Born: 1960

Actress.

Perkins was born in Queens, New York City in 1960 to James Perkins and Jo Williams. Her paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants who anglicized their surname from Pisperikos to Perkins when they immigrated to the United States. Perkins was raised in Vermont; her parents divorced in 1963. After finishing high school she spent three years in Chicago studying acting at the famous Goodman School of Drama. In 1984 made her theatrical debut on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs", and afterward worked in a number of ensemble companies, including The New York Shakespeare Festival and the Steppenwolf Theater. She has always considered theater work to be a priority in her career.

She was listed as one of the twelve "Promising New Actors of 1986" in John Willis' Screen World, and she has since landed numerous film roles.

Career

She made her film debut in 1986 in Edward Zwick's About Last Night... and had a career breakthrough co-starring with Tom Hanks in Big. She received critical acclaim for her performance in Barry Levinson's Avalon, and was the stand-out actor opposite William Hurt in The Doctor (1991), in which she received critical acclaim for her performance as a terminal cancer patient. Her biggest Hollywood success so far has been in Big, opposite Tom Hanks, in which she played the adult love interest to his 12 year old mind in an adult body.

In 1993 Perkins made her television debut in For Their Own Good. She later starred in the comedy series Battery Park and If These Walls Could Talk, and has since regularly appeared in television films.

Recently, Perkins appeared as a psychiatrist in the 2005 suspense thriller, The Ring Two, starring Naomi Watts. Perkins currently plays Celia Hodes, upstanding PTA mother, alongside Mary-Louise Parker and Justin Kirk on the new Showtime series Weeds. Thanks to her work on Weeds, Perkins has received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Miniseries or Made for TV Motion Picture (in 2006 and 2007). She has also been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. At a screening of the season 2 finale of Weeds, at the Museum of TV and Radio on October 25, 2006, Perkins said that she considers playing Celia Hodes her favorite role in her career because she is so different than characters she is usually cast for.

Perkins appeared nude in the May 2006 issue of Allure.

More famous Greeks(Alphabetical listing)

