Helen Hunt's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Mad About You Jamie Stemp… Shots Fired Governor Pa… World on Fire (UK) Nancy Campb… Empire Falls Janine Roby Galtar and the Golden Lance Rava Amy Prentiss Jill Prentiss It Takes Two Lisa Quinn My Life and Times Rebecca Mil… The Fitzpatricks Kerry Gerardi

Main Movie Roles

BIOGRAPHY:

Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom, Mad About You, for seven years before being cast in the 1997 romantic comedy film, As Good as It Gets for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Some of her other notable films include Twister, Cast Away, What Women Want, Pay It Forward, Soul Surfer and The Sessions. She made her directorial debut in 2007 with Then She Found Me. She has won four Emmy awards, four Golden Globe awards, two Screen Actors Guild awards, and an Oscar.

Born in Culver City, California. Her mother, Jane Elizabeth (née Novis), worked as a photographer, and her father, Gordon E. Hunt, is a film and voice director and acting coach. Her uncle, Peter H. Hunt, is also a director. Her Iowa-born maternal grandmother, Dorothy (Anderson) Fries, was a voice coach. Hunt's paternal grandmother was from a German Jewish family, while Hunt's other grandparents were of English descent (her maternal grandfather was born in England). When she was three, Hunt's family moved to New York City, where her father directed theatre (Hunt attended plays as a child several times a week). Hunt studied ballet, and briefly attended UCLA.


TRIVIA:

• (2001) Has won Four Emmys, four Golden Globes, a Blockbuster Award, two Screen Actors Guild awards, four American Comedy Awards, three Viewers for Quality Television Awards and an Oscar, along with other awards.
• Frequents Hawaii, which she first visited when she was 14. Says, "It's where I feel right. I can write here, think, chill and get a clear head.".
• Daughter of 'Gordon Hunt (I)' (qv).
• She and her ex-husband, 'Hank Azaria' (qv), have both guest-starred on the TV show _"Friends" (1994)_ (qv), though not in the same episode.
• She and her _"Mad About You" (1992)_ (qv) co-star, 'Paul Reiser' (qv), were both given $1,000,000 per episode salaries for the 1999 TV season.
• Her daughter, Makena Lei, was named after a friend's dream. The name means "many flowers of heaven." The baby's middle name, Gordon, is in honor of Helen's father, 'Gordon Hunt (I)' (qv).
• (2000) After divorcing 'Hank Azaria' (qv), she moved to New York, intending to do theater work, especially 'William Shakespeare (I)' (qv).
• (1998) One of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.