966 - 16 August 1968) (divorced) |
| Children | Ronan Farrow |
| Parents |
John Farrow Maureen O'Sullivan |
Trivia (55)
Daughter of John Farrow and Maureen O'Sullivan. Sister of John Charles Farrow, Prudence Farrow, Stephanie Farrow, Tisa Farrow and the late Patrick Farrow (a sculptor found dead at age 66 on 15 June 2009, after he committed suicide by gunshot at his home in Castleton, Vermont) and the late Michael Farrow (1939-1958, who was killed in a plane crash while taking flying lessons). The siblings had a paternal half-sister, Felice Farrow (1925-1997).
Was on the first cover of People Magazine.
Auditoned for the role of Liesl in Sound of Music (1965). but the part went to Carmian Carr who retired from acting after the film.
Hit #111 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts with "Lullaby from Rosemary's Baby" in August of 1968.
Farrow was the first U.S. actress to be accepted as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Mia and her family once lived in huge rent-controlled apartment building right next door to Manhattan's legendary Dakota apartment house, which starred as the devilish locale in Rosemaryn painajainen (1968). The Dakota is also the building where John Lennon, lived and in front of which he was shot to death. After the rent control laws were changed, she and her children moved into her Connecticut country home full time.
Her mother attended Roehampton Sacred Heart Catholic convent school at the same time as two years younger fellow future actress Vivien Leigh, and Leigh gave Farrow's career a push when she made her off-Broadway debut playing Cecily in a New York revival of "The Importance of Being Earnest". Leigh put out personal phone calls to make sure that agents and casting directors saw the show, as a newspaper strike had prevented publication of reviews.
Daughter Malone attended Bard College (Class of 2007).
Was one of the bridesmaids when Liza Minnelli married David Gest in a lavish ceremony on March 16, 2002.
Her father was born in Australia, and had English ancestry. Her mother was born in Ireland, and had Irish, as well as Scottish and English, ancestry.
Was the voice of the Unicorn/Amalthia in the 1982 animated version of Viimeinen yksisarvinen (1982) and was at one point set to portray the Molly Grue character in a live action remake.
Contracted Polio at the age of nine.
Is portrayed by Nina Siemaszko in Sinatra (1992) and by Patsy Kensit in Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995).
Former stepmother of Nancy Sinatra, Tina Sinatra and the late Frank Sinatra Jr.. Frank Sinatra Jr. and Nancy Sinatra were older than her.
Returned to the New York stage in September 2005 to appear off-Broadway in "Fran's Bed"; her performance won wide critical praise.
In 1992, she accused Woody Allen of molesting their adopted daughter Dylan, then aged 7. The lead doctor of Yale-New Haven Hospital Child Sexual Abuse Clinic's investigation into the allegations, Dr. John Leventhal, gave sworn testimony via a deposition that, in his opinion, Dylan either invented the story under the stress of living in a volatile and unhealthy home or that it was planted in her mind by Farrow. Dylan - who changed her name to Eliza in 1993, then changed it again in 2003 to Malone - recounted the alleged sexual assault in a series of op-ed articles beginning in 2013. Allen has never been charged. The estranged son Allen and Farrow adopted together, Moses Farrow, is a family therapist and told author Eric Lax in 2017 that Farrow had brainwashed Dylan/Eliza/Malone and coached her to make the allegations.
Friends with singer Carly Simon.
Farrow is a UNICEF Special Representative and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. In 2007, in the latter capacity, she toured the Central African Republic and Chad for a week each. Her goal was to bring worldwide attention to those impoverished African countries. Has been an advocate for action to stop the genocide in Darfur. She asked Steven Spielberg to quit his planned direction of the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, due to China's strong support for the Sudanese government; Mr. Spielberg did walk away from the assignment after discussing the issue with Farrow.
Turned down the role of Mattie Ross in the 1969 now classic Kova kuin kivi (1969) opposite John Wayne, a decision she now cites as the worst mistake she has made in her career.
