
Embeth Davidtz
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1965-08-11 (59 years old)
Place of Birth
Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Embeth Davidtz
Biography
Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American-born South African actress and director. She has appeared in movies such as Schindler's List, Matilda, Bridget Jones's Diary, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men.
In 2024 Davidtz made her directorial debut with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Alexandra Fuller about growing up on a farm in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The film had its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Davidtz was born on August 11, 1965, in Lafayette, Indiana, to South African parents John and Jean, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. The family later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then to South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old
Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry. She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa, where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. Davidtz graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
In 1992, Davidtz played the part of Sheila in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness alongside Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The third movie in the Evil Dead franchise would eventually become a big cult classic worldwide. In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
In 1995, Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First, and the Merchant Ivory Productions Feast of July.
Known For
Acting
(2025)
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
as Nicola Fuller
(2023)
Retribution
as Heather Turner
(2022)
Not Okay
as Judith
(2021)
Old
as Adult Maddox
(2014)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
as Mary Parker
(2014)
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
as Self
(2013)
Paranoia
as Judith Bolton
(2013)
Europa Report
as Dr. Samantha Unger
(2013)
Miracle Rising: South Africa
as Self
(2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man
as Mary Parker
(2011)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
as Annika Blomkvist Giannini
(2010)
3 Backyards
as The Actress
(2009)
Winged Creatures
as Lydia Jaspersen
(2007)
Fracture
as Jennifer Crawford
(2005)
Junebug
as Madeleine
(2005)
(2005)
(2002)
The Emperor's Club
as Elizabeth
(2001)
Bridget Jones's Diary
as Natasha
(2001)
Thir13en Ghosts
as Kalina Oretzia
(2001)
The Hole
as Dr. Philippa Horwood
(1999)
Bicentennial Man
as Little Miss / Portia
(1999)
Mansfield Park
as Mary Crawford
(1999)
Simon Magus
as Leah
(1999)
Last Rites
as Dr. Lauren Riggs
(1998)
The Gingerbread Man
as Mallory Doss
(1998)
Fallen
as Gretta Milano
(1997)
The Garden of Redemption
as Adriana
(1996)
Matilda
as Miss Honey
(1995)
Murder in the First
as Mary McCasslin
(1995)
Feast of July
as Bella Ford
(1993)
Schindler's List
as Helen Hirsch
(1992)
Army of Darkness
as Sheila
(1992)
Till Death Us Do Part
as Katherine Palliko
(1992)
Deadly Matrimony
as Dianne Masters
(1991)
Nag van die 19de
as Tessa van Dyk
(1990)
(1989)
Mutator
as Jennifer
(1989)
A Private Life
as Older Karen
Crew
(2025)
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Director, Screenplay, Producer
(2005)