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Calista Flockhart was born on
November 11th, 1964 in Freeport, Illinois. She was named after her
grandmother, and in Greek, Calista means 'most beautiful'. Flockhart's
father was a Kraft Food executive and her mother was a school teacher. Her
family moved four times while she was growing up, finally settling in
Medford, New Jersey.
After finishing high school, Flockhart studied at Rutgers University in
New Jersey. To avoid the lack of respect an undeclared major usually
receives, she enrolled in the fine arts program, where she was bit by the
acting bug. After appearing in college and community theatre and
graduating from Rutgers in 1987, she packed up and moved to New York to
pursue an acting career.
While appearing in smaller plays, Flockhart taught aerobics classes to pay
the bills. She made her television debut in 1989 playing Elise in an
episode of “The Guiding Light”. Soon after, she began winning praise for
her performances in Off-Broadway productions of Sophistry and All For One.
Flockhart made her movie debut in Darrow (1991), a bio-pic that starred
Kevin Spacey as the famed Attorney Clarence Darrow. A year later, she had
her first starring role in the made-for-TV movie The Secret Life of
Mary-Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic (1992). This was part of HBO’s Family
in Crisis Series.
Later, she won more praise for her regional theatre production of
Chekhov’s Three Sisters. However, this was the beginning of a downward
trend in her career. She worked for eight weeks off-off-Broadway for $400.
During this time, she lived off of a case of Ravioli that her brother sent
her. Her career picked up again with her Broadway appearance in Tennessee
Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. For her performance, she won a Theatre
World Award and a Clarence Derwent Award.
That year, Flockhart began appearing in more movies with small roles in
Quiz Show, Getting In, and Naked in New York. In 1995, she had her first
major supporting role in Drunks. The movie showed an Alcoholics Anonymous
meeting, with different characters telling their stories. Richard Lewis,
Spalding Grey, Parker Posey, and Faye Dunaway also starred.
Flockhart appeared in The Birdcage in 1996, where she played Barbara
Keeley, the daughter of the arch-conservative Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene
Hackman). The movie also starred Robin Williams and was a critical and
commercial success.
After her brief role on “The Guiding Light”, Flockhart refused to do
television again, but after much encouragement from her friends, she
finally went an audition for a new TV series, and was cast as the lead in
Ally McBeal in 1997. She starred as the title character, a lawyer. The
show was a hit, and in 1998 Flockhart won a Golden Globe for Best
Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical.
Flockhart continued to make movies while doing Ally McBeal. In 1997 she
appeared in the romantic comedy Milk and Money, and co-starred with
Michelle Pfeiffer in the film adaptation of a A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In 2000, she appeared in Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her,
co-starring Cameron Diaz. She also returned to her theater roots and
starred in the Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues.
Flockhart has been romantically involved with actor Harrison Ford since
meeting him at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards after she spilled wine on his
award. The pair were dating within a week. When approached to star in the
film Indiana Jones 4, Ford requested that Flockhart co-star as his love
interest. Though the film producers agreed, Flockhart is not currently
attached to the project. Flockhart's reaction was "Oh, yes. If I could
kick his ass, absolutely!"
On January 11, 2001, Flockhart adopted a baby boy, born ten days prior,
whom she named Liam.
Next up, Flockhart will appear in The Last Shot, also starring Matthew
Broderick and Alec Baldwin. |
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"Brothers & Sisters" ....
Kitty Walker (20 episodes, 2006-2007)
- Game Night (2007) TV Episode .... Kitty Walker
- Three Parties (2007) TV Episode .... Kitty Walker
- All in the Family (2007) TV Episode .... Kitty Walker
- The Other Walker (2007) TV Episode .... Kitty Walker
- Love Is Difficult (2007) TV Episode .... Kitty Walker
(15 more)
Frágiles (2005) .... Amy Nicholls
... aka Fragile (International: English title)
... aka Fragile: A Ghost Story (Philippines: English title: poster
title)
The Last Shot (2004) .... Valerie Weston
"Ally McBeal" .... Ally McBeal (112 episodes, 1997-2002)
- Bygones (2002) TV Episode .... Ally McBeal
- All of Me (2002) TV Episode .... Ally McBeal
- What I'll Never Do for Love Again (2002) TV Episode .... Ally
McBeal
- Another One Bites the Dust (2002) TV Episode .... Ally McBeal
- Tom Dooley (2002) TV Episode .... Ally McBeal
(107 more)
Bash: Latter-Day Plays (2001) (TV)
"Saturday Night Live" .... Host (1 episode, 2000)
... aka NBC's Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
... aka SNL (USA: informal title)
... aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
... aka Saturday Night (USA: second season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live '80 (USA: sixth season title)
- Calista Flockhart/Ricky Martin (2000) TV Episode .... Host
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000) .... Christine
Taylor (segments "Goodnight Lilly, Goodnight Christine" and "This is
Dr. Keener")
"Ally" (1999) TV Series .... Ally McBeal (unknown episodes)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) .... Helena
... aka Sogno di una notte di mezza estate (Italy)
... aka William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA:
complete title)
"Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" .... Vanna Van (1
episode, 1999)
- Rip Van Winkle (1999) TV Episode (voice) .... Vanna Van
"The Practice" .... Ally McBeal (1 episode, 1998)
- Axe Murderer (1998) TV Episode .... Ally McBeal
Telling Lies in America (1997) .... Diney Majeski
Milk & Money (1996) .... Christine
The Birdcage (1996) .... Barbara Keeley
... aka Birds of a Feather
Drunks (1995) .... Helen
Pictures of Baby Jane Doe (1995) .... Jane
... aka Jane Doe
Quiz Show (1994) .... Barnard Girl
Clear Cut (1994)
Getting In (1994) .... Amanda Morel
... aka Student Body
Naked in New York (1993) .... Acting student
"Lifestories: Families in Crisis" .... Mary-Margaret Carter (1
episode, 1992)
- The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic (1992) TV
Episode .... Mary-Margaret Carter
Darrow (1991) (TV) .... Lillian Anderson
"The Guiding Light" (1952) TV Series .... Elise (unknown episodes,
1989)
... aka Guiding Light (USA: new title) |
