Heather Graham

Born:                           Heather Joan Graham, January 29, 1970 (1970-01-29) (age 39) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

Occupation:                Actress, producer, writer, fashion model

Years active:              1984 – present

Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress and fashion model. She is best known for her performance in Gus Van Sant's 1989 Drugstore Cowboy and her role as Rollergirl in the 1997 film Boogie Nights directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. She has been part of two ensemble casts that have earned Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (Boogie Nights and Bobby).

Early life

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to a family of Irish descent. Her family relocated repeatedly until settling down in Agoura Hills, California when she was nine years old. The eldest of two children, her younger sister, Aimee Graham, is also an actress and writer. Their mother, Joan, is a teacher and noted author of children's books, and father, James Graham, a retired FBI agent. The girls were raised with family values that followed a strict traditional Catholic upbringing. Graham graduated from Agoura High School in California in 1988. In 1986, she appeared on a special "Teen Week" episode of the NBC-TV game show Scrabble.

She was introduced to acting during the school production of Wizard of Oz. Then while still in school she appeared in numerous television commercials, the sitcom Growing Pains and several television movies. She debuted in the 1988 film License to Drive, which was a teen comedy starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. Her strict parents forbade her to appear in the 1989 black comedy Heathers, which had an expletive-rich script.

After high school, Graham enrolled in extension classes of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and studied English for two years. There she met actor James Woods. They became romantically involved during the time she was cast in the movie Diggstown, where he had landed the starring role. After two years there, Graham withdrew from school 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.

Career

Her first film appearance was an uncredited cameo in Mrs. Soffel. After turning down the female lead role in Dirty Dancing, her second film appearance was in the television film Student Exchange. Graham was cast in a number of parts as a supporting actress including the part of Nadine in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. In 1991, she appeared in the TV series Twin Peaks as Annie Blackburn, Dale Cooper's second-season love interest. Many became familiar with her for these two roles. Her breakthrough role proved to be that of 1970s porn starlet "Roller Girl" in 1997's Boogie Nights, in which she appeared in scenes with frontal nudity and 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.

Although Graham has taken roles in mainstream films, including Mary Kelly in the 2001 film From Hell, based on the story of Jack the Ripper, and Judy Robinson in 1998's film Lost In Space, 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; however, she has also starred opposite Joseph Fiennes in the less successful film, Killing Me Softly. In 2001, Graham was named by People Magazine as one of the "100 Most Beautiful People in the World", in which Graham ranked in the top fifty.

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 George Michael Bluth's ethics teacher in an episode of Fox's television series, 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. In 2003, she also posed for a photoshoot by photographer Sam Jones, during which she was levitated several feet into the air by a magician, who later also sawed her in half. Graham also appeared in Anger Management (2003) as Kendra, the girl in a Boston bar.

Graham starred in the ABC-TV comedy series Emily's Reasons Why Not, in 2006. However, ABC canceled the show after its first airing on January 9, 2006. Graham had posed for a Life Magazine cover story, printed weeks in advance of the assumed series schedule, referring to her as "TV's sexiest star" which appeared two weeks later in their January 27, 2006 issue.

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

She also appeared in The Hangover (film) (2009) as 'Jade' in a supporting role.

Personal life

Heather Graham has been rumoured to have been in relationships with Chris Doyle, musicians Jason Falkner and Adam Ant, Chris Weitz, and actors James Woods, Kyle MacLachlan, Matthew Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Elias Koteas, Heath Ledger, Elijah Blue, Edward Burns, and director Yaniv Raz.

Filmography

Film & Television
Year	Film	Role	Notes
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
	Twin Peaks	Annie Blackburn	TV series
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
2004	Arrested Development	Beth Baerly	TV series
2004-2005	Scrubs	Molly Clock	9 Episodes: My Old Friend's New Friend, My Office, My New Game, My First Kill, Her Story, My Cake, My Common Enemy, My Last Chance, My Best Laid Plans
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
	Miss Conception	Georgina Salt
2009	Baby on Board	Angela
	ExTerminators	Alex
	The Hangover	Jade
	Boogie Woogie	Beth Freemantle
	Father of Invention	TBA