• Margaret Colin is an American actress best known for her role in "Independence Day"
• She was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Hofstra University
• She has appeared in 75 movies and television series, most notably in "Gossip Girl" and "Now and Again"
• She has been a pro-life activist and is a board member of Feminists for Nonviolent Choices
• As of April 2021, her estimated net worth is over $10 million.
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Who is Margaret Colin?
Margaret Colin was born in Brooklyn, New York City USA, on 26 May 1958 – her zodiac sign is Gemini and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress who’s probably still known best for her portrayal of Constance Spano in the 1996 science fiction action adventure movie “Independence Day”, written and directed by Roland Emmerich, and which starred Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. It follows the aliens who have come to destroy Earth and humans who have united to defeat them; the movie won 35 awards including an Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects while it was nominated for 35 other awards.
There have been rumors circulating the internet claiming that Margaret has retired from acting, however, she still seems to be quite active.
Early life and education
Margaret was raised alongside her brother John Colin in Baldwin, New York by their father who worked as a police officer and their mother who was a housewife. Her brother’s a special education teacher.
She was around 15 years old when she became interested in acting, after her professor at Baldwin Senior High School asked her if she were willing to appear in a school play. Margaret instantly began dreaming about becoming a famous actress, however, her parents urged her to focus on her education and obtain a college degree. Upon matriculating in 1976, Margaret enrolled at Hofstra University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama in 1980, and then chose to focus solely on acting.
Roles in TV series
Margaret has been credited with appearing in around 75 movies and TV series, and we’re about to mention more of her most notable performances.
She made her debut TV series appearance in 1979, with her portrayal of Paige Madison in 69 episodes of the mystery crime drama “The Edge of Night” which aired from 1956 to 1984 and numbers 6,613 episodes. Margaret was then invited to play the supporting character Margo Montgomery in the romantic drama “As the World Turns”, and a couple of her following roles were in the comedy “Foley Square” (lead role), the drama “Leg Work” (lead role), and the crime action adventure “Magnum, P. I.”. The year 1991 saw her play the main character Audie Ruscio in the comedy “Sibs” created by Heide Perlman, and which also starred Marsha Mason and Alex Rocco.
It follows the lives of three entirely different sisters. In 2000, Margaret played Lisa Wiseman, one of the main characters in the adventure comedy drama “Now and Again”, while the following years saw her make a guest appearance in an episode of various series, such as the mystery crime drama “Law & Order”, another mystery crime drama “Blue Bloods” and the comedy “Nurse Jackie”.
From 2007 to 2012, she played Eleanor Waldorf in the critically acclaimed romantic drama “Gossip Girl”, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and which starred Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester and Blake Lively. The series follows privileged teenagers living on New York’s Upper East Side who can’t hide their secrets from the blogger known only as ‘The Gossip Girl’.
Three of Margaret’s most recent roles in TV series have been in the 2019 episode “Sequestered” of the drama “The Enemy Within”, two episodes of the mystery adventure drama “The I-Land” in 2019, and two episodes of the drama “Chicago Med” in 2021.
Roles in movies
Margaret made her debut movie appearance with her portrayal of an English teacher in the hit 1986 romantic comedy drama “Pretty in Pink”, written by John Hughes, directed by Howard Deutch, and which starred Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer and Harry Dean Stanton. It follows a poor girl who has to decide whether to date a rich playboy or her childhood sweetheart – the movie won Michael Gore a BMI Film & TV Award.
A couple of Margaret’s following appearances in hit movies were in the 1986 romantic crime comedy “Something Wild”, the 1987 fantasy comedy “Like Father Like Son”, and the 1987 family comedy “Three Men and a Baby”.
In 1989, she was cast to play one of the lead characters Kitty Greer in the crime drama “True Believer” written by Wesley Strick, directed by Joseph Ruben, and which also starred James Woods and Robert Downey Jr. It follows the life of a lawyer who’s specialized in defending drug dealers, and it won one of the two awards for which it was nominated.
In 1997, she was cast to star as Sheila O’Meara alongside Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt in the evergreen action crime drama “The Devil’s Own”, and in 1998, she appeared in the award-winning comedy drama “The Adventures of Sebastian Cole”. The year 2002 saw her play Sally in the romantic thriller “Unfaithful”, which starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez, and follows a woman who starts cheating on her husband with a librarian.
The movie won three of the 19 awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination. A couple of Margaret’s following notable performances were in the 2007 mystery crime drama “Deception” starring Hugh Jackman, the 2012 romantic family drama “Camilla Dickinson”, and the 2014 comedy drama “Kelly & Cal”.
Three of her most recent movie roles have been in the 2016 romantic comedy “Tramps”, the 2017 drama “The Broken Ones”, and the 2020 comedy drama “Virtue”.
Other credits
Margaret has been featured in various documentaries, such as the 1996 movie “Independence Day: The ID4 Invasion”, the 2014 movie “Gimme a Sign: Engineering Now and Again”, and the 2017 series “Frontline”.
She has made a guest appearance in many talk-shows, such as the “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, “The Rosie O’Donnell Show”, and “Entertainment Tonight, Canada”.
Awards and nominations
She has been nominated for three awards winning two: a 2000 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Actress for her performance in the adventure comedy series “Now and Again”, and a 2018 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for “Veep” (shared with colleagues).
She was also nominated for a 1995 Viewers for Quality Television Q Award for Specialty Player, for her performance in the mystery thriller series “Chicago Hope”.
Love life and husband
Margaret met the famous American actor Justin Deas when he portrayed her love interest in the soap opera “As the World Turns”, which aired for 54 years. Justin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, and is probably known best for his roles in soap operas “Santa Barbara” and “Guiding Light”.
The two exchanged vows in front of their closest friends and family members in January 1988, and Margaret gave birth to their two sons Sam and Joe. The family moved to Upper Montclair in New Jersey in the late ‘90s, and they seem to be leading a happy life as of April 2021.
Margaret hasn’t spoken of any other men whom she has perhaps been with, while it’s known that Justin was married once before meeting her, and that he has a daughter from that marriage. He was married for several years before divorcing for unknown reasons.
Hobbies and other interests
Margaret has been a pro-life activist for several decades now; she was a member of the organization Feminists for Life and was their honorary co-chair. As of today, she’s a board member of the organization Feminists for Nonviolent Choices which opposes abortion.
She has been passionate about travelling since the launch of her acting career, and it has taken her to nearly all the US states, while Margaret has also been to various European countries including France and England, and several Asian countries including China and Japan.
She’s a lover of animals with horses being her favorites, and Margaret has both volunteered and donated money to several animal shelters.
She’s keen on watching movies in her spare time, and her favorite actor and actress are the late Marlon Brando and Natalie Portman, while a couple of her favorite movies include “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the franchise “The Godfather” and “Leon: The Professional”.
Age, height and net worth
Margaret’s age is 62. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 10ins (1.77m) and she weighs around 150lbs (68kgs).
As of April 2021, her net worth has been estimated at over $10 million.