Editing Elizabeth Perkins (section)

== Early life ==
Perkins's paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants from [[Salonika]] who anglicized their surname from "Pisperikos" to "Perkins" when they moved to the United States.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4023736.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021031651/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4023736.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 21, 2012 | title = 'Big' star relates to 'Avalon' role Article from Chicago Sun-Times | publisher = HighBeam Research | access-date = September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800012200/bio | title = Elizabeth Perkins Biography – Yahoo! Movies | publisher = Movies.yahoo.com | access-date = September 17, 2012 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110522062119/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800012200/bio | archive-date = May 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.playboy.com/magazine/20q_archive/elizabeth-perkins.html | title = – 20Q – Elizabeth Perkins – Interview With Elizabeth Perkins | publisher = Playboy.com | access-date = September 17, 2012 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221014639/http://playboy.com/magazine/20q_archive/elizabeth-perkins.html | archive-date = February 21, 2009}}</ref> 

Perkins was raised in [[Colrain, Massachusetts]]; her parents divorced in 1963.<ref name='EPW' /> She began working in theatre with Arena Civic Theatre, a non-profit community theatre group based in [[Greenfield, Massachusetts]].<ref name="BG">''Arena Civic Theatre'' [[Boston Globe]] August 10, 1978</ref> Perkins attended [[Northfield Mount Hermon School]], an elite preparatory school, and then spent 1978 to 1981 in Chicago attaining her Certificate in Acting from the [[Goodman School of Drama]] at [[DePaul University]].<ref name='EPW' /> In 1984, she made her theatrical debut on Broadway in [[Neil Simon]]'s ''[[Brighton Beach Memoirs]]''<ref>''Movie's stars reflect on their roles and relationships'' by Philip Wuntch ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'', July 6, 1986</ref>  and afterward worked in a number of ensemble companies, including The New York Shakespeare Festival and the [[Steppenwolf Theater]].<ref>''Perkins Finds a Role to Sink Sharp Teeth Into'' by JAN BRESLAUER [[Los Angeles Times]] November 17, 1995</ref>