Heather Graham

Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American film and television actress.

Early life

Graham was born in , the daughter of Joan, a teacher and noted author of children's books, and James Graham, a retired FBI agent. Graham has a younger sister, Aimee, who is also an actress and writer. The family, who are of Irish descent, followed a strict traditional Catholic upbringing; Graham has since estranged herself from the Catholic Church. Graham has practiced Hinduism and associated transcendental meditation since 1991. Graham graduated from the Agoura High School in California in 1988. In 1986, she appeared on a special "Teen Week" episode of the NBC-TV game show Scrabble.

After high school, Graham enrolled in extension classes of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and she also met the actor James Woods. They became romantically involved at about the time she was cast in the movie Diggstown, which starred Woods. Two years later, Graham stopped taking classes at UCLA to pursue acting full time, over her parents' objections. She then moved to Hollywood, where she worked different jobs while continuing to establish herself as an actress.

Film and television career

As a supporting actress, Graham was cast in a number of parts that brought her attention, including Nadine in 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. In 1991, she appeared in the TV series Twin Peaks as Annie Blackburn, Dale Cooper's second-season love interest. However, her breakthrough role was that of 1970s porn starlet Roller Girl in 1997's Boogie Nights, for which she received several award nominations. Her first starring role was in 1999 as Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She also appeared in the music video for Lenny Kravitz's cover of "American Woman" by The Guess Who. More recently, she starred as Mary Kelly in the 2001 film From Hell, based on the story of Jack the Ripper.

Although Graham has been featured in mainstream films, she has also been cast in a number of independent films. Some of those films, like 2002's The Guru, have brought her critical praise. She also starred opposite Joseph Fiennes in the less successful Killing Me Softly. In 2001, Graham was named by People as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World".

Graham also played herself on one episode of the TV series Sex and the City. She was given special guest-star status on several episodes of NBC-TV's Scrubs during its fourth season (2004–2005), and also appeared in a small role as a teacher in an episode of Fox's Arrested Development. In 2005, Graham became the spokeswoman and TV model for the Garnier brand of hair care products. Graham's print ad for Skyy vodka, which was photographed in 2003 (titled "#3, Entourage") is still appearing in national magazines today as well.

Graham starred in the ABC-TV comedy series Emily's Reasons Why Not, in 2006. However, ABC-TV announced that the show was canceled after its first airing on January 9, 2006. Because they print their covers weeks in advance, and they did not expect the quick cancellation, Life did a cover story on Graham two weeks later in their January 27, 2006 issue, and they referred to her as "TV's sexiest star". Billboard ads also remained in place promoting the show weeks after the cancellation.

Graham voiced the character of Antonia Bayle in the online role playing game EverQuest 2.

Personal

Graham has been in relationships with Chris Doyle, Adam Ant and actors James Woods, Kyle MacLachlan, Elias Koteas, Heath Ledger and Edward Burns (1998-2000).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1984	Mrs. Soffel	Factory Girl (uncredited)
1987	Student Exchange	Dorrie Ryder
1988	License to Drive	Mercedes Lane
	Twins	Young Mary Ann Benedict (uncredited)
1989	Drugstore Cowboy	Nadine
1990	I Love You to Death	Bridget
1991	Guilty as Charged	Kimberly
	Shout	Sara Benedict
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me	Annie Blackburn
	O Pioneers!	Young Alexandra Bergson
	Diggstown	Emily Forrester
1993	The Ballad of Little Jo	Mary Addie
	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	Cowgirl Heather
	Six Degrees of Separation	Elizabeth
1994	Desert Winds	Jackie
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Mary Kennedy Taylor
	Don't Do It	Suzanna
1995	Toughguy	Olive
	Let It Be Me	Perfumery Salesgirl
1996	Kiss & Tell	Susan Pretsel
	Swingers	Lorraine
	Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story	Maggie Bowen
1997	Nowhere	Lilith
	Two Girls and a Guy	Carla Bennett
	Boogie Nights	Brandy 'Rollergirl'
	Scream 2	'Stab' Casey
1998	Lost in Space	Dr. Judy Robinson
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Felicity Shagwell
	Bowfinger	Daisy
2000	Committed	Joline
2001	Say It Isn't So	Josephine Wingfield
	Sidewalks of New York	Annie Matthews
	From Hell	Mary Kelly
2002	Alien Love Triangle	Elizabeth
	Killing Me Softly	Alice
	The Guru	Sharonna
2003	Anger Management	Kendra (uncredited)
	Hope Springs	Mandy
2004	Blessed	Samantha Howard
2005	Cake	Pippa McGee
	Mary	Elizabeth Younger
2006	The Oh in Ohio	Justine, Sex Shop Clerk (uncredited)
	Bobby	Angela
2007	Gray Matters	Gray Baldwin
	Broken	Hope
	Adrift in Manhattan	Rose Phipps
2008	Have Dreams, Will Travel	Cassie's Aunt
	Boogie Woogie	Beth Freemantle
	Miss Conception	Georgina
	Baby on Board	TBA
	Ex-Terminators	Alex
	Seymour's Last Rule	Robbie

References

External links

• Heather Graham at the Internet Movie Database
• "Close Up" on Heather Graham from The Observer