Felicity Huffman

Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, five times for a Golden Globe Award (winning one), and has also won an Emmy Award, Obie and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Huffman began her acting career in theatre and in 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as executive producer Dana Whitaker in the critically acclaimed ABC comedy-drama Sports Night from 1998 to 2000, which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. She is best known for her role as Lynette Scavo in the long-running ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–2012), which has earned her an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Huffman drew critical praise for her performance as a transgender woman in the independent film Transamerica (2005). The role earned her a Golden Globe Award, Independent Spirit Award, National Board of Review, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Huffman has also starred in such films as Reversal of Fortune (1990), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Magnolia (1999), Path to War (2002), Georgia Rule (2007), Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), Rudderless (2014) and Cake (2014). She stars as Barb Hanlon in the ABC crime drama, American Crime in 2015. Huffman is married to actor William H. Macy. Early life and education Huffman was born in Bedford, New York into a wealthy family, the daughter of Grace Valle (née Ewing), and Moore Peters Huffman (1910–1987), a banker and partner at Morgan Stanley. Her parents divorced a year after her birth, and she was raised mostly by her mother. She has six sisters (Mariah, Betsy, Grace, Isabel, Jessie, (Jane 1949-2013) and a brother, Moore Jr. In the 1970s her mother left New York and bought property in Snowmass, Colorado, were Felicity and her siblings spent their youth. Her great-grandfather was Gershom Moore Peters (1843-1919), founder of the Peters Cartridge Company and prominent Baptist minister, author of the The Master. Another great-grandfather, Frederick Berthold Ewing, graduated from Yale University and became a prominent St. Louis businessman. Her great-great grandfather was Joseph Warren King (1814-1885), founder of the King Mills Powder Company. She has German, English, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and French-Canadian ancestry. Huffman attended The Putney School, a private boarding high school in Putney, Vermont and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan in 1981. She attended New York University, Circle in the Square and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career Early career in theatre Huffman made her debut on stage in 1982 and in the 1980s and 1990s worked as a rule on stage productions. In 1988, she debuted on Broadway in the role as Karen in David Mamet's play Speed the Plow. In 1995, Huffman won Obie Award for her performance in the critically successful play The Cryptogram by David Mamet. In 1999 she starred in the premiere of David Mamet's play Boston Marriage, about the daringly intimate relationship between two turn-of-the-century women, as well as in several other major theatrical productions. Television and film Huffman debuted on the big screen in 1988 with a small role in the Mamet's film Things Change. Two years later, she appeared as Minnie, a Harvard law school student in the courtroom drama, Reversal of Fortune. Her other credits include 1992 thriller Quicksand: No Escape with Donald Sutherland and Tim Matheson, The Water Engine opposite William H. Macy, and supporting roles on The Heart of Justice (1992), Hackers (1995), Harrison: Cry of the City (1996) and The Underworld (1997). Huffman starred on the television mini-series Golden Years, based on the novel by Stephen King in 1991. In 1994, she starred in the ABC pilot Thunder Alley as Ed Asner's daughter, but was replaced in subsequent episodes by Diane Venora when the series began. During the 1990s, she appeared mostly in guest roles on such shows as The X-Files, Early Edition, Chicago Hope and Law & Order. In 1997, she starred in Mamet's critically acclaimed film The Spanish Prisoner. From 1998 to 2000, she portrayed Dana Whitaker in the critically acclaimed series Sports Night, for which she received several awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. After the completion of Sports Night, she gave birth to her first child and soon returned to work. In 2001, she starred on not picked up CBS pilot Heart Department In 2003, she starred in Showtime's miniseries Out of Order. Critical acclaim and Desperate Housewives After a recurring role on the NBC sitcom Frasier, Huffman landed a leading role in an ABC comedy series Desperate Housewives, co-starring with Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, and Eva Longoria. Huffman won an Emmy Award for her work on Desperate Housewives (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series) in 2005, as well as two 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards (Best Actress - Comedy Series and part of Best Ensemble - Comedy Series) in 2006 and received several other awards. A report in November 2010 suggested that Huffman, along with co-star Teri Hatcher, would be quitting Desperate Housewives, but ABC denied the claim. The series ended in May 2012, after eight seasons. In 2005, Huffman starred in the independent drama Transamerica, playing Bree, a pre-operative transsexual who, on the brink of her transforming surgery, discovered that in her youth she had fathered a son - who is now a troubled teen hustler on the run. Huffman's performance in Transamerica was praised by many critics and garnered her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as nominations for Best Actress (Screen Actors Guild) and Best Actress (Academy Awards), and several another awards and nominations. Huffman is now a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Huffman starred in Garry Marshall's Georgia Rule with Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan, and 2008 on independent drama Phoebe in Wonderland. She made a film, Lesster, as a writer, director and actress in 2010. Huffman and her husband William H. Macy each received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 7, 2012. Personal life Huffman married actor William H. Macy on September 6, 1997. They have two daughters, Sophia Grace (born August 1, 2000) and Georgia Grace (born March 14, 2002) She has appeared on television, in movies, and on stage many times with her husband.