Helen Hunt - Profile and Photos

Profile: Helen Hunt

Born June 15, 1963 in Culver City, California, Helen is a star actress. Helen is the product of a acting coach and theater director father, and photographer mother. Helen grew up in Los Angeles and New York, and decided on an acting career at the early age of nine. At age ten, she had an agent, and landed a role in the 1973 television movie "Pioneer Woman". After appearing as an adolescent in such TV series as Amy Prentiss, Swiss Family Robinson, The Fitzpatricks, and It Takes Two, Helen found a recurring role on the medical melodrama St. Elsewhere in 1982. She also earned acclaim for her role in the 1983 TV movie, "Quarterback Princess". In this role she played a high school girl bent on leading her school's otherwise all-male football team to the state championships. She made her feature film debut in 1977, with the film "Rollercoaster". Helen has also had supporting roles in such films as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Peggy Sue Got Married", "The Waterdance", and "Mr. Saturday Night". Helen earned star status in her role as the smart urban career woman and wife "Jamie" on the much-loved TV sitcom, Mad About You. Over the course of the show's seven seasons, Helen has won four consecutive Emmy Awards and has became one of America's best loved television couples with costar Paul Reiser. Helen's hard work and television stardom finally translated to big-screen success in the latter half of the 1990's. In 1996, she starred in the summer action blockbuster "Twister", which became one of the top-grossing movies of that year. A year later, she won acclaim from both critics and audiences along with an Academy Award for Best Actress. In her performance in "As Good As It Gets", Helen starred alongside Best Actor winner Jack Nicholson. This film was written and directed by James L. Brooks. Helen's Oscar win sent her straight to Hollywood's A-list, her next starring appearance was on stage, playing the charming Viola in the 1998 production of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". In 2000, she returned to the big screen with several long-awaited efforts, including "Pay It Forward", co-starring Kevin Spacey, "What Women Want", costarring Mel Gibson, "Dr. T and the Women", starring Richard Gere, and "Cast Away", costarring Tom Hanks. In 2001, Helen has co-starred opposite writer-director Woody Allen in "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion".