Helen Hunt was born inCulver City, California. Her mother, Jane Elizabeth (née Novis), worked as a photographer, and her father,Gordon Hunt, was a film, voice and stage director and acting coach.[1] Her uncle,Peter H. Hunt, was also a director. Her maternal grandmother, Dorothy (née Anderson) Fries, was a voice coach.[2] Hunt's paternal grandmother was from aGerman-Jewish family, while Hunt's other grandparents were ofEnglish descent (her maternal grandfather was born inEngland), with aMethodist religious background.[3][4][5][6]
Hunt began working as a child actress in the 1970s.[7] Her early roles included an appearance on season 2, episode 3 of TV seriesFamily (first aired Oct 26, 1976), playing Robin Trask, a classmate ofKristy McNichol's. She also had an appearance asMurray Slaughter's daughter onThe Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1977 episode “Murray Ghosts for Ted”, as the daughter ofGeorge Segal's main character inRollercoaster (1977), alongsideLindsay Wagner in an episode ofThe Bionic Woman, an appearance in an episode ofArk II called "Omega", and a regular role in the television seriesThe Swiss Family Robinson.[7] She appeared as amarijuana-smoking classmate on an episode ofThe Facts of Life. In 1982, Hunt played a young woman who, while onPCP, jumps out of a second-story window, in a made-for-television film calledDesperate Lives (a scene which she mocked during aSaturday Night Live monologue in 1994),[10] and she was cast on theABC sitcomIt Takes Two, which lasted only one season. In 1983, she starred inBill: On His Own, withMickey Rooney and playedTami Maida in the fact-based productionQuarterback Princess; both were made-for-television films. She also had a recurring role onSt. Elsewhere as Clancy Williams, the girlfriend of Jack "Boomer" Morrison (David Morse), and made a notable guest appearance as a cancer-stricken mother-to-be in a two-part episode ofHighway to Heaven.
In 1990, Hunt appeared withTracey Ullman andMorgan Freeman in a Wild West version ofThe Taming of the Shrew, at theDelacorte Theater inCentral Park.[11] In 1991, Hunt starred inTrancers II, the direct-to-video sequel toTrancers (1984), and played the lead female role in the dramaMy Life and Times, which only aired for 6 episodes. In 1992, she appeared in the dramaThe Waterdance as a married woman having an affair with a writer; in the romantic comedyOnly You, as a travel agent and the love interest of a doll's house designer; in the mockumentaryBob Roberts, as Rose Pondell, a field reporter at WLNO; and inMr. Saturday Night, as a young agent named Annie Well. Also in 1992, Hunt returned for her fourth and final outing as Lena inTrancers III, which was among her five film releases that year.
Hunt signs autographs for fans outside the 1994 Emmy Awards rehearsal.
Hunt came to prominence in North America with the sitcomMad About You (1992–99), in which she starred oppositePaul Reiser, as a public relations specialist and one half of a couple in NYC. She went on to win Emmy Awards for her performances in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.[7] For the show's final season, Reiser and Hunt received $1 million ($1.9 million today) per episode.[12] She directed several episodes ofMad About You, including the series finale.
