June Squibb (born 1929)

June Squibb, born on November 6, 1929, in Vandalia, Illinois, is the American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role in Nebraska. Her career is one of the great late-blooming stories in show business: decades of acclaimed stage and screen work, followed by a film breakthrough that arrived when most careers are winding down.

Squibb worked on Broadway for decades before movie audiences truly discovered her. She was acclaimed on stage and screen for years, and her patience paid off with an Oscar nomination for Nebraska (2013) and a string of beloved film roles — including a lead role at age 94 in the action-comedy Thelma (2024).

Decades on the Broadway stage

Long before she was a familiar face in films, Squibb worked on Broadway for decades. She built a solid reputation as a stage performer, appearing in musicals and plays while film fame eluded her. She was acclaimed on stage and screen, but the biggest roles of her film career were still ahead of her.

Her theater background gave her a rock-solid technique and comic timing that later shone on screen. Broadway taught her how to command a scene, and she carried that confidence into every film role.

Nebraska and the Oscar nomination

Squibb’s breakthrough film role came in Nebraska (2013), Alexander Payne’s black-and-white drama. Her performance as the sharp-tongued, no-nonsense wife earned her an Academy Award nomination and introduced her to audiences around the world.

The nomination made her one of the oldest first-time Oscar nominees in history, and it turned her into a beloved figure — proof that talent can be recognized at any age.

About Schmidt, Nebraska, and Thelma

Among her notable screen roles are About Schmidt and Nebraska, two films that paired her with top directors and showed off her gift for playing formidable, funny women. Then came the surprise of Thelma (2024), an action-comedy built around her in a lead role at age 94.

Thelma cast Squibb as a grandmother on a mission, and critics and audiences loved it. The film became a late-career triumph and a crowd-pleaser, showing that a leading lady in her nineties could carry a movie.

How to mark June Squibb’s birthday

Watch Nebraska. The Oscar-nominated performance is the essential starting point.

See Thelma. Her lead role at age 94 is pure joy — an action-comedy carried by a nonagenarian.

Celebrate late bloomers. Squibb’s story is a reminder that it is never too late. Share her story with someone who thinks their time has passed.

Support live theater. In honor of her decades on Broadway, attend a stage show in your community.

Key facts about June Squibb

June Squibb was born on November 6, 1929, in Vandalia, Illinois. Acclaimed on stage and screen, she worked on Broadway for decades before a late-career film breakthrough. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in Nebraska (2013), and her screen roles include About Schmidt, Nebraska, and — in her nineties — the action-comedy Thelma (2024), in a lead role at age 94.

Frequently asked questions

When was June Squibb born? June Squibb was born on November 6, 1929, in Vandalia, Illinois.

What is June Squibb best known for? Her Academy Award-nominated role in Nebraska (2013).

What was her background before films? She worked on Broadway for decades and was acclaimed on stage and screen long before her film breakthrough.

What is Thelma? A 2024 action-comedy in which Squibb starred in a lead role at age 94.

Why it matters

June Squibb matters because she destroyed the expiration date. In an industry obsessed with youth, she did her best, most visible work in her eighties and nineties. Her career tells every artist — and everyone else — that persistence is a talent in itself, and that the phone can ring at any age.

See all of the day’s observances on November 6 Holidays, Observances and History.