Ann Parr "Annie" Corley (born January 11, 1960) is an American actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films and television shows since 1990. She may be best known for playing the daughter of Meryl Streep's character in the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County.
Born on January 11, 1960, in the Home Hospital in West Lafayette, Indiana, Corley is the older of two children born to Purdue University alumni Sarah Parr (née Myers) and Melvin Dale Corley, a Lafayette-based civil engineer, developer and realtor. When they divorced in 1975, custody of both children was awarded to Sarah Corley, who subsequently worked for Eli Lilly and Company as a scientific librarian.
Corley's desire to act was ignited in the seventh grade, when she played Snoopy in a student production of the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, at Southwestern Junior High School in Lafayette. While attending McCutcheon High School, she appeared in productions of Gypsy, South Pacific, and Annie Get Your Gun. She also excelled as a member of the Speech club, and, at the time of her graduation in 1978, was one of two students named co-salutatorian in a class of 248.
Corley graduated from DePauw University in 1982, majoring in communication and participating in student theatrical productions. She studied at the Actors Studio during a one-semester program in New York City while she was enrolled at DePauw. Her work at the Actors Studio enabled her to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and she returned there on a scholarship in the following summer.
After graduating from DePauw, Corley moved to New York City, supporting herself for seven years as first a waitress and later a cook at an Upper West Side restaurant. Eventually she found some acting work in commercials and in plays that were far removed from Broadway. She became a member of Actors Studio, and an agent who saw her in a play there helped her obtain parts on television shows. When critic John Simon wrote that her 14-minute monologue in an off-Broadway production of Raft of the Medusa was "nothing short of extraordinary", her opportunities for performing increased further.
She first appeared in Malcolm X. Since then, she has been featured in several other Oscar-nominated films, such as The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit, 21 Grams, and Monster. She co-starred in The Lucky Ones and in 2009 appeared in Crazy Heart and Law Abiding Citizen.
Among her television appearances, she has guest starred on The Closer, NYPD Blue, as the mother of Zachary Quinto on Touched by an Angel, conservative Christian pundit Mary Marsh on The West Wing, Without a Trace, Murder, She Wrote, ' and The Practice.
Corley has made commercials for Lemon Joy and Stove Top stuffing.