Actors - Calista Flockhart

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	Actors - Calista Flockhart

Calista Kay Flockhart (born November 11, 1964 in Freeport, Illinois) is an American actress.

She is most well-known for her starring role as the temperamental lawyer in the 1997-2002 television show, Ally McBeal.

Biography

Calista Flockhart was born in Freeport, Illinois, to Kraft Foods executive Ronald Flockhart, his English-teaching wife, Kay Calista and as a sibling to her older brother Gary Flockhart. Reversing her own first and second names, her mother named her Calista Kay. The name Calista means most beautiful in Greek.

Because her father's job required the family to move often, Calista was raised with brother Gary in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, upstate New York, and New Jersey. As a child, she wrote a play called Toyland in which she performed to a small audience at a dinner party. However, she never professed an ambition to become an actor, instead claiming she wanted to be a clown when she grew up.

Beginning in 1978 and graduating in 1982, Flockhart attended Shawnee High School in Medford Township, New Jersey. She served on the Student Council, participated in the drama program, and became a cheerleader. A football player named Brian Anderson was her high school sweetheart.

Following her graduation, Flockhart attended The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While there, she attended a specialized and competitive class, lasting from 6 o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock in the evening. In her sophomore year at Rutgers, Flockhart met Jane Krakowski, the best friend of her room mate. Having already worked on Broadway, Calista often questioned Jane on how to find employment there. Flockhart's acting ability was recognized when William Esper (Mason Gross' theatre director and Flockhart's acting teacher) made an exception to policy by allowing Flockhart to perform on the main stage. Though usually reserved for juniors and seniors, Harold Scott insisted that Flockhart perform in his production of William Inge's Picnic.

Flockhart graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre in 1988 as one of only a few students who successfully completed the course. Flockhart was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on May 3, 2003.

After receiving her degree, Flockhart moved to New York City in 1989 where she remained until 1997, living with three other women in a two-bedroom apartment and working as a waitor and aerobics instructor whilst she simultaineously sought auditions.

In spring, 1989, Flockhart had a minor role in one episode of The Guiding Light as a babysitter. Following this, she found her professional debut on the New York stage, appearing in Beside Herself alongside actor Melissa Joan Hart at the Circle Repertory Theatre. Two years later in 1991, Flockhart appeared in a television movie, Darrow.

Though she later appeared in films Naked in New York (1993) and Getting In (1994), Calista claims her big break into Hollywood came from Robert Redford who provided her with a brief but speaking part of a college student in Quiz Show
.

Flockhart debuted on Broadway in 1994, as the character Laura in The Glass Menagerie
. Actor Julie Harris felt Flockhart should be hired without further auditions, claiming that Calista seemed ideal for the part of her character's daughter. Flockhart received a Clarence Derwent Award for her performance. In 1995, Flockhart became acquainted with actors such as Dianne Wiest and Faye Dunaway when she appeared in the movie Drunks. Later this year Flockhart starred in the title role in Jane Doe as a drug addict.

In 1996, Flockhart appeared as the daughter of Dianne Wiest and Gene Hackman's characters, in The Birdcage
, her last film role before securing the starring role in the hit show Ally McBeal. Throughout this year she continued to work on Broadway, playing the role of Natasha in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Calista Flockhart ]

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Actors - Calista Flockhart

Biography

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