Linda Hunt

Linda Hunt is an actor who was born April 2, 1945 in Morristown, New Jersey. During her teens, she was diagnosed with hypo-pituitary dwarfism.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=90862&apid=0 She began studying drama at the age of thirteen.http://www.cityarts.net/radio.hunt.html Worried that the physical attributes she had due to hypo-pituitary dwarfism would limit her potential as an actress, she majored in directing at the Goodman Theater School in Chicago.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=90862&apid=0 In 1969, she continued to study acting with the coach Robert Lewis.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=90862&apid=0 She initially worked with companies such as La Mama and the Open Theater.http://www.fandango.com/lindahunt/biographies/p33978

Hunt's first TV role was on Great Performances.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001373/ After her second film, The Year of Living Dangerously, Hunt continued to have appearances on other movies, television shows, and video games. Productions she worked in include Pocahontas, Dune, Kindergarten Cop, NCIS: Los Angeles, and the entire God of War series.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001373/

Linda Hunt's debut was with the Great Performances television series in 1976. She also had a role in Popeye in 1980. Her first award-winning performance was in The Year of Living Dangerously in 1982, where she played the role of Billy Kwan, a half-Indonesian photojournalist.http://www.cityarts.net/radio.hunt.html She was awarded the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Billy Kwan.http://www.cbs.com/primetime/ncis_los_angeles/cast/linda-hunt/ She was the first actor to win an Oscar for a role that was of the opposite gender of the actor. Linda Hunt remained the only actor to have won an Oscar for such a role until 1999, when Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her role in Boys Don't Cry.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=90862&apid=0 In 1984, she was nominated for the Best Actress (Play) Tony award for her role in End of the World.http://www.cbs.com/primetime/ncis_los_angeles/cast/linda-hunt/

• 1976: Great Performances

• 1980: Popeye

• 1982: The Year of Living Dangerously

• 1984: Dune

• 1984: End of the World

• 1987: Waiting for the Moon

• 1989: She-Devil

• 1990: Kindergarten Cop

• 1993: Space Rangers

• 1995: Pocahontas

• 1997-2002: The Practice

• 1998-2006: The American Experience

• 1998: Pocahontas II

• 2003-2005: Carnivale

• 2005: God of War

• 2007: God of War 2

• 2008: God of War: Chains of Olympus

• 2008: Without a Trace

• 2009-2010: NCIS: Los Angeles

• 2010: God of War 3http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001373/

"There was an Indonesian phrase in the film which translates into English as 'Water from the Moon.' And it means that which is unattainable, the impossible, that which one can never have or know. Making The Year of Living Dangerously for me was water from the moon." — Linda Hunt during her Oscar acceptance speech.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0limwxq_xs