Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother, Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce (née McKoin), was a teacher, speech therapist, and actress who appeared in productions of Driving Miss Daisy and taught at Georgia State University; Mary Nell was considered by John Huston to be "one of the three or four greatest actresses in the world." Her father, Hugh Daugherty Ivey, was a physicist and professor who taught at Georgia Tech and later worked at the Atomic Energy Commission. Her parents later divorced. She has a younger brother, John, and a half-brother, Eric Santacroce, from her mother\'s remarriage to Dante Santacroce.\n', '

She received her undergraduate degree at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and earned a Fulbright grant to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She received an Honorary Doctorate (Humane Letters) from Rollins College in February 2008.\n', '

Ivey\'s first job was at the age of 16, in Davison\'s, a department store in Atlanta. With the earnings, she bought a guitar and opened a bank account for her savings.\n', '

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