Anjelica Huston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anjelica Huston
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Huston in 2014
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| Born | July 8, 1951 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Years active | 1968–present |
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| Awards | Full list |
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Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an American actress, director, and former model. She is famous for playing unique and memorable characters. Many people know her as Morticia Addams in the movies The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.
Huston has won many awards for her acting, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She comes from a family of famous filmmakers. Her father was director John Huston, and her grandfather was actor Walter Huston. In 2010, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in movies.
She first appeared on screen in her father's 1969 film, A Walk with Love and Death. In the 1970s, she moved to New York City and worked as a model. She returned to acting in the 1980s and had a major success with the movie Prizzi's Honor (1985). Her father also directed this film. For her role, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This made her the third generation of her family to win an Oscar.
Huston is also known for her roles in The Grifters (1990) and as the Grand High Witch in The Witches (1990). She has also directed movies, including Agnes Browne (1999). She often worked with director Wes Anderson in films like The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).
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Early Life and Family
Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951, in Los Angeles, California. Her father was the famous director and actor John Huston, and her mother was the ballerina and model Enrica Soma. Her paternal grandfather was the actor Walter Huston. She has Scottish, Irish, English, Welsh, and Italian ancestry.
When Huston was two years old, her family moved to Ireland. She spent much of her childhood there and still considers it her home. Her father bought a large estate in County Galway in 1954. She went to school at Kylemore Abbey in Ireland and later at Holland Park School in England.
Huston has a large family. She has an older brother, Tony, and a younger paternal half-brother, actor Danny Huston. She also has a younger maternal half-sister, Allegra. She is the aunt of actor Jack Huston.
Acting Career
First Roles and Modeling
Huston's first movie was A Walk with Love and Death (1969), directed by her father. She played a 16-year-old French noblewoman. At first, she was considered for the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1968), but her father cast her in his own movie instead.
After her mother's death in a car accident, Huston moved to New York City. She decided to become a model, inspired by famous models like Twiggy. She worked with well-known photographers like Richard Avedon and appeared in Vogue magazine. She modeled for famous designers like Armani and Valentino.
Movie Breakthrough
Huston decided to focus on acting again and moved to California. She had small parts in movies like The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). Her big break came in 1985 when her father cast her in Prizzi's Honor. She played Maerose, the daughter of a Mafia boss.
Her performance was highly praised by critics. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. This made the Hustons one of the few families with three generations of Oscar winners.
After this success, she starred in her father's last film, The Dead (1987). Her father was very ill during filming but was still a master at directing. For her role, Huston won an Independent Spirit Award.
Famous Roles of the 1990s
The late 1980s and early 1990s were a very successful time for Huston. She earned award nominations for her roles in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Enemies, A Love Story (1989).
In 1990, she played two of her most iconic characters. She was the terrifying Grand High Witch in the movie The Witches, based on the book by Roald Dahl. The makeup for the monstrous version of her character took over six hours to apply. That same year, she starred as a con artist in The Grifters, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
In 1991, Huston took on the role of Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. She based her performance on her friend, model Jerry Hall, to give the character more warmth. The movie was a huge hit, and she returned for the sequel, Addams Family Values (1993). She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for both films.
Directing and Later Films
Following in her father's footsteps, Huston began directing. Her first film was `...` Out of Carolina (1996), which was shown at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. She later directed and starred in the Irish film Agnes Browne (1999).
In 1998, she played the cruel stepmother, Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent, in Ever After, a new version of the Cinderella story starring Drew Barrymore. The film was a success with both critics and audiences.
In the 2000s, Huston began working with director Wes Anderson. She appeared in his films The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and The Darjeeling Limited (2007). In The Royal Tenenbaums, she played the mother of a family of former child geniuses.
She also had roles in the comedy Daddy Day Care (2003) with Eddie Murphy and won a Golden Globe Award for the TV film Iron Jawed Angels (2004), where she played suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt.
Voice Acting and Television
Huston has also done voice work for animated films. She is the voice of Queen Clarion in the Disney Tinker Bell movie series, which began in 2008.
From 2012 to 2013, she starred in the TV series Smash as a Broadway producer named Eileen Rand. She said the show was very important to her after her husband passed away. She also had a recurring role in the Amazon series Transparent.
More recently, she played the Director, a Russian ballet instructor, in the action film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Personal Life
In 1969, Huston began a relationship with photographer Bob Richardson. Later, from 1973 to 1990, she was in a long-term relationship with actor Jack Nicholson.
On May 23, 1992, Huston married sculptor Robert Graham. They lived in a house designed by Graham in Venice, California. They were married until his death on December 27, 2008. Huston does not have any children.
In April 2025, Huston shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2019 but was then four years cancer-free.
Activism
Huston is involved in many causes, especially animal rights. She works with Save the Chimps, a sanctuary for chimpanzees. She has also worked with PETA to ask Hollywood to stop using great apes in movies and TV shows. In 2012, PETA named her "Person of the Year."
She has also supported human rights. In 2007, she led a campaign to help free Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (now Myanmar).
Acting Credits and Awards
See also
In Spanish: Anjelica Huston para niños
