Deanna Dunagan

Deanna Dunagan is an American actress born on May 25, 1940, in Monahans, Texas, the eldest of five children born to Kathlyn (Cosper) and John Conrad Dunagan. Her father worked as a Coca-Cola bottler and served as president of the Texas Historical Association, while her mother maintained an active presence in the community as a stay-at-home parent. Dunagan earned a degree in music education from the University of Texas at Austin, where she briefly dated Charles Whitman, later known as the Texas Tower Sniper. She married her high school sweetheart and had a son, though the marriage ended in divorce. Her parents subsequently funded her graduate studies at Trinity University in Texas through the Dallas Theater Center, during which time she lived in Mexico while completing her Master's thesis. She was engaged to a bullfighter during this period, though the two never married, and she returned to the United States to pursue an acting career.

Dunagan began her professional career in dinner theater before moving into regional theater, performing at venues including the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Her Broadway debut came in the 1979 production of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at Circle in the Square, where she served as an understudy for Ann Sachs. When Sachs fell ill during the run, Dunagan stepped into the role and performed with sufficient distinction to be signed with International Creative Management. In 1981, she performed in the first national tour of Children of a Lesser God, a production that brought her to Chicago for the first time. She relocated to Chicago following the tour's conclusion and has remained based there, performing in more than 30 theaters across the city and earning three Joseph Jefferson Awards and three After Dark Awards for her stage work.

Dunagan's Broadway career spans 1980 to 2007 and includes credits in Children of a Lesser God, I Hate Hamlet, and August: Osage County. The last of these proved the defining achievement of her stage career. She originated the role of Violet Weston in Tracy Letts' August: Osage County in Chicago through the Steppenwolf Theatre before the production transferred to Broadway for the 2007–2008 season. For her portrayal of the volatile Weston matriarch, Dunagan received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, a Theatre World Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award, all in 2008. She subsequently reprised the role in London's West End in 2009 and in Sydney, Australia in 2010.

Beyond Broadway, Dunagan has maintained an active presence in film and television. Her film credits include The Naked Face, Running Scared, Men Don't Leave, Losing Isaiah, and M. Night Shyamalan's 2015 horror film The Visit, in which she portrayed a character known as Nana. She appeared as Dr. Willa Sipe in the 2018 film An Acceptable Loss, written by Joe Chappelle, and starred as Sharon in the 2021 film Stillwater alongside Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin. Her television work includes recurring roles as Mother Bernadette on the Fox series The Exorcist and Mrs. Charles on Chicago Med, as well as appearances in the miniseries A Will of Their Own and Amerika, and guest roles on Prison Break, The Strain, What About Joan, and Missing Persons. In 2017, Dunagan returned to New York to perform in the world premiere of The Treasurer by Max Posner at Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway.