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Holly Hunter Profile |
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Birth Date: March 20, 1958
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Birth Place: Conyers, Georgia, USA
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Birth Name: Holly Hunter
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Height: 5'2"
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Biography |
Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia on March 20th,
1958, the daughter of Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time
sporting goods manufacturer's representative and part-time
farmer with 250 acres, and Opal Marguerite Catledge, a
homemaker. The youngest of seven children, Holly was
encouraged by her parents to pursue her acting talent at an
early age, and she landed her first gig as Helen Keller in a
fifth-grade play.
After a comfortable small-town upbringing, Holly ventured
north for some serious acting training. She found it at
Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University under Jorge Guerra,
and then hopped over to New York City to try to live the
dream. Serendipity was on her side when the young talent
found herself stuck in a stalled elevator with playwright
Beth Henley. The chance meeting led to collaborations
between the two women -- first the stage production of The
Miss Firecracker Contest, then with Hunter's 1982 Broadway
debut, Crimes of the Heart.
Meanwhile, Hunter had made her onscreen debut in the 1981
slasher flick The Burning, a film notable for two things:
its sheer unwatchability, and its casting of a young, not so
stocky or bald Jason Alexander.
Hunter worked in a couple of TV movies and had her role
reduced in the Goldie Hawn vehicle Swing Shift (1984) before
attracting attention as the lovesick, maternal police
officer Ed in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona (1987), a
part the quirky fraternal pair wrote specifically for her.
She had an even meatier role, turned down by Debra Winger,
as an ambitious TV news producer in James L. Brooks'
Broadcast News (1987), where her portrayal of a successful
workaholic earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
Since those two career-making roles, Hunter has never
disappointed, time and again demonstrating her ability to
command the screen as a lead. She was Richard Dreyfuss'
star-crossed lover in Steven Spielberg's Always (1989), and
then reteamed with Dreyfuss two years later as a plain-Jane
type who falls in love with a fast-talking salesman in Once
Around.
Hunter has also mined the TV movie genre successfully,
appearing in Crazy in Love (1992), and winning Emmys for her
memorable performances in Roe vs. Wade (1989) and The
Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas
Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993).
She followed the latter up with disparate roles in two films
with more manageable titles: as Gary Busey's sexy secretary
in The Firm and as the repressed, mute, 19th century
emigrant entangled in a treacherous affair with Harvey
Keitel in Jane Campion's The Piano (both 1993).
Maybe it was her maiden stage experience as Helen Keller a
quarter century earlier that helped her find the
expressiveness that won her a Best Actress Oscar and many
other awards for The Piano.
Unfortunately, over the next couple of years, Hunter found
herself starring in vehicles that ranged from underrated to
abysmal, with Jodie Foster's failed directorial debut Home
for the Holidays at one end of the spectrum and the thriller
Copycat (both 1995) at the other.
Her work in David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) did win her
strong notices, but it was swallowed by the controversies of
depraved sexuality surrounding the film. Always up for more,
Hunter rebounded in 1998 with her portrayal of a recently
divorced New Yorker in Living Out Loud, in which she sold
audiences on the idea of falling for Danny DeVito -- a tall
order.
In 1995, Hunter married acclaimed cinematographer Janusz
Kaminski, but divorced at the beginning of the new century.
Role-wise, she passed over the part of God in Dogma, leaving
it for Alanis Morissette's bland treatment, and also nixed
Helen Hunt's Oscar-winning performance in 1997's As Good As
it Gets.
Instead, Hunter hailed in the new millennium with a
memorable performance as Penny in the Coen brothers' O
Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). The talented actress took
top billing in that same year's television production Harlan
County War, a powerful account of labor struggles among
Kentucky coalminers.
In 2003, Hunter drew favorable reviews for her role in the
otherwise critically maligned redemption drama Levity, with
Billy Bob Thornton and Morgan Freeman. And she has a major
role as the worried mother of a downward-spiraling
adolescent in the critically-acclaimed Thirteen, which
Hunter also executive produced.
Holly Hunter will no doubt ease into her future middle-aged
roles just as she has all her past challenges --
convincingly. |
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Other
Information |
Was director James L. Brooks' first choice to play the
female lead in As Good as It Gets (1997), but reportedly
demanded too much money upfront and was passed over in
favour of Helen Hunt. Hunter had previously collaborated
with James L. Brooks on the 1987 film, Broadcast News
(1987).
She had one line in her film debut, The Burning (1981),
among a few ad libs. Regarding missing canoes she says to
Todd -- "What happens if we don't find them?"
In 10th grade she placed 8th nationally in a poultry-judging
contest. (Interview, 11/95)
Hunter's uncle was the first commander of the Thunderbirds,
the world-famous U.S. Air Force Demonstration Squadron of
fighter pilots.
An accomplished pianist, she actually performed all of the
piano music for her Oscar performance in The Piano (1993).
Film makers selected pieces for her that matched her talent.
Second cousin of Anaheim Angels' outfielder Tim Salmon.
Replaced Debra Winger for the role of Jane Craig in
Broadcast News (1987).
Turned down the role of God in Dogma (1999).
Announced her separation from husband, Janusz Kaminski. They
have had been apart since Halloween. [December 2001]
Taught by Jorge Guerra.
She is one of the elite ten actors to have been nominated
for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the
same year. The other nine are: Fay Bainter; Barry
Fitzgerald; Teresa Wright; Jessica Lange; Sigourney Weaver;
Al Pacino; Emma Thompson; Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx.
Emma Thompson received her double-nomination in the same
year that Hunter did.
While living in the North Bronx, she turned down the lead
role in Blood Simple. (1984), but introduced the Coen
Brothers to her roommate Frances McDormand, who got the role
and ended up marrying one of the brothers. Hunter's voice
can be heard on an answering machine message in the film.
Lived in the same house as Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Frances
McDormand and Sam Raimi in 1985 in Silver Lake, just outside
of Los Angeles.
Hired a sign language interpreter to help her create her own
sign language for her role in The Piano (1993).
Started playing piano at 9.
Moved to New York in 1980 to pursue a career in acting.
Made her Broadway debut in 1982 in "Crimes of the Heart".
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen saw her in "Crimes of the Heart"
and wanted to cast her in the movie, Blood Simple. (1984).
Because she was committed in another play, "The Wake of
Jamey Foster", they cast her roommate Frances McDormand
instead. Frances McDormand ended up marrying Joel Coen.
In 1993, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Piano
(1993), in which she utilised her real-life piano skills.
Eleven years later, Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for Ray
(2004/I), in which he also played the piano. Both of them
had been nominated for a supporting performance in those
respective years, and both were nominated for a role they
played opposite Tom Cruise. Hunter appeared in The Firm
(1993) and Jamie Foxx appeared in Collateral (2004).
Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.
Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in
drama (1980).
Holly and her boyfriend, Gordon MacDonald, became parents of
twins [January 17, 2006].
Spent a summer interning at Cortland Repertory Theatre
(Cortland, New York) in 1976.
Her performance as Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987) is
ranked #66 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances
of All Time (2006).
Her performance as Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987) is
ranked #41 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie
Characters of All Time.
_Wings of Desire (1987)_ is one of her favourite films. |
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