1. Agganis, Harry (The Golden Greek) -
2. Agnew, Spiro - Theodoros - US Vice President
3. Alexander the Great - King of Macedonia & King of the Greeks
4. Angel, Criss - MindFreak - Illusionist, musician
5. Angelos, Peter - Attorney, Owner of the Baltimore Orioles
6. Aniston, Jennifer (Anastasakis) - Actress
7. Aniston, John (Yannis Anastasakis) - Actor
8. Archimedes - Mathematician, physicist and engineer
9. Aristotle - Philosopher
10. Azaria, Hank - Actor. Famous for voicing characters in the Simpsons series.
11. Buckley, Jeff - Musician
12. Bulgari family - Famous Jewellers.
13. Callas, Maria (Kalogeropoulos) - Opera singer
14. Carasso, Isaac - Founder of the Danone yoghurt Company (Dannon in US)
15. Caratheodory, Constantine - Mathematician.
16. Cassavetes, John - Actor & Director
17. Cavafy, Constantine - Poet
18. Chakiris, George - Actor
19. Chiklis, Michael - Actor.
20. Chryssa (Chryssa Varda) - Sculptor
21. Clarkson, Kelly - Musician
22. Costacos, George - Actor and Writer
23. Davatzes, Nick - Television Executive. Creator of A&E Network and The History Channel.
24. Davies, Marion -
25. Demokritos - Philosopher
26. Dimas, Pyrros - Athlete (Weight Lifting)
27. DiScala Jamie-Lynn - Actress, musician.
28. Dukakis, Michael - Politician
29. Dukakis, Olympia - Actress
30. El Greko (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) - Painter
31. Elytis, Odysseus (Alepoudelis) - Poet
32. Euclid - Mathematician
33. Fey, Tina - Head writer of Saturday Night Live
34. Frangoulis, Marios - Tenor.
35. Gage, Nicolas (Gatzoyiannis) - Journalist, Writer (Writer of "Eleni")
36. Galas, Diamanda - Avant-garde performance artist, vocalist, and composer.
37. Galifianakis, Zach - Comedian, actor, and writer. Born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, US.
38. Gavras, Constantine (Kostas Gavras) - Director
39. Hajiioannou, Stelios - Entrepreneur.
40. Henner, Marilu - Actress and producer. Born in Chicago, IL.
41. Hippocrates - Physician, the "father of medicine".
42. Huffington, Arianna (Stassinopoulos) - Writer
43. Issigonis, Alec - Designer of the Mini car.
44. Kanakarides, Melina - Actress
45. Karmanos, Peter - Software magnate, Owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricane
46. Karras, Alexander George - Footbal player, actor.
47. Katsulas Andreas -
48. Kazan , Elias - Director
49. Kazantzakis, Nikos - Writer
50. Korner, Alexis - Musician, Composer
51. Koteas, Ilias - Actor.
52. Lazaridis, Mike - Founder of Research In Motion (RIM), creator and manufacturer of BlackBerry.
53. Lee, Tommy - Musician
54. Leonsis, Ted - AOL Executive, Owner of the NHL's Washington Capitals
55. Londos Jim (Christopher Theophelus) - Wrestler
56. Louganis, Gregory-Efthimis - Diver - Olympic Athlete
57. Maharis, George - Actor
58. Maroulis, Constantine - Rock singer, actor, and writer.
59. Matenopoulos, Debbie (Despina) - Journalist, talk show host, and actress.
60. Menounos, Maria -
61. Mercouri, Melina - Actress, Politician
62. Michael, George - Singer/Songwriter
63. Miller (Miliotis), George - Born in Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia
64. Mitropoulos, Dimitris - Conductor
65. Mouskouri, Nana - Singer
66. Negroponte, John Dimitri - Diplomat
67. Negroponte, Nicholas - Architect and computer scientist.
68. Nick the Greek (Nick Dandolos) - Famous gambler.
69. Onassis, Aristotle - Socrates - Millionaire Shipowner
70. Onassis, Athina - Millionaire
71. Onassis, Christina - Millionaire
72. Otis (Viliotis), Johnny - Musician, blues and rythm and blues.
73. Pantages, Alexander - Vaudeville and motion pictures producer
74. Papanikolaou, George - Nikolas - Physiologist (Pap test)
75. Papathanassiou, Evangelos (Vangelis) - Musician & Composer
76. Pappas, Irene - Actress
77. Payne, Alexander (Papadopoulos) - Director
78. Perkins, Elizabeth - Actress.
79. Pilates Joseph - Pilates, The man behind the Pilates method
80. Plato - Philosopher
81. Pythagoras - Mathematician and philosopher, Pythagorean Theorem.
82. Sampras, Pete - Tennis player
83. Sarbanes, Paul - Former US Senator. Lend his name to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
84. Savalas, Telly (Aristotle) - Actor
85. Scourby, Alexander - Narrator
86. Seferis, George (Seferiadis) - Poet & Diplomat
87. Sirtis, Marina - Actress
88. Skouras, Spyros P. - Movie Magnate, President of 20th Century Fox.
89. Snyder, Jimmy - Gambler, TV Commentator
90. Socrates - Philosopher
91. Spanos, Alex - Real Estate Magnate & Owner of NFL's San Diego Chargers
92. Spheeris, Penelope - Director, producer, and screenwriter.
93. Stamos, John (Stamatopoulos) - Actor
94. Stephanopoulos, George - Diplomat, Former Presidential Advisor
95. Stevens, Cat (Stephen Demetre Georgiou) - Musician
96. Stratus (Stratigias), Trish - Former professional wrestler, actress.
97. Suvari, Mena - Actress
98. Tatopoulos, Patrick - Production designer.
99. Tavoulareas, William Peter - President of Mobil Oil Corporation
100. Tenet, George - Former CIA Director
101. Thales - Philosopher, scientist, mathematician, engineer.
102. Theodorakis, Mikis - Composer
103. Tsongas, Paul Efthemios - Politician
104. Vardalos, Nia - Actress & Writer
105. Varvatos, John -
106. Von Karajan, Herbert (Karayiannis?) - Famous Conductor
107. Vouras, Peter - Actor
108. Wilson, Rita - Actress, producer
109. Yanni (Yannis Chrysomallis) - Composer
110. Zane, Billy (Zanetakos) - Actor
111. Zappa, Frank - Musician, Composer, Satirist
112. Zavos, Panos - Geneticist