From Birth To Stardom
On the 29th day of January 1970, Heather Graham was
born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A few years later, her parents would
have another child, Aimee, who was to follow in her big sister's
footsteps. While her strict-Catholic father was busy learning antiterrorist
techniques for the FBI, Heather would attend her very first elementary
school in Virginia, where she had very fond memories, particularly
of the landscape and people. Later, she would attend Sumac Elementary
School, followed by Lindero Canyon Middle School, and finally, Agoura
High School, where she would spend some of her worst years. While
studying there, she always felt that she didn't really know how
to talk to people. Boys would have no time for her. People would
tease her for being "flat" (little did they know). She
was even considered a sort of "theater geek" by her classmates.
As is the case with many of Hollywood's brightest, established stars
like Harrison Ford for example, Heather was never considered part
of the 'popular' crowd.
Her family life didn't seem very comfortable either, as tension
seemed to be growing between Heather and her parents. Though her
mother would drive her to Hollywood for auditions, once Heather
began to pick up work and especially now that she is the hot ticket,
a certain "weirdness" developed (Heather is not the only
actor in the family), one that would eventually result in little
or no contact among the family members. Ultimately, Heather was
more than glad to escape Agoura, although she was voted "most
talented" by her senior class.
However, as the story is told, talent alone won't get you far in
Hollywood. Heather went from job to job, working as an usher at
the Hollywood Bowl, landing various roles over the years in movies
such as License to Drive and the critically acclaimed Drugstore
Cowboy, and appearing on the popular television series Twin Peaks.
She eventually decided to enroll at the University of California
at Los Angeles. There, she majored in English, but dropped out after
only two years. It was, however, at UCLA where she first read one
of her favorite books, The Brothers Karamazov. Little did she know
that Dostoevsky would indirectly play a part in her love life. In
1992, Graham landed a small role in Diggstown, starring James Woods.
Apparently, Woods spotted her with a copy of Karamazov and was impressed.
Though she thought the older man (45 at the time) was interesting,
Graham wasn't quite sure about her feelings for him.
For the next few years, she would go on to play various roles in
films like Six Degrees of Separation, Don't Do It, and Even Cowgirls
Get the Blues. Throughout this time, she won the admiration of several
filmmakers, including James Toback and Jon Favreau.
One night, as legend has it, Favreau took Graham to go swing dancing,
and 18 months later, she played Lorraine in the critically-acclaimed
Favreau vehicle, Swingers. Toback eventually got his chance and
cast her in the upcoming film, Two Girls and a Guy. 1997, however,
was to be the year of Heather's big "breakout". Her mesmerizing
performance as a blonde nymphet on roller-skates in Boogie Nights
launched her into the stardom that was long overdue. She even made
a cameo in Scream 2, spoofing Drew Barrymore's "Jiffy-popping"
first victim from the original and subsequently appearing on the
Scream 2 'babe' panorama cover of Rolling Stone. Soon after and
in the months to come, the actress whom people hardly ever noticed
would be gracing the covers of various magazines with her offbeat
grace.
The romance between Hollywood beauty Heather Graham and heart-throb
actor Heath Ledger finished in June 2001. The pair, had been dating
since October of 2000, are "still good friends," according
to 33-year-old Graham's rep - but are no longer a couple. Ledger,
22, agreed to part company before he was caught making out with
a new beauty at the downtown New York club Lotus. This was Graham's
second breakup that year- she split with actor Ed Burns happened
last June.
Since then Heather has said her good-byes to the indie world and
she has a CAA agent and a modeling contract with Emanuel Ungaro.
She stared in the big budgett flop "Lost in Space" then
as the hit babe Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who
Shagged Me. This sky rocketed her career and has since then has
stared along side some of the bigest names in Hollywood, Steve Martin,
Eddie Murphy, (in Bowfinger) Danny DeVito (Rotten TV) Rose McGowan
(Kiss & Tell) Johnny Depp (From Hell) Courteney Cox (Alien Love
Triangle) just to name a few.
Heather also will cameod in the Austin Powers sequel. Where the
blond beauty breathed new life intothe foxy agent Felicity Shagwell
in Austin Powers In Goldmember. Graham says, "They wrote some
pages up for me, and I'm probably going to show up in the beginning
of that movie." Last month Graham revealed her concern of being
blown up if she were to return, just as Liz Hurley's character Vanessa
Kensington-Powers was in the last movie. Graham explains, "I
said I wanted to do it as long as they don't blow me up or something
like that. I was, like, 'Look. Just don't dispose of me in, like,
a bad way.'"
Heather struck up a romance with About A Boy co-director Chris
Weitz after her previous attempted compainonship with Matthew Perry
disintergrated in 2002. Weitz, whose first public outing with the
33-year-old actress was at the Golden Globe Awards in 2003, says
he met his new belle through Daisy Von Scherler Mayer - director
of Graham's upcoming film The Guru. Graham says, "He's a great
guy." But the pair's romance didn't get off to the greatest
start - Weitz tells magazine Us Weekly that he was so nervous about
his first date with the beauty that, he says, "I took her to
a really bad restaurant."
Heather Graham admits she often comes across as sex-obsessed in
interviews, but insists that's just the way journalists spin her
words. The stunning Boogie Nights babe is sure she makes no more
comments about nookie than any other actress when talking to the
press. She says, "It's not really my fault. You do an interview
with someone for two hours and you have a provocative conversation
about it. The magazine wants to sell copies and sex sells magazines.
So you can be talking for two hours about something else and they
stick in the three quotes about sex. In every article they talk
about sex. That's all they wanna know. It is really frustrating
sometimes."
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