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Quick Facts
Biography
Anjelica Huston (/ˈhjuːstən/; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress, director and former fashion model. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, when she won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She also received Academy Award nominations for Enemies, a Love Story (1989) and The Grifters (1990).
Huston received British Academy Award nominations for her work in the Woody Allen films Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). Among her other roles, she starred as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), receiving Golden Globe nominations for both, and played the Grand High Witch in the children's movie The Witches (1990). She has frequently collaborated with director Wes Anderson, including The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). She is also the author of two memoirs; A Story Lately Told and Watch Me.
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 and model Enrica Soma. Huston's paternal grandfather was Canadian-born actor Walter Huston. Huston has Scots-Irish, English and Welsh ancestry from her father.
She spent much of her childhood in Ireland, particularly near Craughwell, County Galway, and England, where she attended Holland Park School. In the late 1960s, she began taking a few small roles in her father's movies.
She started very small, substituting her hands for Deborah Kerr's in the British Casino Royale and advanced to bigger roles in 1969, starring, for example, in A Walk with Love and Death, where she played the 16-year-old French noblewoman Claudia. In the same year, her mother, who was 39 years old, died in a car accident, and Anjelica relocated to the U.S., where she modeled for several years. While she modeled, she worked with photographers such as Richard Avedon and Bob Richardson.
Huston has an older brother, Tony, a younger maternal half-sister named Allegra, whom she called "Legs", a younger paternal half-brother, actor Danny Huston, and an adopted older brother, Pablo. She is the aunt of Boardwalk Empire actor Jack Huston.
Career
Acting career
Deciding to focus more on movies, in the early 1980s she studied acting. Her first notable role was in Bob Rafelson's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). Later, her father cast her as Maerose, daughter of a Mafia don whose love is scorned by a hit man (Jack Nicholson) in the 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 earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990). She also starred as the lead in her father's final directorial film, The Dead (1987), an adaptation of a James Joyce story.
She was then cast as Morticia Addams, in the hugely successful 1991 movie adaptation of The Addams Family. In 1993, she reprised the role for the 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 starred in two Wes Anderson films, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), as well as appearing in a minor role in 2007's The Darjeeling Limited. She voiced the role of Queen Clarion in the Disney Fairies film series starring Tinker Bell. On January 22, 2010, Huston was honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2011, Huston was in the film Horrid Henry: The Movie. Huston later appeared on the NBC television series, Smash, portraying Broadway producer Eileen Rand. In 2015 and 2016 Huston appeared in the second and third seasons of the Amazon Video series Transparent.
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 November 2007, Huston led a letter campaign organized by the U.S. 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.
In December 2012, Huston recorded a public service announcement for PETA, urging her colleagues in Hollywood to refrain from using great apes in television, movies and advertisements.
Later, the animal rights organization named her their Person of the Year 2012.
Personal life
In 1969, at age 18, Huston began dating photographer Bob Richardson, who was 23 years her senior. Their relationship lasted almost four years. She met Jack Nicholson in 1973 and they lived together, on and off, from that year until 1990, when the media reported he had fathered a child with Rebecca Broussard. She was briefly involved in a relationship with Ryan O'Neal during one of her separations from Nicholson in the late 1970s.
On May 23, 1992, Huston married sculptor Robert Graham. The couple lived in a five-story house designed by Graham at 69 Windward Avenue in Venice, California, until his death on December 27, 2008. They did not have any children.
Huston's home went on the market for $18 million in 2010, but initially failed to sell. In September 2012, the New York Post reported that Huston was planning to transform her house into a private social club; the actress was said to have accepted $12 million for the property and to serve on the advisory board for a new private club to be based there. In April 2014, Huston sold the house for $11.15 million.
Huston was close friends with actor Gregory Peck, whom her father directed in Moby Dick (1956). The two of them first met on the set of the film when she was four years old as Peck was in costume as Captain Ahab. Decades later, after her father's death, Huston reunited with Peck and maintained a friendship that lasted until his death.
