Oliver stated that she grew up in a “very dysfunctional family” and had a “difficult childhood.” She later attended the Ohio State University and Vassar College but did not earn a degree. She worked for a time as a secretary for the sister of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Millay’s inf...
Two years later she landed her first role in a feature film, playing Beth March in a popular adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Danes’s profile increased dramatically with a starring role in My So-Called Life (1994–95), a TV series about teenagers. Although it ran for ...