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Linda Hunt

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Linda Hunt
Height4 ft 9 in (145 cm)

Linda Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her Academy Award-winning role in 1983's The Year of Living Dangerously.

Biography

Early life

Hunt was born in Morristown, New Jersey to Elsie Doying, who taught at the Westport School of Music and accompanied the Saugatuck Congregational Church choir, and Raymond Davy Hunt, the long-time vice president of Harper Fuel Oil in Long Island. She has a sister, Marcia.

Career

Hunt's film debut occurred in 1980 in Robert Altman's musical comedy Popeye. In 1982 she won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role as the male Chinese-Australian dwarf Billy Kwan in the film The Year of Living Dangerously. She is still the only person ever to win an Oscar for playing a character of the opposite sex.

Hunt is also a well known stage actress, who has received two Obie awards and a Tony Award nomination for her theatre work. She created the role of Aunt Dan in Wallace Shawn's play Aunt Dan and Lemon. Recently, she portrayed Sister Aloysius in the Pasadena Playhouse production of John Patrick Shanley's Tony Award-winning play Doubt. Her television appearances include a recurring role as Judge Zoey Hiller on David E. Kelley's series The Practice.

Beside her acting abilities, Hunt is distinguished by her small stature (she is 4' 9" or 1.45 m), and her rich, resonant voice, which she has used effectively in numerous documentaries, cartoons, and commercials. Hunt is the on-air host for City Arts & Lectures, a radio program recorded by KQED public radio. She was chosen by Walt Disney Feature Animation to lend her enigmatic speaking and singing voice to Grandmother Willow in the film Pocahontas. Her voice work also includes the character of "Management" in the US TV series Carnivàle, and Gaia, who serves as the Narrator in the video games God of War and God of War II. She also narrates the introductory film at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Filmography

Preceded by Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1983
for The Year of Living Dangerously 		Succeeded by

Selected television credits

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