“Fancy somebody actually paying you to sing along with Judy Garland in a tramp outfit. I mean, you’d pay money to do it.” —Davis*

Although I first had the pleasure of seeing Australian native Judy Davis in “The Ref,” the critics had already dubbed her as “one of the best actresses working today, with stellar turns in a variety of unusual roles” by the time of this film’s release in 1994.

Born in 1955 and having studied alongside Mel Gibson, Davis attained recognition early, with Best Actress Awards in both Australia and Britain for her turn as the determined writer Gillian in “My Brilliant Career” (1979). This performance is said to have set the pace of Davis’s career, naturally leading to her being cast in somewhat unusual, strong-willed, and quite eccentric female roles (with “The Ref” being an excellent case in point). In the United States, her first big success was a starring role in “A Passage to India” (1984), for which she was nominated for an Oscar. After several less significant appearances (e.g. “Kangaroo,” 1986; “Georgia,” 1988; “Alice,” 1990), Davis had a phenomenal year in 1991, with four critically acclaimed performances.

Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives” (1992) brought her another Oscar nomination, and the collaboration between Davis and the famed director seems to have become ongoing. Other notable appearances include roles in “Blood and Wine,” “Deconstructing Harry” (both 1997), and “Celebrity” (1998). Apart from “The Ref,” my personal favorite is Davis’s icy, conniving Gloria Russell, White House Chief of Staff, in Clint Eastwood’s “Absolute Power” (1997), where she more than held her own alongside a star-studded ensemble cast which included Eastwood himself, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, and Laura Linney.

Interestingly, Davis’s most recent big screen projects did not do as well as her work during the late 90s. “Swimming Upstream” (2002), the true story of the famed Australian swimmer Tony Fingleton, barely registered on the radar. Although charming, the romantic comedy “The Man Who Sued God” (2001) didn’t do much better, and same year’s “Gaudi Afternoon” was hailed by the gay and lesbian communities the world over (sexuality was a strong sub-plot in this rather convoluted yet compelling mystery), while not being all that popular with critics. The most successful recent performance — if not the defining role of Davis’s career — was the lead in television’s “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows” (2001), for which the actress was honored with a Golden Globe.