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."