Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, the youngest of seven children whose father was a part-time sporting goods company representative and part-time farmer with a 250 acre farm. Her parents encouraged in her talent at an early age, and her first acting part was as Helen Keller in a fifth-grade play. In 1976 she went to Pittsburgh to pursue a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 1980, she went to New York City, where she met playwright Beth Henley in a stalled elevator. Hunter went on to get roles in a number of Henley's southern gothic plays, including Crimes of the Heart and The Miss Firecracker Contest. In 1982 the actress went to Los Angeles. She landed her first starring role in the movies in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona, a part that is said to have been written with her in mind. She gained stardom in 1987 when she played the driven TV news producer Jane Craig in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News. In 1993 she earned an Academy Award and worldwide acclaim with her performance as a mute bride to a New Zealand planter in The Piano.



Was director James L. Brooks' first choice to play the female lead in As Good as It Gets (1997), but reportedly demanded too much money upfront and was passed over in favour of Helen Hunt. Hunter had previously collaborated with James L. Brooks on the 1987 film, Broadcast News (1987). In 10th grade she placed 8th nationally in a poultry-judging contest. (Interview, 11/95) An accomplished pianist, she actually performed all of the piano music for her Oscar performance in The Piano (1993). Film makers selected pieces for her that matched her talent. Replaced Debra Winger for the role of Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987). Announced her separation from husband, Janusz Kaminski. They have had been apart since Halloween. [December 2001] She is one of the elite eleven actors to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year. The other nine are: Fay Bainter; Barry Fitzgerald; Teresa Wright; Jessica Lange; Sigourney Weaver; Al Pacino; Emma Thompson; Julianne Moore; Cate Blanchett and Jamie Foxx. Emma Thompson received her double-nomination in the same year that Hunter did. Lived in the same house as Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand and Sam Raimi in 1985 in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Started playing piano at 9. Made her Broadway debut in 1982 in "Crimes of the Heart." In 1993, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Piano (1993), in which she utilised her real-life piano skills. Eleven years later, Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for Ray (2004/I), in which he also played the piano. Both of them had been nominated for a supporting performance in those respective years, and both were nominated for a role they played opposite Tom Cruise. Hunter appeared in The Firm (1993) and Jamie Foxx appeared in Collateral (2004). Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in drama (1980). Spent a summer interning at Cortland Repertory Theatre (Cortland, New York) in 1976. Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)) is one of her favourite films. She won her Oscar-winning role in The Piano (1993) over Anjelica Huston, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert. Sigourney Weaver's agent had turned it down without sending her the script. Was in consideration for the part of Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994) but Uma Thurman, who went on to receive a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.