Mia has 14 children. She has three biological sons with André Previn: nonidentical twins Matthew Phineas Previn and Sascha Villiers Previn (born February 26, 1970) and Fletcher Previn (born March 14, 1974). She adopted three daughters while married to Previn: Soon-Yi Previn (born circa October 8, 1970; briefly renamed Gigi by Mia before reverting back to Soon-Yi), Lark Previn (February 15, 1973 - December 25, 2008) and Daisy Previn (aka Summer; born October 6, 1974). She has one biological son with Woody Allen: Ronan Farrow (born December 19, 1987) whose birth name is Satchel; he was also known as Seamus for some time and briefly as Harmon. She and Allen adopted two children together: Moses Farrow (born January 27, 1978), who briefly went by Misha, and Dylan O'Sullivan Farrow (born July 11, 1985), who changed her name to Eliza and later to Malone, though most current press accounts refer to her once again as "Dylan" now. She adopted five more children as a single parent: Tam Farrow (1979-2000), Thaddeus Wilk Farrow (originally named Gabriel; December 16, 1988 - September 21, 2016), Frankie-Minh Farrow (born February 4, 1989), Isaiah Justus Farrow (born February 3, 1992) and Quincy Maureen Farrow (aka Kaeli-Shea; aka Bailey; born January 19, 1994). Biologically, she has six granddaughters (from her sons by Previn), and at least nine more grandchildren through her adopted kids.
When Farrow first met husband-to-be Frank Sinatra in 1964, she was 19 and he 48, a fact that prompted Dean Martin to quip that he owned a bottle of Scotch older than Farrow.
At one time, was scheduled to star in Kaksi kuningatarta (1971) with Geneviève Bujold. The film was eventually made with Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave in the leads.
In 2008, she was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.
Farrow's Widows' Peak (1994) costar, Natasha Richardson, was the godmother of two of Mia's adopted children. On March 22, 2009, Mia attended Richardson's funeral.
After André Previn left his second wife Dory Previn for Farrow in 1968, Dory wrote the song "Beware of Young Girls" in response.
At one time, was scheduled to star in Thelma & Louise (1991) as Thelma, with Jane Fonda as Louise. But two writers' strikes, one in 1981 and another in 1988 left the project into development hell. The film was eventually made with Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, and became a box office success.
Daughter Lark Previn contracted HIV in her 20s, claiming she caught it from a dirty needle at a tattoo parlor. Both of Lark's children, Sara and Christine, were born with the virus. Margaret Roach is Lark's godmother. Lark died on December 25, 2008, aged 35.
Introduced to Woody Allen by Michael Caine at famed (now defunct) New York restaurant Elaine's, although they had met years earlier in California. The two maintained separate residences during their 12 year relationship. Her apartment was half a mile across Central Park from his East Side duplex.
Son Moses Farrow has cerebral palsy.
Listed in Newsweek Magazine's 'Women Who Shake the World'. [2011]
Had a fistfight with co-star Timothy Bottoms on the set of Hurricane (1979) resulting in sixteen stitches.
She appeared in thirteen films directed by her then boyfriend Woody Allen: Kesäyön seksikomedia (1982), Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Kairon purppuraruusu (1985), Hannah ja sisaret (1986), Radio Days (1987), Syyskuu (1987), Toinen nainen (1988), New York stories (1989), Rikoksia ja rikkomuksia (1989), Alice (1990), Varjoja ja sumua (1991) and Miehiä ja vaimoja (1992). She played the daughter of her real life mother Maureen O'Sullivan in Hannah ja sisaret (1986). Her younger sister, Stephanie Farrow, played her sister in both Zelig (1983) and Kairon purppuraruusu (1985).
Made her film debut in Lippulaivan kapteeni (1959), which was the last film directed by her father, John Farrow.
Was a close friend of director friend Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, and was devastated by Tate's savage murder in 1969. Both women were pregnant at the time.
Her first husband Frank Sinatra had intended for her to star opposite him in his film Etsivä J.L. (1968). Her film Rosemaryn painajainen (1968) was running over schedule and so she refused his offer. Jacqueline Bisset was cast in the role instead and Sinatra's lawyer served Farrow divorce papers on the set of Rosemaryn painajainen (1968).
She played Patsy Kensit's mother in Kultahattu (1974). Kensit later played Farrow in Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (1995).
She appeared in four films with Dianne Wiest: Kairon purppuraruusu (1985), Hannah ja sisaret (1986), Radio Days (1987) and Syyskuu (1987). All four were written and directed by Woody Allen.
She has appeared in four films with Sam Waterston: Kultahattu (1974), Hannah ja sisaret (1986), Syyskuu (1987) and Rikoksia ja rikkomuksia (1989). Of these four, only Kultahattu (1974) was not directed by Woody Allen. It was directed by Jack Clayton.
