Elizabeth McGovern

Elizabeth Lee McGovern is an American film, television, and theater actor, and musician. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the 1981 film Ragtime. She is also known for her performance as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham in the British drama series Downton Abbey, for which she has been nominated for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award. Her other films include Ordinary People , Once Upon A Time In America , The Handmaids Tale and The Wings of the Dove .

McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott , a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern, her maternal greatgrandfathers were U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts and Admiral Charles P. Snyder, and her maternal greatgreatgrandfather was Congressman Charles P. Snyder. The McGovern family moved to Los Angeles, where her father accepted a teaching position with the law school at UCLA. Her younger sister is novelist Cammie McGovern.

Source: Wikipedia