Lisa Banes (1955-2021)
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 8:33AM 
Sad news to report. We mentioned a week ago that the stage and screen actress Lisa Banes was in critical condition after been hit by a scooter or motorbike of some kind on the upper west side (the driver has still not been found). She has now died at age 65 and is survived by her wife. You might not know Banes' name but chances are you've seen her since she's been working professionally for decades...
Her last television role was in "Day 6" of the brand new Amazon Prime horror series Them but she's been a regular on screens (mostly television) since the mid 1980s. Her film debut was as Jodie Foster and Rob Lowe's mother in the incest dramedy The Hotel New Hampshire (1984). My earliest memory of her, though, is from the film Cocktail (1988) in which she was a cougar (though the word hadn't been invented yet) in a volatile relationship with Tom Cruise's cocky protagonist bartender. Her final scene really stuck with young me. In fact, she remains my strongest memory of that film which is otherwise very fuzzy having only seen it once.
Lisa Banes (Mother) and Beau Bridges (Father) in "The Hotel New Hampshire"
in "Cocktail" with Tom Cruise
in "The Niceties" Off Broadway with Jordan Boatman
She had success on New York stages, too, in plays like Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, Neil Simon's Rumors, and revivals of Noel Coward's Present Laughter, and Cole Porter's High Society as well as a Drama Desk nomination and a Theater World Award for Off Broadway work. She recently reprised her role in the 2018 racial drama play The Niceties, about an esteemed professor and her ambitious black student, for a virtual production during the pandemic.
in "Gone Girl"
Banes final film waas A Cure for Wellness (2016) but her best known recent work is surely Gone Girl (2014) where she played Amazing Amy's (Rosamund Pike) mother. Rest in peace.
Broadway and Stage, Cocktail, Gone Girl, Lisa Banes, RIP
Reader Comments (7)
RIP
She was perfect as Amy’s mom in Gone Girl.
What a fantastic life and career she must have had, cut so stupidly short. So sad about this news.
Very sad.Nice reminiscence.
Jim Ross' wife died in a similar accident 4-5 years ago. I hate these impulsive drivers. I hope they get the motherfucker who killed this great woman.
Loved her in Gone Girl and as Ricci's mother in Pumpkin. R.I.P.
I liked this actress very much in "Gone Girl." And now she herself is ---. It's been a horrible shock.
So sad that she died in such an awful way. I've seen her on stage, she was formidable.
Motorized bikes, etc are out of control in NYC. It's infuriating.