Helen Hunt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Helen Hunt
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Hunt in 2015
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Helen Elizabeth Hunt
June 15, 1963 Culver City, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (no degree) |
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| Years active | 1973–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Partner(s) | Matthew Carnahan (2001–2017) |
| Children | 1 |
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| Relatives | Peter H. Hunt (uncle) |
| Awards | Full list |
Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is a famous American actress and director. She has won many important awards, like an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
Helen Hunt became very well-known for playing Jamie Buchman in the TV show Mad About You (1992–1999). This role helped her win three Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. She also won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as a single mom in the movie As Good as It Gets (1997).
She has starred in many other popular films. These include Twister (1996), Cast Away (2000), What Women Want (2000), and Pay It Forward (2000). Helen Hunt also started directing movies. Her first film as a director was Then She Found Me (2007). For her acting in The Sessions (2012), she was nominated for another Academy Award.
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Early Life and Family
Helen Hunt was born in Culver City, California. Her mother, Jane Elizabeth, was a photographer. Her father, Gordon Hunt, was a director for films, voice acting, and theater. He also taught acting. Helen's uncle, Peter H. Hunt, was also a director. Her grandmother, Dorothy Fries, was a voice coach.
When Helen was three years old, her family moved to New York City. Her father directed plays there, and Helen often went to see them. She also studied ballet. Later, she briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles.
Acting Career Highlights
Starting Out in the 1970s and 1980s
Helen Hunt began acting when she was a child in the 1970s. She appeared in TV shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bionic Woman. She also had a regular role in The Swiss Family Robinson.
In the 1980s, Helen started acting in movies for teenagers. Her first big film role was in the sci-fi movie Trancers (1984). She also appeared in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) with Sarah Jessica Parker. She worked with Francis Ford Coppola in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). In 1987, she starred with Matthew Broderick in Project X.
Rising to Fame in the 1990s
Helen Hunt became very famous with the TV show Mad About You (1992–1999). She starred alongside Paul Reiser as a couple living in New York City. She won four Emmy Awards for her acting in this show, from 1996 to 1999. For the last season, she and Paul Reiser earned a lot of money per episode. Helen also directed some episodes of Mad About You, including the very last one.
In 1996, Helen starred in the action film Twister with Bill Paxton. They played storm chasers who study tornadoes. Twister was one of the highest-earning films of 1996, making over US$494 million worldwide.
In 1997, Helen won an Academy Award for Best Actress for the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets. She played a waitress and single mother who falls in love with a difficult writer, played by Jack Nicholson. Critics praised her performance, and the movie was a huge success, earning US$314 million around the world.
Movies in the 2000s
In 2000, Helen Hunt starred in four major films. She was in the comedy What Women Want with Mel Gibson. She also appeared in the drama Cast Away with Tom Hanks, playing his long-term girlfriend. Her other films that year were Dr. T & the Women and Pay It Forward.
In 2001, Helen starred in Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. In 2006, she was part of a large cast in the drama Bobby. This film was about the hours leading up to the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. The cast won an award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Helen Hunt directed her first feature film, Then She Found Me, in 2007. She also starred in it as a teacher who meets her biological mother. Critics praised her acting and directing in this movie.
Recent Work in the 2010s and 2020s
In 2011, Helen played the mother of surfer Bethany Hamilton in the true story movie Soul Surfer. In 2012, she starred in The Sessions, which earned her another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
She also wrote and directed the film Ride (2014), where she played a mother who travels to California to be with her son. In 2018, Helen starred in The Miracle Season, a true story about a volleyball team. In 2019, she returned to her role as Jamie Buchman in a new version of Mad About You.
More recently, in 2020, Helen appeared in the crime drama The Night Clerk. She also joined the cast of the Starz TV series Blindspotting. In 2022, she performed in a play called Eureka Day in London.
Personal Life
Helen Hunt was married to actor Hank Azaria from 1999 to 2000. In 2001, she started a relationship with producer Matthew Carnahan. They had a daughter in 2004 and separated in 2017.
Helen Hunt also took part in the 2017 Women's March in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
Awards and Nominations
See also
In Spanish: Helen Hunt para niños
