Linda Hunt
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Linda Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her Academy Award-winning role in 1982's The Year of Living Dangerously.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Hunt was born in Morristown, New Jersey, the daughter of Elsie (née Doying), a piano teacher who taught at the Westport School of Music and accompanied the Saugatuck Congregational Church choir, and Raymond Davy Hunt, the long-time vice president of Harper Fuel Oil in Long Island.[1] She has a sister, Marcia. She was also born with Turner syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by partial or total absence of the second sex chromosome.
[edit] Career
Hunt's film debut occurred in 1980 in Robert Altman's musical comedy Popeye. Two years later she co-starred as Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously, Peter Weir's film adaptation of the novel of the same name. For her role as a male Chinese-Australian photographer Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1983, becoming the first actor to win an Oscar for playing a character of the opposite sex.
Also a well known stage actress, Hunt has received two Obie awards and a Tony Award nomination for her theatre work. She created the role of Aunt Dan in Wallace Shawn's play Aunt Dan and Lemon. Recently, she portrayed Sister Aloysius in the Pasadena Playhouse production of John Patrick Shanley's Tony Award-winning play Doubt. Her television appearances include a recurring role as Judge Zoey Hiller on David E. Kelley's series The Practice.
Beside her acting abilities, Hunt is distinguished by her small stature (she is 4' 9" or 1.45 m), and her rich, resonant voice, which she has used effectively in numerous documentaries, cartoons, and commercials. She is the on-air host for City Arts & Lectures, a radio program recorded by KQED public radio. Hunt was chosen by Walt Disney Feature Animation to lend her enigmatic speaking and singing voice to Grandmother Willow in the film Pocahontas. Her voice work also includes the character of "Management" in the US TV series Carnivàle, and Gaia, who serves as the Narrator in the video games God of War and God of War II. She also narrates the introductory film at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Popeye | Mrs. Oxheart | |
| 1982 | The Year of Living Dangerously | Billy Kwan | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture |
| 1984 | Dune | Shadout Mapes | |
| The Bostonians | Dr. Prance | ||
| 1985 | Eleni | Katina | |
| Silverado | Stella | ||
| 1987 | Waiting for the Moon | Alice B. Toklas | |
| 1989 | She-Devil | Hooper | |
| 1990 | Kindergarten Cop | Miss Schlowski | |
| Carmilla | Narrator | ||
| 1991 | If Looks Could Kill | Ilsa Grunt | |
| 1992 | Rain Without Thunder | Atwood Society Director | |
| 1993 | Younger and Younger | Frances | |
| Twenty Bucks | Angeline | ||
| 1994 | Prêt-à-Porter | Regina Krumm | |
| 1995 | Pocahontas | Grandmother Willow | voice |
| 1997 | The Relic | Dr. Ann Cuthbert | |
| Eat Your Heart Out | Kathryn | ||
| 1998 | Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World | Grandmother Willow | voice |
| 2002 | Dragonfly | Sister Madeline | |
| 2005 | Auschwitz -- Inside the Nazi State | Narrator | voice |
| Yours, Mine and Ours | Mrs. Munion | ||
| God of War | Narrator | VG - voice | |
| The Great Transatlantic Cable | Narrator | ||
| 2006 | Stranger Than Fiction | Dr. Mittag-Leffler | |
| 2007 | The Singing Revolution | Narrator | |
| God of War II | Narrator/Gaia | VG - voice | |
| 2008 | God of War: Chains of Olympus | Narrator/Gaia | VG - voice |
[edit] Selected television credits
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Fame | Mona | |
| 1993 | Space Rangers | Cmdr. Chennault | |
| 1997-2002 | The Practice | Judge Zoey Hiller | 24 episodes |
| 2003-2005 | Carnivàle | Management - voice | 9 episodes |
| 2006 | Nature | Narrator | "Christmas in Yellowstone" |
| 2007 | The Unit |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jessica Lange for Tootsie |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1983 for The Year of Living Dangerously |
Succeeded by Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Linda Hunt at the Internet Movie Database
- Linda Hunt at City Arts & Lectures
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