Huston wrote her memoirs as one 900-page book; she split it into two books at her publisher's urging.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | Walk with Love and Death, AA Walk with Love and Death | Claudia | |
1976 | Last Tycoon, TheThe Last Tycoon | Edna | |
1981 | Postman Always Rings Twice, TheThe Postman Always Rings Twice | Madge Gorland | |
1982 | Rose for Emily | Miss Emily Grierson | |
1984 | This Is Spinal Tap | Polly Deutsch | |
Ice Pirates, TheThe Ice Pirates | Maida | ||
1985 | Prizzi's Honor | Maerose Prizzi | |
1986 | Captain EO | The Supreme Leader | |
1987 | Gardens of Stone | Samantha Davis | |
Dead, TheThe Dead | Gretta Conroy | ||
1988 | Mr. North | Persis Bosworth-Tennyson | |
Handful of Dust, AA Handful of Dust | Mrs. Rattery | ||
1989 | Crimes and Misdemeanors | Dolores Paley | |
Enemies, a Love Story | Tamara Broder | ||
1990 | Witches, TheThe Witches | Miss Eva Ernst/The Grand High Witch | |
Grifters, TheThe Grifters | Lilly Dillon | ||
1991 | Addams Family, TheThe Addams Family | Morticia Addams | |
1993 | Manhattan Murder Mystery | Marcia Fox | |
Addams Family Values | Morticia Addams | ||
1995 | Perez Family, TheThe Perez Family | Carmela Perez | |
Crossing Guard, TheThe Crossing Guard | Mary | ||
1998 | Phoenix | Leila | |
Ever After | Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent | ||
Buffalo '66 | Jan Brown | ||
1999 | Agnes Browne | Agnes Browne | Also director |
2000 | Golden Bowl, TheThe Golden Bowl | Fanny Assingham | |
2001 | Royal Tenenbaums, TheThe Royal Tenenbaums | Etheline Tenenbaum | |
Man from Elysian Fields, TheThe Man from Elysian Fields | Jennifer Adler | ||
2002 | Barbie as Rapunzel | Gothel | Voice |
2003 | Daddy Day Care | Miss Harridan | |
Kaena: The Prophecy | Queen of the Selenites | English dub | |
2004 | Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, TheThe Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Eleanor Zissou | |
2006 | Covert One: The Hades Factor | President Castilla | |
Material Girls | Fabiella Du Mont | ||
These Foolish Things | Lottie Osgood | ||
2007 | Darjeeling Limited, TheThe Darjeeling Limited | Patricia Whitman | |
2008 | Choke | Ida Mancini | |
Tinker Bell | Queen Clarion | Voice | |
2009 | Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure | Queen Clarion | Voice |
2011 | 50/50 | Diane Lerner | |
The Big Year | Annie Auklet | ||
Horrid Henry: The Movie | Miss Battle-Axe | ||
Pixie Hollow Games | Queen Clarion | Voice | |
2012 | Secret of the Wings | Queen Clarion | Voice |
2014 | The Pirate Fairy | Queen Clarion | Voice |
2015 | Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast | Queen Clarion | Voice |
2016 | The Master Cleanse | Lily | |
2018 | Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad | Maureen | Voice |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | Laverne & Shirley | Geraldine | Episode: "An Affair to Forget" |
1983 | Miss Paris | Episode: "Miss Paris" | |
1986 | Saturday Night Live | Co-host | Episode: "Anjelica Huston & Billy Martin/George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic" |
1988 | Lonesome Dove | Clara Allen | 4 episodes |
1993 | Family Pictures | Lainey Eberlin | Television movie |
1995 | Buffalo Girls | Calamity Jane | Television movie |
2001 | Mists of Avalon, TheThe Mists of Avalon | Viviane, Lady of the Lake | Television movie |
2004 | Iron Jawed Angels | Carrie Chapman Catt | Television movie |
2006 | Huff | Dr. Lena Markova | 4 episodes |
2008–2009 | Medium | Cynthia Keener | 8 episodes |
2011 | American Dad! | Superintendent Ellen Riggs (voice) | 2 episodes |
2012–2013 | Smash | Eileen Rand | 32 episodes |
2014 | BoJack Horseman | Angela Diaz (voice) | Episode: "The Telescope" |
2015–2016 | Transparent | Vikki | 7 episodes |
2016 | All Hail King Julien | Julienne (voice) | Episode: "Oh Captain! My Captain! Pt.1" |
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1985 | National Board of Review | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1985 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1985 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1986 | BAFTA Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Prizzi's Honor | Nominated |
1986 | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1986 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Prizzi's Honor | Nominated |
1986 | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1986 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Prizzi's Honor | Won |
1987 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The Dead | Nominated |
1988 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Female | The Dead | Won |
1988 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The Dead | Nominated |
1989 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Enemies: A Love Story | Nominated |
1989 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Lonesome Dove | Nominated |
1990 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Enemies: A Love Story | Nominated |
1990 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Lonesome Dove | Nominated |
1990 | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Enemies: A Love Story | Won |
1990 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Won |
1990 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | The Witches | Won |
1990 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Enemies: A Love Story | Won |
1990 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Nominated |
1991 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Nominated |
1991 | BAFTA Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Crimes and Misdemeanors | Nominated |
1991 | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Won |
1991 | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | The Witches | Won |
1991 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Nominated |
1991 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama | The Grifters | Nominated |
1991 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Female Lead | The Grifters | Won |
1991 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | The Grifters | Won |
1991 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | The Witches | Won |
1991 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress | The Witches | Nominated |
1992 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | The Addams Family | Nominated |
1992 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss (shared with Raúl Juliá) | The Addams Family | Nominated |
1994 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Family Pictures | Nominated |
1994 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | The Addams Family Values | Nominated |
1994 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress | The Addams Family Values | Nominated |
1995 | BAFTA Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Manhattan Murder Mystery | Nominated |
1995 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Buffalo Girls | Nominated |
1996 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | The Crossing Guard | Nominated |
1996 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Buffalo Girls | Nominated |
1996 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | The Crossing Guard | Nominated |
1999 | Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama/Romance | EverAfter | Won |
1999 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Villain | EverAfter | Nominated |
1999 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | EverAfter | Nominated |
2002 | Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Cast | The Royal Tenenbaums | Nominated |
2002 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | The Mists of Avalon | Nominated |
2002 | Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | The Royal Tenenbaums | Nominated |
2002 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | The Mists of Avalon | Nominated |
2004 | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Cast | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Nominated |
2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Iron Jawed Angels | Nominated |
2005 | Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Cast | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Nominated |
2005 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Iron Jawed Angels | Won |
2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Iron Jawed Angels | Won |
2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Medium | Nominated |
2008 | Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Choke | Nominated |
2012 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Female | 50/50 | Nominated |
2013 | Gracie Allen Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Smash | Won |
2016 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series | Transparent | Nominated |