In 1995, Hunt played the wife of an ex-con living inQueens, alongsideNicolas Cage, inKiss of Death, a very loosely based remake of the1947 film noir classic of the same name. In the disaster action filmTwister (1996), Hunt starred withBill Paxton asstorm chasers researchingtornadoes. Both actors were temporarily blinded by bright electronic lamps halfway through filming, and needed hepatitis shots after shooting in a particularly unsanitary ditch.Twister was thesecond-highest-grossing film of 1996, behindIndependence Day.[13] The film sold an estimated 54,688,100 tickets in the US. It made US$494.5 million around the globe.[14]
Hunt went on to win theAcademy Award for Best Actress in the romantic comedyAs Good as It Gets (1997), in which she took on the role of a waitress and single mother who finds herself falling in love with a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive romance novelist, played byJack Nicholson.[7] Hunt and Nicholson got along well during the filming, and they connected immediately: "It wasn't even what we said", Hunt added. "It was just some frequency we both could tune into that was very, very compatible."[15] Author and screenwriter Andrew Horton described their on-screen relationship as being like "fire and ice, oil and water—seemingly complete opposites".[16] Nonetheless, Hunt was Nicholson's perfect counterpart, and delivered "a simply stunning performance", wrote critic Louise Keller. The film was a tremendous box office success, grossing US$314 million worldwide.[17] In 1998, she played the love interest ofMoe Szyslak onThe Simpsons episode "Dumbbell Indemnity", and playedViola inShakespeare'sTwelfth Night, atLincoln Center in New York.[18]
Two of Hunt's four film releases in 2000—the comedyDr. T & the Women and the dramaPay It Forward—were both released in October. While the first featured her as one of the women that encompasses the everyday life of a wealthy gynecologist, oppositeRichard Gere, the second showcased her as the love interest of a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher, played byKevin Spacey. CriticRoger Ebert highlighted her performance inPay It Forward, despite finding the film itself to be "too emotionally manipulative".[19] Her other two 2000 films—theNancy Meyers' directed romantic comedyWhat Women Want, and theRobert Zemeckis' directed survival dramaCast Away—were released in December, to outstanding box office receipts. InWhat Women Want, Hunt starred withMel Gibson as the co-worker and love interest of a Chicago executive, and inCast Away, she portrayed the long-term girlfriend of aFedEx employee marooned on an uninhabited island, played byTom Hanks.
Hunt made her feature film directorial debut inThen She Found Me (2007), in which she also starred as a 39-year-old Brooklyn elementary school teacher, who after many years is contacted by the flamboyant host of a local talk show, played byBette Midler, who introduces herself as her biological mother. After first readingElinor Lipman's novel, she tried to interest numerous studios in the material, and her unsuccessful efforts led her to begin writing the screenplay and raising funds to produce it herself. Upon its release, Ruthe Stein of theSan Francisco Chronicle observed, "You would think that frontloadingThen She Found Me with so much plot would make it play like asoap opera. But Hunt saves the movie from this fate in two ways. First she turns in a touchingly real performance, the best of her big-screen career. Forget thatAs Good as It Gets won her anOscar.[23] She's eons better and more realistic in this one [...] By directingThen She Found Me, Helen becomes its savior as well [...] Hunt knows when to rein in the Divine Miss M instead of allowing her to go into fullKabuki mode. [She] also coaxes pitch-perfect performances from Broderick and Firth."[24]
Hunt in 2011
Hunt starred in the dramedyEvery Day (2010), as one half of a married couple pulled apart by increasing responsibilities.[25] According toLos Angeles Times, the film "comes as a reminder of [Hunt's] talent for understatement, and a wish to see more of her".[26] In the biographical dramaSoul Surfer (2011), she played the mother of the Hawaiian-born champion surferBethany Hamilton, on whose life the film was based. Her firstwide release since 2001'sThe Curse of the Jade Scorpion,Soul Surfer made US$47.1 million internationally.[27]
Hunt starred as sex surrogateCheryl Cohen-Greene inThe Sessions (2012), alongsideJohn Hawkes andWilliam H. Macy. The role required Hunt to perform multiple scenes offull-frontal nudity, on which she further said: "Being naked was challenging, but even more than that was the vulnerability. I felt vulnerable because I was naked. I felt vulnerable because we were having such a vulnerable moment in this character's life. This was a real journey that someone had gone on, and I wanted to do right by that."[28] Her performance was acclaimed by critics and earned her several award nominations, including anOscar nomination forBest Supporting Actress.Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Hunt's performance may be physically bold but is equally marked by its maturity and composure."[29]
Hunt played research geneticistMary-Claire King in the independent dramaDecoding Annie Parker (2013),[30][31] which was released to a mixed critical response.[32] She wrote and directed the dramaRide (2014), in which she also starred as a mother who travels cross-country to California to be with her son after he decides to drop out of school and become a surfer.Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus read: "Ride reaffirms Helen Hunt's immense acting talent—but suggests that she still needs time to develop as a director."[33]
In 1994, Hunt started dating actorHank Azaria. They married in 1999, and divorced 17 months later.[1] In 2001, Hunt began a relationship with producerMatthew Carnahan. In 2004, they had a daughter.[1][41] The couple split in August 2017.[42][43]
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