txt=This looks to be an eventful year for PATRICIA CLARKSON (Patti Brooks).  She has had a total of four films in theatres this year:  "Pieces of April" (United Artists), "The Station Agent" (Miramax), "All The Real Girls" (Sony Pictures Classics), and "The Safety of Objects" (IFC Films).  The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics have named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in "Pieces of April" and "The Station Agent."  She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Broadcast Film Critics Award and an Independent Spirit Award for "Pieces of April."  Several regional critical organizations have also awarded her Best Supporting Actress of the Year honors.

At this year's Sundance Film Festival she was seen in the premieres of four films.  At the closing night awards ceremony, Clarkson was honored with the Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for the three films in competition.

Last year she generated Oscar%C2%AE buzz for her supporting role as Eleanor Fine in Todd Haynes' "Far From Heaven."  Clarkson also won the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics best supporting actress awards for that role and was nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Award.

Clarkson is recently finished production on the independent drama "The Dying Gaul" and the thriller "The Woods" (UA).  Clarkson next co-stars in Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" (March 2004, Lions Gate).

This spring she will star as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Kennedy Center.

In 2002 Clarkson won an Emmy for her guest-starring appearance as quirky Aunt Sarah on HBO's acclaimed drama "Six Feet Under."

Born and raised in New Orleans, Clarkson began acting in school plays in her early teens.  After studying speech at Louisiana State University for two years, she transferred to Fordham University in New York, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in theatre arts.  She earned her MFA at the prestigious Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in "Electra," "Pacific Overtures," "Pericles," "La Ronde," "The Lower Depths" and "The Misanthrope".	She made her professional acting debut on the New York stage.  Her theatre credits include "Eastern Standard" (on and off-Broadway), "Maidens Prayer" (for which she received Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations), "Raised in Captivity," "Oliver Oliver," "The House of Blue Leaves" and "Three Days of Rain."  Her regional credits include performances at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Repertory and Yale Repertory.

Clarkson made her film debut opposite Kevin Costner in Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables."  Her other film credits include "Welcome to Collinwood," "The Pledge," "The Green Mile," "Everybody's All-American," "The Dead Pool," "Rocket Gibraltar," "Tune In Tomorrow," "Joe Gould's Secret" and "Wendigo."  Her performance as Greta in Lisa Cholodenko's "High Art" earned her a nomination for an IFP Independent Spirit Award.

Clarkson lives in New York.