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Anjelica Huston
Anjelica huston 0
Character(s) Cynthia Keener
 
Date of Birth July 8, 1951
 
Origin Santa Monica, California
 
IMDb profile

Anjelica Huston (pronounced ˈhjuːstən; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston.

Biography

Early Life

Anjelica Huston was born in Santa Monica, California, and is the daughter of director and actor John Huston and Italian-American prima ballerina Enrica 'Ricki' (née Soma), from New York. Huston spent most of her childhood in Ireland and England. She grew up in Saint Clerns House near Craughwell, County Galway. In 1969, she began taking a few small roles in her father's movies. In that same year, her mother, who was 39 years old, died in a car accident, and Huston relocated to the United States, where she modeled for several years. She has an older brother Tony, a younger maternal half-sister named Allegra, whom she called "Legs," and a younger paternal half-brother Danny.

Acting career

Deciding to focus more on movies, in the late 1970s she seriously studied acting. Her first notable role was in Bob Rafelson's remake of the The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). She costarred with Jack Nicholson, with whom she had a romantic relationship since 1973. Later, her father cast her as the calculating, imperious Maerose, daughter of a Mafia don whose love is scorned by a hit man (Nicholson again) in his film adaptation of Richard Condon's Mafia-satire novel Prizzi's Honor (1985). Huston won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, making her the first person in Academy Award history to win an Oscar when a parent and a grandparent had also won one.

Huston thereafter worked prolifically, notably earning another Oscar nomination for her portrayal of an iron-willed con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990), this time for Best Actress. A sentimental favorite was her performance as the lead in her father's final film, an adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead (1987).

She then became Morticia Addams, in the hugely successful 1991 movie adaptation of The Addams Family, and later in 1993, revived that role of Morticia for the follow-up sequel: Addams Family Values. Anjelica also starred in the 1998 Hollywood blockbuster, Ever After: A Cinderella Story alongside Drew Barrymore and Melanie Lynskey as the Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent. She also starred in two highly lauded Wes Anderson films, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), as well as appearing in 2007's The Darjeeling Limited. She also does the voice of Queen Clarion in the Disney Fairies film series starring Tinker Bell. On January 22, 2010, Anjelica was honoured on Walk of Fame. She continued her renowned family's legacy in film, which began with her grandfather, Walter, and her father, John.

Directing career

Huston has recently expanded her horizons, following in her father’s footsteps in the director’s chair. Her first directorial credit was Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), followed by Agnes Browne (1999), in which she both directed and starred, and then Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005).

Political activism

In 2007, Huston led a letter campaign organized by the US Campaign for Burma and Human Rights Action Center. The letter, signed by over twenty-five high-profile individuals from the entertainment business, was addressed to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and urged him to "personally intervene" to secure the release of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. Huston has donated $2000 to Democratic political candidates John Kerry and Dick Gephardt. Huston has recorded a public service announcement urging her colleagues in Hollywood to refrain from using great apes as slave labour in television, movies and advertisements.

Personal life

While working as a model in her teens during the late 1960s, Huston had a relationship with photographer Bob Richardson, who was 23 years her senior. She was also involved with actor Ryan O'Neal. Her on-and-off relationship with actor Jack Nicholson spanned from 1973 to 1990 and included an incident in which she became a witness for the prosecution at Roman Polanski's 1977 trial regarding the statutory rape of a thirteen-year-old girl in Nicholson's home. Her testimony, which was reportedly made in exchange for dropping charges of cocaine possession, in which she had arrived at the residence she had just recently shared with Nicholson, was intended to be used against Polanski to place him in the bedroom with the alleged victim, but once a plea bargain was struck her testimony became unnecessary.

On May 23, 1992, she married sculptor Robert Graham, Jr.. The couple lived in Venice, California until his death on December 27, 2008. She owns a ranch in Three Rivers, California, just east of Visalia, which she visits often.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1967 Casino Royale Agent Mimi's Hands uncredited
1969 Hamlet Court Lady
A Walk with Love and Death Claudia
Sinful Davey uncredited
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Woman in Crowd on Pier uncredited
1976 Swashbuckler Woman of Dark Visage
The Last Tycoon Edna
1981 The Postman Always Rings Twice Madge
1982 Rose for Emily Miss Emily Grierson
The Comic Book Kids The Princess
Frances An extra Huston was a mental patient rocking back and forth on a bed under a blanket. View DVD, Frances (2001), chapter 23.
1984 This Is Spinal Tap Polly Deutsch
The Ice Pirates Maida
1985 Prizzi's Honor Maerose Prizzi Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1986 Captain EO The Supreme Leader
Good to Go
1987 Gardens of Stone Samantha Davis
The Dead Gretta Conroy Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
1988 Mr. North Persis Bosworth-Tennyson
Lonesome Dove Clara
A Handful of Dust Mrs. Rattery
1989 Crimes and Misdemeanors Dolores Paley Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Enemies, a Love Story Tamara Broder Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990 The Witches Eva Ernst/ The Grand High Witch Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress
The Grifters Lilly Dillon Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1991 The Addams Family Morticia Addams Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993 Manhattan Murder Mystery Marcia Fox Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Addams Family Values Morticia Addams Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress
And the Band Played On Dr. Betsy Reisz
1995 The Perez Family Carmela Perez
The Crossing Guard Mary Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
1998 Phoenix Leila
1998 Ever After Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama/Romance
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
Buffalo '66 Billy Brown's Mother
1999 Agnes Browne Agnes Browne
The Golden Bowl Fanny Assingham
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums Etheline Tenenbaum Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
The Mists of Avalon Viviane, Lady of Lake Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2002 Blood Work Dr. Bonnie Fox
Barbie as Rapunzel Madame Gothel Voice: English version
2003 Daddy Day Care Ms. Harridan
Queen of the Selenites voice: English version
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Eleanor Zissou Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Iron Jawed Angels Carrie Chapman Catt Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
2006 Art School Confidential Art History Teacher
Covert One: The Hades Factor President Castilla
Material Girls Fabiella
These Foolish Things Lottie Osgood
2007 Seraphim Falls Madame Louise Fair
The Darjeeling Limited Patricia Whitman
Martian Child Mimi
2008 Medium Cynthia Keener 7 episodes
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series
Choke Ida Mancini Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Tinker Bell Queen Clarion voice only
Spirit of the Forest Mrs. D'Abondo
2009 Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure Queen Clarion voice only
2010 When in Rome Celeste

External Links

References

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