Mia Farrow

Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow is an American actress and activist born on February 9, 1945, in Los Angeles, California. The daughter of film director John Farrow and actress Maureen O'Sullivan, she was raised in a strict Catholic family in Beverly Hills alongside six siblings, including her sister Prudence. At age nine, she contracted polio during an outbreak in Los Angeles County and spent three weeks in an isolation ward. Farrow attended parochial and boarding schools in Los Angeles, Spain, and England, and later studied at Bard College. Following her father's sudden death from a heart attack, she began working as a fashion model and stage actress to help support her family.

Farrow gained early notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place from 1964 to 1966, a role she left around the time of her short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra. She made her first credited film appearance in Guns at Batasi (1964) and had her first featured role in A Dandy in Aspic (1968). Her international career breakthrough arrived with Roman Polanski's psychological horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968), starring as Rosemary. The performance brought her widespread critical acclaim, a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, and nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Throughout the 1970s, Farrow expanded her career across film and theater. In 1971, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as its first American actress, portraying Joan of Arc in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Royal Albert Hall. Her notable film work during this decade included the horror film See No Evil (1971), Carol Reed's Follow Me! (1972), the role of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1974), and the Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile (1978). She also starred in television films such as Peter Pan (1976) and appeared in numerous London and Broadway stage productions, including Mary Rose and Ivanov.

From 1980 to 1992, Farrow was in a relationship with actor-director Woody Allen and appeared in thirteen of his films. Their artistic collaborations began with A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) and included Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), and The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), for which she earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. She also starred in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Alice (1990)—winning a National Board of Review Award for Best Actress—and Husbands and Wives (1992). Outside her work with Allen, she voiced the lead role in the animated film The Last Unicorn (1982) and appeared in Supergirl (1984).

In 1992, Farrow publicly accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, an allegation Allen denied. Since the 2000s, Farrow has taken on occasional television roles, including recurring appearances on Third Watch and the Netflix series The Watcher (2022). Her later supporting film roles include The Omen (2006), Be Kind Rewind (2008), and Dark Horse (2011). On stage, she returned to Broadway in Jen Silverman's play The Roommate (2025), receiving a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Beyond her acting career, Farrow is recognized for her international humanitarian work and her role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2008, Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world.