Holly Hunter Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Holly Hunter
Hunter at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1958-03-20) March 20, 1958 (age 67) Conyers, Georgia, U.S.
Education	Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1981–present
Spouse(s)	Janusz Kamiński (m. 1995; div. 2001)
Partner(s)	Gordon MacDonald (2001–present)
Children	2
Awards	Full list

Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is a talented American actress. She is known for playing many different characters in movies and TV shows.

She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as a Scottish woman who couldn't speak in the movie The Piano (1993). She was also nominated for this big award three other times. These nominations were for her roles in Broadcast News (1987), The Firm (1993), and Thirteen (2003).

Holly Hunter has also won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her work in TV movies. These were for Roe vs. Wade (1989) and The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993).

You might also know her voice as Elastigirl (Helen Parr) in the animated superhero movies The Incredibles (2004) and Incredibles 2 (2018). She has been in many other popular films like Raising Arizona (1987), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and The Big Sick (2017). She also starred in the TV series Saving Grace from 2007 to 2010.

Early Life and First Steps in Acting
Her Acting Journey
Personal Life
Filmography
Awards and Recognitions
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and First Steps in Acting

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia. When she was a child, she had the mumps. This illness caused her to lose hearing in her left ear. Sometimes, this means movie scenes need to be changed so she can use her right ear.

She started acting when she was in high school in the early 1970s. She performed in local plays like Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof. After high school, she studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She then acted in plays in Pittsburgh for a while.

Her Acting Journey

Holly Hunter at the Emmy Awards in 1989.

After college, Holly Hunter moved to New York City. She lived with another actress, Frances McDormand. One day, she met a playwright named Beth Henley when they were stuck in an elevator together. This meeting led to Holly getting roles in Henley's plays, like Crimes of the Heart.

Holly Hunter's first movie role was in a horror film called The Burning in 1981. She later moved to Los Angeles. In 1984, she worked with the famous filmmaking brothers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for the first time. She had a small, uncredited voice role in their movie Blood Simple.

In 1987, she became a well-known star. She had a main role in the Coen brothers' film Raising Arizona. In the same year, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her acting in Broadcast News.

She continued to act in many movies. These included Miss Firecracker and Steven Spielberg's romantic drama Always. In 1993, she starred in two big movies: The Piano, where she played a woman who couldn't speak, and The Firm. She won an Academy Award for The Piano.

Holly Hunter also appeared in films like Home for the Holidays and the thriller Copycat. She was in Crash and played an angel in A Life Less Ordinary. In 2000, she reunited with the Coen brothers for O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Holly Hunter at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010.

In 2003, Holly Hunter played a mother in the movie Thirteen. Her performance was highly praised, and she received nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

A year later, in 2004, she lent her voice to Elastigirl (Helen Parr) in the animated superhero movie The Incredibles. She voiced the character again in the video games and in the sequel Incredibles 2 in 2018.

In 2007, Holly Hunter became an executive producer for the TV show Saving Grace, where she also played the main character. For this role, she received several award nominations.

In 2008, she received a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is a special honor for people who have made a big impact in entertainment. In 2016, she played Senator Finch in the superhero movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. She also played a CEO in the HBO series Succession in 2019. More recently, she starred in the NBC comedy Mr. Mayor from 2021 to 2022.

Personal Life

Holly Hunter was married to Janusz Kamiński, a cinematographer, from 1995 to 2001.

Since 2001, she has been in a relationship with British actor Gordon MacDonald. They met while acting in a play together. In January 2006, Holly Hunter gave birth to their twin sons, Claude and Press.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Burning	Sophie
1984	Swing Shift	Jeannie
1984	Blood Simple	Helene Trend	Voice, uncredited
1987	Raising Arizona	Edwina "Ed" McDunnough
	End of the Line	Charlotte Haney
	Broadcast News	Jane Craig
1989	Miss Firecracker	Carnelle Scott
	Animal Behavior	Coral Grable
	Always	Dorinda Durston
1991	Once Around	Renata Bella
1993	Piano, TheThe Piano	Ada McGrath
1993	Firm, TheThe Firm	Tammy Hemphill
1995	Copycat	M.J. Monahan
1995	Home for the Holidays	Claudia Larson
1996	Crash	Helen Remington
1997	Life Less Ordinary, AA Life Less Ordinary	O'Reilly
1998	Living Out Loud	Judith Moore
1999	Jesus' Son	Mira
1999	Woman Wanted	Emma Riley
2000	Timecode	Renee Fishbine
2000	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	Penny Wharvey McGill
2001	Festival in Cannes	Herself
2002	Searching for Debra Winger	Herself	Documentary
2002	Moonlight Mile	Mona Camp
2003	Levity	Adele Easley
2003	Thirteen	Melanie Freeland	Also executive producer
2004	Little Black Book	Barb Campbell-Dunn
2004	Incredibles, TheThe Incredibles	Helen Parr / Elastigirl	Voice role
2005	Nine Lives	Sonia
	Big White, TheThe Big White	Margaret Barnell
	Chicken Little	Chicken Little	Voice role; deleted scenes
2011	Portraits in Dramatic Time	Herself	Documentary
2012	Won't Back Down	Evelyn Riske
2012	Jackie	Jackie
2013	Paradise	Mrs. Mannerhelm
2014	Manglehorn	Dawn
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	Senator Finch
2016	Strange Weather	Darcy Baylor
2017	Breakable You	Eleanor Weller
	The Big Sick	Beth Gardner
	Song to Song	Miranda
2018	Incredibles 2	Helen Parr / Elastigirl	Voice role
TBA	Hurricanna	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Svengali	Leslie	Television film
1983	An Uncommon Love	Karen
1984	With Intent to Kill	Wynn Nolen
1987	A Gathering of Old Men	Candy Marshall
1989	Roe vs. Wade	Ellen Russell/Jane Doe
1989	The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs	Narrator (voice)	Television short
1992	Crazy in Love	Georgie Symonds	Television film
1993	The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom	Wanda Holloway
2000	Harlan County War	Ruby Kincaid
2000	Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her	Rebecca Weyman	Segment: "Fantasies About Rebecca"
2001	When Billie Beat Bobby	Billie Jean King	Television film; also executive producer
2007	Peep and the Big Wide World	Robin (voice)	Episode: "Big Bird/Chirp Flies the Coop"
2007–2010	Saving Grace	Grace Hanadarko	46 episodes; also executive producer
2013	Top of the Lake	GJ	6 episodes
2013	Bonnie & Clyde	Emma Parker	2 episodes
2018	Here and Now	Audrey Bayer	10 episodes
2019	Succession	Rhea Jarrell	6 episodes
2019–2020	Bless the Harts	Marjune Gamble (voice)	3 episodes
2020	The Comey Rule	Sally Yates	2 episodes
2021–2022	Mr. Mayor	Arpi Meskimen	Main role
2024	Mulligan	Sheila (voice)	2 episodes
TBA	Star Trek: Starfleet Academy	Captain and chancellor	Upcoming series

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2013	Disney Infinity	Helen Parr / Elastigirl
2014	Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0

Theme parks

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Incredicoaster	Helen Parr / Elastigirl	Voice

Awards and Recognitions

In 1999, Holly Hunter received the Golden Plate Award from the Academy of Achievement. This award honors people who have achieved great things. In 2016, her old university, Carnegie Mellon University, gave her an Honorary Doctorate degree.