Who Is Ellen Barkin – And Why Is She Key To The Depp Vs Heard Trial?

Actress Ellen Barkin is to be a key witness for Amber Heard next week as the £40m defamation trial between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp continues. New Yorker Barkin, who dated Depp in the 1990s, will appear in court via video to give 'critical' testimony. But who is she, and why is she being called to give evidence?

Who is Ellen Barkin?

A Big Apple icon. The 68-year-old is 'the quintessential New York broad, radiating sex and scrappiness' according to The New York Times and is best known for starring roles in Barry Levinson’s Diner (her first big break) and passionate on-screen flings with Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy and Al Pacino in Sea of Love. This side of the Noughties, you’ll remember her as Pacino’s bespectacled right-hand enforcer in Ocean’s Thirteen. She rubs shoulders with all the Hollywood BNOCs: Ellen Burstyn, Demi Moore, Kate Bosworth, the list goes on.

Where does Johnny Depp come into this?

Right, John C Depp II, of course. Barkin and Depp pair dated while filming Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas together in 1998. In the UK defamation case between Depp and Heard, Barkin, ten years older than Depp, reportedly testified that he threw a wine bottle in her direction during a heated moment. Depp denied the accusation, claiming that she held a grudge against him. You’ll remember that Depp lost the caseagainst The Sun after the tabloid branded him a 'wife-beater'. Barkin has been on Heard’s witness list since March.

Doesn't Ellen Barkin have a fascinating love life?

And how. She married the Irish heartthrob Gabriel Byrne in 1988 and had two children with him before they divorced in 1999. (They remain friends.) Then in 2000 she got hitched to the Revlon billionaire Ronald Perelman — his fourth wife — famously sleeping in the lavish diamonds that he showered her in until he unceremoniously dumped her six years later. She is reported to have walked away with anything between $20 and $60m, auctioning off the diamonds for at least $20m. Aged 57, she dated Sam Levinson, 26: yes, (deep breath) the son of the man who gave her her big break. Levinson — best known now for directing HBO's smash hit teen drama Euphoria — also directed Barkin in the indie darling Another Happy Day. As we said, iconic!

Does Ellen Barkin Have Children?

Her son, Jack, is a blues guitarist in a band called the Dough Rollers, which has toured with Bob Dylan. Her daughter, Romy, an actress too, is best known for roles in Friends from College and Shriver. 'They’re great, they’re extraordinary and Gabriel and I really did it together,' she said. (Byrne has never remarried.) The estranged parents spend every birthday together with the kids. And, as someone who has been through the courts with powerful men backed by big bucks, she has had a lot to say on divorce settlements. 'As a woman, these are things you’d like to talk through,' she acknowledged to The New York Times after her divorce from Perelman. 'But this is an area of my life I’m not allowed to do that with. All I can say is I was extremely naïve for someone who considers herself to be a very smart, savvy, cynical New York broad.'