Ally McBeal

Background:

"I'm not particularly pre-occupied with the husband/baby thing. Besides, I have a dog." Calista Flockhart

The Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild-winning role of Boston mini-skirt-clad lawyer Ally McBeal (1997-2002) in the Fox sleeper hit series with the same name, launched Calista Flockhart’s name toward the spotlight. On the silver screen, Flockhart is credited for acting in Pictures of Baby Jane Doe (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Milk & Money (1996), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) and Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000). Flockhart is also an acclaimed stage actress, winning Theater World and Clarence Derwent Awards for her performance in the play “The Glass Menagerie” in 1995.

The 5' 5 1/2'' tall TV star gained attention for her skinny stature and eating disorder rumors. One of People Magazine's “50 Most Beautiful People” (1998), Flockhart has been linked to such names as actor-director Ben Stiller (born on November 30, 1965; dated in 1999) and director Sam Mendes (born on August 1, 1965; dated in the late spring and summer of 1999). In 2002, she became engaged to Indiana Jones star, actor Harrison Ford (born on July 13, 1942).


Most Beautiful Greek

Childhood and Family:

"I've never once told anyone how old I am." Calista Flockhart

Greek descendant Calista Kay Flockhart (means "most beautiful" in Greek), named after her great-grandmother, was born on November 11, 1965, in Freeport, Illinois. Her parents are Ronald Flockhart (retired business executive; worked for Kraft Foods) and Kay Flockhart (schoolteacher). Because of her father’s profession, Calista and her family (including her older brother Gary; born 1961) often moved from one place to another. She grew up in Iowa, Minnesota and upstate New York before eventually settling in New Jersey in the late 1970s.

"I was very passionate. When our team would lose, I would cry." Calista Flockhart (on being a high school cheerleader)
Calista Flockhart took up the flute in the junior-high-school band in upstate New York. She then attended the Shawnee High School in Medford, New Jersey, where she was a cheerleader as well as on the student council and a drama club activist.

Finishing high school, Calista studied Fine Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. During her university years, she was trained by acting coach William Esper and appeared in numerous student theater productions. In 1988, Calista graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater and was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on May 3, 2003.

On January 11, 2001, Calista Flockhart adopted a baby boy she named Liam Flockhart. He was born on January 1, 2001, in San Diego. She also had a dog named Webster who was her best friend until his death.


Pictures of Baby Jane Doe

Career:

After graduating from college, Calista Flockhart did several odd jobs like being an aerobics teacher and waitress. She then decided to pursue her dream career, acting, and headed to New York. In 1989, Flockhart debuted on the New York stage at the Circle Repertory Theater in the play "Beside Herself." She continued to perform on stage in a Williamstown Theater Festival production of “Death Takes a Holiday” and Off-Broadway productions of “Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” “Sophistry” and “All for One.”

Flockhart first appeared on television in the long-running soap "The Guiding Light" in 1989 and made her TV movie debut on PBS’ movie Darrow (1991, starring Kevin Spacey). She was spotted as a guest in an episode of the series "Lifestories: Families In Crisis" in August of 1992, playing bulimic Mary-Margaret Carter. She also returned to stage, playing a feature role in the off-Broadway production of Caryl Churchill's "Mad Forrest."

Big screen jobs arrived in Daniel Algrant's Naked in New York (1993, starring Eric Stoltz and Mary-Louise Parker) and Doug Liman's Getting In (1994, with Stephen Mailer and Andrew McCarthy). Robert Redford then gave her a small part in his acclaimed adaptation of a true-story book by Richard N. Goodwin, Quiz Show (1994, starring Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro). On stage, Flockhart debuted on Broadway playing Laura in a revival of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie." Her brilliant performance handed her Theater World and Clarence Darwent Awards. Flockhart also received positive reviews for acting in the off-Broadway play "The Loop."

Writer-director Paul Peditto cast Flockhart to play the starring role of drug addict Jane Doe in his gritty urban romance Pictures of Baby Jane Doe (1995, opposite Christopher Peditto). She then appeared in Peter Cohn's drama film based on Gary Lennon's play, Drunks (1995, starring Richard Lewis) and portrayed Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest’s mousy daughter in Mike Nichols' film version of Jean Poiret's play, The Birdcage (1996). She also performed at the Berkshire Theater Festival in "Jitta's Atonement," opposite Wiest.

Flockhart costarred with Robert Petkoff, playing a beautiful woman who takes care of a herd of cows, in writer-director Michael Bergmann's romantic comedy Milk & Money (1996) and with Kevin Bacon and Brad Renfro in Guy Ferland's Telling Lies in America (1997). On Broadway, she played Natasha, costarring with Lili Taylor, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Amy Irving, in Chekhov's "The Three Sisters."

The title role of Ally McBeal, a Boston mini-skirt-clad attorney, in the Fox’s series with the same name, was Calista Flockhart’s most memorable role to date. She stayed on David E. Kelley’s highly acclaimed series from 1997 to 2002 and nabbed several awards, including Golden Globe’s Best Actress in a Leading Role--Musical or Comedy Series or Television Movie and Screen Actors Guild’s Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She also starred in "Ally" (1999-2000).

During her stint on the long running series, Flockhart continued acting on the wide screen. Filmmaker Michael Hoffman cast her to play Helena, who adores Christian Bale's character, in his adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, the drama comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999, also with Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett). She also went back to the New York City stage in an Off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute’s "Bash: Latter-Day Plays" and later reprised her role in its TV movie version, which aired on Showtime in 2000

The new millennium saw Flockhart play Christine Taylor (segments "Goodnight Lilly, Goodnight Christine" and "This is Dr.
Keener"), a tarot reader who takes care of her dying lesbian lover (Valeria Golino), in writer-director Rodrigo García's romantic drama Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her. The film also starred Glenn Close and Cameron Diaz, was screened at Sundance and aired on Showtime in 2001. She also made a two-week stint in the Off-Broadway production of Eve Ensler’s "The Vagina Monologues" and hosted the "Saturday Night Live" show in November of 2002.

More recent, Flockhart appeared in Jeff Nathanson's comedy The Last Shot (2004, starring Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin) and starred as a nurse who tries to keep her young charges safe from a series of random attacks in Jaume Balagueró’s supernatural thriller Fragile. The film reportedly bombed at its debut screening at the Venice Film Festival.

"There's this idea that if you're on television, you must not be a very good actress. That's a stigma that's going to take time to go away." Calista Flockhart


Awards:

- Aftonbladet TV Prize (Sweden): Best Foreign TV Personality – Female, 2000
- People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Ally Mcbeal, 2000
- Aftonbladet TV Prize (Sweden): Best Foreign TV Personality – Female, 1999
- Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Ally McBeal, 1999
- Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Leading Role--Musical or Comedy Series or Television Movie, Ally Mcbeal, 1998
- Viewers for Quality Television Awards: Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series, Ally McBeal, 1998
- The Actor: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Ally McBeal; shared award, 1998
- Golden Globe: Best Actress in a TV Series (Musical or Comedy), Ally McBeal, 1997
- Theater World Award: The Glass Menagerie, 1995
- Clarence Derwent Award: The Glass Menagerie, 1995