Alison Doody

Alison Doody born November 11 1966 is an Irish actress and model She is the youngest of three children She was educated in a convent where she gained a passion for the arts She later studied at the National College of Fine Arts in Dublin but left because she lacked the motivation and thought she would take a year off to think it out Meanwhile while sitting in a café with friends she was approached by a still photographer who asked her if she would be interested to model Thinking she could use the pocket money she said yes Modeling proved to be both fun and lucrative and very soon she did it professionally Her modeling contracts led to commercial work which would take her around the world One day a casting director saw her work and suggested she try acting instead She was sent to London at age 19 where she quickly won an audition to appear in the new James Bond film A View to a Kill 1985 She so loved acting that she pursued a career in that direction After her first film she shot a few TV dramas in London and in Dublin but her big break came when she was cast as Austrian seductress Dr Elsa Schneider in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 Apparently she made a huge impression on Steven Spielberg and George Lucas who loved her great sense of humor and her Grace Kelly looks After Indiana Jones which introduced her to Hollywood and to the United States she was chosen to replace Cybill Shepherd as spokeswoman for LOréal After that she shot a few Bmovies in the United States but at one point felt she missed Ireland too much so she went back to Dublin In 1994 she put her career on hold to spend more time with media heir Gavin OReilly whom she had been dating for two years In 1996 they married and later had two children In 2002 she was asked to cameo in the Michael Caine I comedy Les acteurs 2003 and there she regained a lust for the movie industry The following summer she shot Allan Quatermain et la pierre des ancêtres 2004 with costarPatrick Swayze and its then that the whole ball started rolling again In 2005 she and her husband divorced and she decided to relaunch her stalled career but she quickly realized how difficult it was to break into this kind of business for a second time especially after ten years away from the camera Recently she appeared in the short film Benjamins Struggle 2005 directed by newcomer James Breese and played a role in the wellknown British series Meurtres en sommeil 2000 In a recent interview she said she was thrilled to be acting again but added that she wasnt willing to accept anything for the sake of working She is determined to find the right part but she also wants to do different things Im fed up playing the nasty Nazi Id like to do something quite extreme