Felicity Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American film and television actress, who has won Emmy and Golden Globe awards and been nominated for an Academy Award.
Huffman was born in Bedford, New York. Her parents divorced a year after her birth, and she was raised mostly by her mother. She graduated from The Putney School in Vermont. After high school she went on to New York University where she graduated in 1988 from the Tisch School of the Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.
Huffman's work has included roles in the television dramedy Sports Night as well as guest starring roles on Frasier and The West Wing. She is best known for her work on the television series Desperate Housewives, where she stars as Lynette Scavo. The role won her an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as two 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Actress - Comedy Series and part of Best Ensemble - Comedy Series. Many predictors had considered her a darkhorse for the Emmy since she submitted the pilot episode which showcased a much more comedic Huffman than the balance of drama and comedy that the show contained.
On the big screen, Huffman has appeared in films like Raising Helen opposite Kate Hudson and John Corbett and Christmas with the Kranks opposite Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In 2005, she starred as a transsexual woman in the film Transamerica. Her performance was praised by many critics, garnering her a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and a win for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama award. She was subsequently invited to join the Academy as a voting member along with other entertainers such as Dakota Fanning and Dolly Parton.
Huffman is married to actor William H. Macy, with whom she has two daughters, Sofia Grace and Georgia Grace. She has also appeared on television and in movies with her husband, such as on the TV show Sports Night and the movie Magnolia. The couple have become the subject of a running gag on the satirical news show The Colbert Report, in which the couple (who live a quiet life outside the glaring media spotlight) are regularly "attacked" as representing the worst of what Colbert sees as a culture obsessed with celebrity relationships. As part of the running gag, Colbert refers to the couple as "Filliam H. Muffman", a play on the current trend by media types to combine the names of major celebrity couples.
In 2005, she revealed that she had suffered from both anorexia and bulimia in her teenage years, but had overcome those conditions.
She is a huge fan of Tina Turner and her dream was to be a back-up singer for her. When Huffman was on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey surprised her with a visit from Tina Turner where the two got to sing together.
