Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. Clarkson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Jackie (a locally prominent member of the City Council) and Buzz Clarkson. She studied drama at Yale and Fordham University before making her film debut in The Untouchables in 1987.

Clarkson starred in a series of high-profile films in her early career, including The Dead Pool, Rocket Gibraltar and Everybody's All-American.

She starred in the short-run television series Davis Rules, and in the miniseries Alex Haley's Queen. Other television appearances have included the role of "Aunt Sara" in Six Feet Under, for which she won an Emmy Award.

In 2000 she starred in The Green Mile, and in 2002 in Far from Heaven. In 2003 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Pieces of April - a role commonly acknowledged as one of her weakest (she plays an acerbic mother dying of terminal cancer). Clarkson garnered critical acclaim for her work in The Station Agent 2004).

Clarkson continues to be in great demand in Hollywood and looks to graduate from supporting roles as an ensemble player to coveted A-list star status. At any rate, her fanbase is devoted, intensely valuing even the (frequent) roles of hers where she has scant screentime, as with The Green Mile (the film which brought her to the attention of many) or The Pledge (in both roles, the tone of her performance is similarly quavering and sorrowful). It is increasingly common to find film enthusiasts calling her the finest character actor of either gender in the English language cinema. In an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live in December of 2004, comedienne Phyllis Diller announced that a biopic of her life is in the works. The screenplay about Diller's early years in show business is in preproduction and Clarkson, according to Hollywood columnist Marilyn Beck, is slated to play Diller, for a film due in 2006.