Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman | |
---|---|
Born | Felicity Kendall Huffman |
Years active | 1978-present |
Spouse | William H. Macy (1997-present) |
Awards | NBR Award for Best Actress 2005 Transamerica |
Felicity Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. She is well known for her role as Lynette Scavo, the hectic busy Super-Mom on the ABC hit show Desperate Housewives, which earned her an Emmy Award. A year later, her role as a transwoman in the independent film Transamerica earned her a Golden Globe Award, and was praised by many critics. Huffman won eight significant awards, and was nominated ten times.
Biography
Early life
Felicity Kendall Huffman was born in Bedford, New York, the daughter of Grace Valle (née Ewing), an actress, and Moore Peters Huffman, a banker.[1] Her parents divorced a year after her birth, and she was raised mostly by her mother. She has six sisters and a brother, Moore. She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. After high school she went on to New York University where she graduated in 1988 from the Tisch School of the Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.
Career
Huffman is known for her roles in Desperate Housewives and Transamerica. On television, she has also appeared in the dramedy Sports Night, and has had guest starring roles on Frasier, The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Huffman has appeared in films such as Raising Helen and Christmas with the Kranks. In 2003 she starred in Showtime's dramedy Out of Order.
Huffman won an Emmy for her work on Desperate Housewives (Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series), as well as two 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards (Best Actress - Comedy Series and part of Best Ensemble - Comedy Series). Huffman's performance in the film Transamerica was praised by many critics and garnered her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress as well as nominations for the Best Actress (Screen Actors Guild) and Best Actress (Academy Awards). Huffman is now a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[2]
Huffman is also the co-author of the self-help book, A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend. She is the only actress to have appeared in all three television shows created by Aaron Sorkin (Sports Night, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip).
Personal life
Huffman is married to actor William H. Macy, with whom she has two daughters Sofia Grace (born August 1 2000), Georgia Grace (born March 14 2002) and is currenty pregnant with a son, Phillip Huffman and due to give birth to him in late 2008. They married on September 6, 1997. She has appeared on television, in movies, and on stage many times with her husband, such as on the TV show Sports Night and in the movie Magnolia. The couple have become the subject of a running gag on the satirical news show The Colbert Report, in which the couple (who live a quiet life outside the media spotlight) are regularly referenced as representing the greatest of today's celebrity couples in a culture obsessed with celebs. Colbert refers to the couple as "Filliam H. Muffman", a play on the current trend by media types to combine the names of major celebrity couples, in the mold of "Bennifer", "Brangelina" and "TomKat."
In 2005, Huffman revealed that she had suffered from both anorexia and bulimia in her late teens and twenties.[3] At the height of her bulimia she would purge up to six times a day. Her weight dropped to 98 lbs, her periods stopped, and she was too weak to go jogging. However, with therapy and upon meeting Macy she managed to overcome those conditions. She is still known for her self-deprecating humor and her belief that she is "not pretty."
She is a huge fan of Tina Turner and her dream was to be a back-up singer, so when Huffman was on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey surprised her with a visit from Tina Turner where the two got to sing together.
Filmography
- 1988: Things Change as The Wheel of Fortune Girl
- 1990: Reversal of Fortune as Minnie, Dershowitz's Student Staff
- 1991: Golden Years as Terry Spann
- 1993: The X-Files - "Ice" as Dr. Nancy Da Silva
- 1995: Hackers as Prosecuting Attorney
- 1997: The Spanish Prisoner as Pat McCune
- 1998 - 2000: Sports Night (TV) as Dana Whitaker
- 1999: Magnolia as Cynthia
- 2003: Frasier as Julia Wilcox
- 2003: House Hunting as Sheila
- 2004 - Present:Desperate Housewives (TV) as Lynette Scavo
- 2004: Raising Helen as Lindsay Davis
- 2004: Reversible Errors as Judge Gillian Sullivan
- 2004: Christmas with the Kranks as Merry
- 2005: Transamerica as Sabrina 'Bree' Osbourne
- 2007: Georgia Rule as Lilly
- 2008: Phoebe in Wonderland as Hillary Lichten
Awards & nominations
- 2006: nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role --Transamerica
- 2000: nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy/Musical -- Sports Night
- 2005: nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy/Musical -- Desperate Housewives
- 2006: nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy/Musical -- Desperate Housewives
- 2006: won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama -- Transamerica
- 2007: nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series - Comedy/Musical -- Desperate Housewives
- 2007: nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2005: won for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2006: won for Best Female Lead -- Transamerica
- 2005: won for Best Actress -- Transamerica
- 1994-95: won for her performance as Donny in David Mamet's "Cryptogram"
- 2000: nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Sports Night
- 2005: won for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2006: nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role -- Transamerica
- 2006: won for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2006: won for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2007: nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
- 2007: nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series -- Desperate Housewives
References
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Felicity Huffman Web (fansite)
- Template:Tvtome person
- Huffman interview, 2005, Miami Herald
- Huffman interview, 2005, PlanetOut
- Huffman interview, 2005, Asbury Park Press
- Huffman interview, 2006, AOL Living