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 an American actress. She is famous for her many roles in movies and television. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for playing a woman who could not speak in the 1993 movie The Piano.

Hunter has been nominated for three other Academy Awards for her work in Broadcast News (1987), The Firm (1993), and Thirteen (2003). Many people also know her as the voice of Helen Parr, also known as Elastigirl, in the animated movies The Incredibles and Incredibles 2.

Some of her other well-known movies include Raising Arizona (1987), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and The Big Sick (2017). She also starred in the TV drama series Saving Grace from 2007 to 2010.

Early life

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia. Her mother, Marguerite, was a homemaker, and her father, Charles, was a farmer and salesman for a sporting goods company. She was the youngest of six children.

Her parents saw her talent for acting when she was young. Her first role was playing Helen Keller in a school play when she was in the fifth grade.

When she was a child, an illness called the mumps caused her to lose hearing in her left ear. This sometimes makes her work as an actress tricky. For some movie scenes, the script has to be changed so she can use her right ear to hear.

In high school, she acted in school musicals like Oklahoma! and Fiddler on the Roof. After high school, she studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Career

Hunter at the 1989 Emmy Awards

After college, Hunter moved to New York City to become an actress. She shared an apartment with another future actress, Frances McDormand. One day, she got stuck in an elevator with the famous writer Beth Henley. This chance meeting led to Hunter getting roles in Henley's plays.

Hunter's first movie was The Burning in 1981. In 1982, she moved to Los Angeles. She acted in TV movies and had a small part in the film Swing Shift (1984). She also worked with the famous directors Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for the first time, providing a voice for their movie Blood Simple.

In 1987, she became a star. She had a leading role in the Coen brothers' comedy Raising Arizona. That same year, she was nominated for an Academy Award for the movie Broadcast News.

Major Roles and Awards

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Hunter starred in many popular films. She acted in Steven Spielberg's movie Always with Richard Dreyfuss.

Her biggest success came in 1993. She was nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Firm. She won the Best Actress award for her role in The Piano. In that movie, she played a Scottish woman in the 1800s who could not speak and communicated by playing the piano.

After her Oscar win, she starred in the comedy Home for the Holidays and the thriller Copycat in 1995. She also appeared in movies like Crash (1996) and Living Out Loud (1998).

Voice Acting and Television

Hunter at the 2010 Metropolitan Opera opening night of Das Rheingold

In 2003, Hunter played a mother trying to help her teenage daughter in the movie Thirteen. Her performance earned her another Academy Award nomination.

In 2004, she took on one of her most famous roles: the voice of Helen Parr, or Elastigirl, in the Pixar animated movie The Incredibles. The movie was a huge hit. She returned to voice the character in the video game series Disney Infinity and the 2018 sequel, Incredibles 2.

From 2007 to 2010, Hunter starred in and produced the TV show Saving Grace. She played a police detective who gets help from an angel. For this role, she was nominated for several awards.

Recent Work

In recent years, Hunter has continued to act in interesting roles. In 2016, she played a U.S. Senator in the superhero movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In 2017, she co-starred in the popular romantic comedy The Big Sick.

She has also appeared in TV shows like HBO's Succession and the NBC comedy Mr. Mayor. In 2025, she appeared in the science fiction film The Electric State.

Personal life

From 1995 to 2001, Hunter was married to Janusz Kamiński, a famous movie cinematographer.

Since 2001, she has been in a relationship with British actor Gordon MacDonald. They met while acting in a play together. In 2006, Hunter and MacDonald had twin sons.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theme parks

Awards and nominations

In 1999, Hunter received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. In 2008, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2016, Hunter was given an Honorary Doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University, the same university she graduated from.

See also

In Spanish: Holly Hunter para niños