Anjelica Huston | |
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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 |
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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
- Anjelica Huston at the Internet Movie Database
- Anjelica Huston at the Internet Broadway Database
- Anjelica Huston at TV.com