In October 2013, she made headlines after telling Vanity Fair that her late ex-husband Frank Sinatra is "possibly" the biological father of her son Ronan Farrow, whose father has always officially been known to be Woody Allen. Sinatra's daughters Tina and Nancy called Farrow's claim "nonsense", and also said their father had a vasectomy years before Ronan's birth. Farrow has since walked back on the claim, and when interviewed seven years later for Allen v. Farrow (2021) she did not mention the possibility of anyone other than Allen being Ronan's father.
In 1977, she wrote a character reference for her friend and former director Roman Polanski when he was charged with five sex-related offenses against Samantha Geimer, a 13-year-old girl.
Her married brother John Charles Farrow was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2013 for homosexual child molestation. Mia has not commented on the case involving her brother.
Holds United States, Irish and Australian citizenship.
Turned down female lead in Paint Your Wagon - kultarynnäkön iloiset päivät (1969) that went to Jean Seberg.
She has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Rosemaryn painajainen (1968).
Second-to-last adopted daughter, Frankie-Minh Farrow, is named after her ex-husband Frank Sinatra.
Dated Peter Sellers between marriages.
Was replaced by Diane Keaton for the role of Carol Lipton in Manhattanin murhamysteeri (1993) after the public and acrimonious end of her long-term relationship with Woody Allen.
Ex-sister-in-law of Ava Roosevelt.
She attends an Episcopal church.
Personal Quotes (18)
I get it now; I didn't get it then. That life is about losing and about doing it as gracefully as possible...and enjoying everything in between.
I wondered if, after all the things I'd been through, could I really act again?
I want a big career, a big man and a big life. You have to think big - that's the only way to get it ... I just couldn't stand being anonymous. - in 1965
As a young actress on her slender, waifish figure, "I'm kind of 20-20-20."
I don't like to talk about acting. I don't analyze it.
I love Lindt. Dark chocolate is such a delicious indulgence.
I don't think you can be a Catholic without an accompanying measure of guilt.
I think it was a difficult place for children. Beverly Hills was a one-business town, and the movie-making community was very clique-ish. You didn't really meet people outside that circle - except when they were employed by your parents: lawyers, or a gardener. Things that you might have wanted to do, you saw them as, in a way, in service. It was limiting in the way that role models were presented to children, and when people sort of became aware of how special our circumstances were, it also began to dawn on them that: how could they possibly sustain this themselves?
And I have the most wonderful children. I've been very, very blessed.
If I seem to be running, it's because I'm pursued.
I have no life. This is my life. So while it may be that I'm only an actress and it may be that I'm an idiot in many aspects - but no more so than half the population - I have earned some stripes, if hours of study count. Yes, I am a celebrity, so take it with a grain. But I'm also a messenger. I'm also a witness. - The Guardian 3/July/2008
Natasha is irreplaceable. I cannot think of anyone kinder, more generous, thoughtful, smarter or more fun. She is the godmother of two of my children. The Neesons and Vanessa Redgrave have always made me feel a part of their wonderful family. My thoughts and prayers are with them. (on Natasha Richardson's tragic death.)
I'm just an actress, ... I'm not presuming anybody will care whether I starve to death or whether I go on a long hunger strike or what. But it's a personal matter.
On her life as a "Rat Pack Wife" during her marriage to Frank Sinatra: "The women, who didn't seem to mind being referred to as 'broads', sat up straight with their legs crossed and little expectant smiles on their oh-so-carefully made-up faces They sipped white wine, smoked, and eyed the men, laughing at every joke...A long time would pass before any of the women dared to speak then, under the main male table conversation, they talked about their cats, or where they had bought their clothes; but more than half an ear was always with the men, just in case. As hours passed, the women, neglected in their chairs, drooped; no longer listening, no longer laughing".
[on relationships] Psychiatrists say you "pick" somebody. I think that's rubbish. You don't pick somebody, you just gamble. Somebody likes you and you like them . . . and you just hope to God it's right. 'Cause you don't really know them. They unfold over years.
A person who has no allegiance to truth will do anything. A person who will do anything is somebody to be scared of.
[on her divorce from Frank Sinatra] He came back, over and over and over and over. I mean, we never really split up.
