One of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People (1998); winner of Golden Globe, Screen Actors’ Guild, Q, Theater World and Clarence Darwent awards (and nominated for at least nine others, including Emmy, People’s Choice and TV Guide) Calista Flockhart is a serious actress who can capably handle roles in theater, film and television, while taking on the tabloids to boot.
After graduating from Rutgers University, New Jersey, in 1987 with a Fine Arts degree, the twenty-three year old actress put her school and community theater experience to use to become a full-time actress. She took on bit parts in day-time television dramas and role in the TV series Darrow, and the HBO special The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic, but it was stage work on and off Broadway and in Chicago and Williamstown theaters that kept her busy and for which she won her first formal acclamations. Her credits include The Loop, All For One, Sophistry, Wrong Turn At Lungfish, Beside Herself, Bovver Boys, The Three Sisters, Our Town and Death Takes A Holiday. It was during The Glass Menagerie run that Flockhart heard of a pilot called Ally McBeal. Her Broadway career was just taking off nicely, and it took “a lot of persuasion” from David Kelly Productions to get the actress to Los Angeles for a reading. She was offered the role after the first meeting, and rocketed to widespread fame.
It is as the confused, romantic, micromini-skirted lawyer, Ally McBeal (1997 - ), that Flockhart has achieved a fan base which includes both critics and at-home viewers – a fan base so strong that attempts by the tabloids to link her tiny waist to an eating disorder (in an industry in which being thin is almost mandatory!) were vehemently denounced by supporters and denied by the actress herself. Meanwhile, the show continues to be a success, and Flockhart’s movie career, which began, most notably, with a part in The Birdcage (1996), now includes Milk and Money (1997), Drunks (1997), Telling Lies In America (1997), William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999), Like A Hole In The Head (1999) and Jane Doe (1999).
Appearances can be deceiving. At age 36, this frail and pretty actress is a professional heavyweight in the industry, with a solid background and a promising future.
Birth
born on November 11 1964.
Flockhart was named after her great-grandmother Calista. Calista means “most beautiful” in Greek
Family
Her mother: Kay, was a high school English teacher
Father: Ronald, was an executive at Kraft Foods.
Brother: Gary.
Education
Shawnee High School, Medford, New Jersey
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Career
Calista won the Golden Globe award for her first season role as Ally McBealin 1998.
co-starred in Mike Nichols’ 1996 movie “The Birdcage” playing Robin William’s future daughter-in-law, and in “Telling Lies in America”
Theatre: In 1995, she was recognized with the Theater World and Clarence Darwent Awards for her first Broadway role as Laura in “The Glass Menagerie” at the Roundabout Theater. She also performed in “The Loop", “All for One", “Sophistry", “Wrong Turn at Lungfish, ” “Beside Herself, ” and “Bovver Boys.”
Calista was one of People Magazine’s 50 most beautiful people in 1998.
Flockhart was reluctant to take the role of Ally Mcbeal at first.