Alicia Witt

Alicia Witt , Alicia Witt at Mechanics Hall during the New Year's Eve concert in 2012. Born Alicia Roanne Witt, (1975-08-21) August 21, 1975 (age 37), Worcester, Massachusetts, United States Occupation actress / singer / model Years active 1984-present Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American film, stage, television actress and singer. Early life edit: Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane (née Pietro), is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian. At two years old, she was reading college textbooks. Witt was discovered by David Lynch in 1980 when she recited Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on the television show That's Incredible!. He cast her in the movie Dune (1984) as Paul Atreides's sister Alia. She turned eight during filming. Afterward, she left Hollywood to concentrate on her studies and music. She was home schooled by her parents. She won several national and international classical piano competitions, including the "Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition". At age 14, Witt earned her high school diploma. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Hollywood with her mother to pursue acting. In September 1990, she competed on Wheel of Fortune. Lynch, whom she has called her mentor, created the role of Gersten Hayward especially for her in his successful series Twin Peaks. He cast her again in Blackout, a segment in his short-lived HBO series Hotel Room. Career edit: During this time, Witt supported herself by playing piano at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. She had small parts in Mike Figgis's Liebestraum (in which her brother Ian also appears), the Gen-X drama Bodies, Rest & Motion and the TV movie The Disappearance of Vonnie. In 1994, Witt landed her first lead role in a film, playing a disturbed teenager in Fun. She received the Special Jury Recognition Award at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. This performance inspired Madonna to recommend Witt be cast as her daughter in the first segment of Four Rooms ("The Missing Ingredient"). Witt was introduced to a larger audience in the role of Zoey Woodbine, daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd's character in the sitcom Cybill. While playing that part from 1995 to 1998, she had film roles in Mr. Holland's Opus, Alexander Payne's abortion comedy Citizen Ruth, Passion's Way and Bongwater. After Cybill was cancelled, Witt had leading roles in the horror film Urban Legend and the animated feature Gen¹³, which was never released because the studio withdrew funding before its completion. In 2000, Witt had starring roles on the television shows Ally McBeal and The Sopranos; the lead role in the comedy Playing Mona Lisa; a supporting part in John Waters's Cecil B. Demented; and her stage debut at Los Angeles's now-closed Tiffany Theater in Robbie Fox's musical The Gift, in which she played a high-priced stripper with a disease. In the following years, Witt's acting career slowed. She had a small part in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky intended as a reference to her roles in Dune and Liebestraum; played a college graduate who discusses losing her virginity in the experimental Ten Tiny Love Stories; and was the trailer-trash Barbie in American Girl, which was released to video in 2005. Witt appeared in the 2002 romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. In 2003-04, she lived primarily in the United Kingdom, filming The Upside of Anger opposite Kevin Costner and starring as Evelyn in a stage production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Between these two projects, she went to South Africa to shoot the German TV movie Kingdom in Twilight, which also goes by the names The Sword of Xanten, The Ring of the Nibelungs and, in the United States, Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King. Witt played Kriemhild in this film interpretation of the epic poem Das Nibelungenlied. On June 14, 2004, Witt modeled what is believed to be the most expensive hat ever made for Christie's auction house in London. The Chapeau d'Amour, designed by Louis Mariette, is valued at $2.7 million (US) and is encrusted in diamonds. In September 2006 she returned to the London stage at the Royal Court Theatre in Piano/Forte, portraying the piano-playing Abigail, a role in which she demonstrated herself to be an "outstanding pianist" of "formidable skill". Witt joined the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent for the 2007-08 season as Detective Nola Falacci, a character who was a temporary replacement for Megan Wheeler (played by Julianne Nicholson, who was away on maternity leave). She was a recurring character in Friday Night Lights for the 2009-10 season. In May 2011, Witt was in talks with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit producers to reprise her Criminal Intent role if female lead Mariska Hargitay left the series, but Hargitay chose to stay. In March 2012, Witt retweeted a link on her official Twitter page in hopes of getting Law & Order: Criminal Intent back for an 11th season on NBC. Witt currently resides in Los Angeles and New York, and is working on her music career. Her self-titled EP with four songs was released on iTunes in July 2009. Filmography edit: Year Title Role Notes 1984 Dune Alia Atreides credited as Alicia Roanne Witt 1990 Twin Peaks Gersten Hayward Episode: "2.1" 1991 Liebestraum Girl in Dream 1993 Hotel Room Diane Episode: "Blackout" 1994 Fun Bonnie Gijón International Film Festival Award for Best Actress (shared with Renee Humphrey), Sundance Film Festival - Special Jury Recognition, Nominated -- Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance 1994 Disappearance of Vonnie, TheThe Disappearance of Vonnie Janine TV movie 1995 Four Rooms Kiva Segment: "The Missing Ingredient" 1995 Mr. Holland's Opus Gertrude Lang 1995-1998 Cybill Zoey Woodbine Nominated -- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 1996 Citizen Ruth Cheryl Stoney 1997 Bongwater Serena 1998 Urban Legend Natalie Simon Nominated -- Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor 1999 Reef, TheThe Reef Sophy Viner 2000 Sopranos, TheThe Sopranos Amy Safir Episode: "D-Girl" 2000 Playing Mona Lisa Claire Goldstein U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actor 2000 Cecil B. Demented Cherish 2000 Ally McBeal Hope Mercey Episode: "Hope and Glory", Episode: "Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost" 2000 Gen¹³ Caitlin Fairchild (voice) Video 2001 Vanilla Sky Libby 2001 Ten Tiny Love Stories Two 2002 American Girl Barbie 2002 Two Weeks Notice June Carver 2003 Twilight Zone, TheThe Twilight Zone Liz Episode: "The Executions of Grady Finch" 2004 Girls' Lunch Short film 2004 Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King Kriemhild TV movie 2005 Upside of Anger, TheThe Upside of Anger Hadley Wolfmeyer 2005 Conflict Silky Sanders 2006 Last Holiday Ms. Burns 2007 Blue Smoke Reena Hale TV movie 2007 88 Minutes Kim Cummings 2007 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Det. Nola Falacci 5 episodes 2008 Wainy Days Laura Episode: "Shelly II" 2008 Puppy Love Claire TV series short 2008 Two and a Half Men Miss Pasternak /, Desiree Bush, lap dancer Episode: "A Jock Strap in Hell" 2009 Mentalist, TheThe Mentalist Rosalind Harker Episode: "Red John's Footsteps", Episode: "Little Red Book", Episode: "Red Is the New Black" 2009-2011 Friday Night Lights Cheryl 9+ episodes 2010 Boarding House, TheThe Boarding House Lily 2010 Edgar Floats Sandra TV movie 2010 Pond, TheThe Pond Shelly Short film 2010 Backyard Wedding Kim Tyler TV movie 2010 Peep World Amy 2011 Flight of the Swan, TheThe Flight of the Swan 2011 CSI: Miami Michelle Baldwin Episode: "Blood Lust" 2011 Joint Body Michelle Page Post-production 2012 Cowgirls n' Angels Elaine Clayton 2012 Bending the Rules Roslyn Wohl Post-production 2012 I Do Mya Edwards 2012 Person of Interest Connie Wyler Episode: "The High Road" 2013 A Madea Christmas Amber Theatre Year Title Theatre 2001 Gift, TheThe Gift Tiffany Theatre 2004 Shape of Things, TheThe Shape of Things New Ambassadors Theatre 2006 Piano/Forte Royal Court Theatre 2007 Dissonance Williamstown Theatre Festival

Source: Wikipedia

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