| Alicia Roanne Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on August 21, 1975, to parents Robert and Diane. Interestingly enough, Diane is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest hair to date.
Diane Witt was not the only one receiving attention for a certain achievement; daughter Alicia had learned to read by the time she was 6 months old and at age 4, she appeared on ABC's That's Incredible and NBC's Today, reciting Shakespeare.
At 2 years old, Alicia had written a letter to Good Housekeeping and was featured in the magazine as being their youngest reader. At 7 years old, Witt knew how to play classical piano and won several piano competitions in the years that followed.
Alicia's intelligence was something that was hard to ignore, so her parents decided to home school her and her brother Ian. By age 14, Alicia had received her high school diploma.
After becoming a high school graduate, the child prodigy headed to Los Angeles with her mother to develop her acting repertoire. With Alicia's artistic talents, it was no wonder that she had already started her acting career at the age of 9. She appeared in the 1984 sci-fi film Dune.
In LA, Alicia started playing piano at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel to earn a living. After having previously worked with director David Lynch in Dune, Alicia appeared on the television series Twin Peaks in 1990. After a few auditions, Alicia was cast in the 1993 film Bodies, Rest & Motion and in the HBO trilogy Hotel Room, also by David Lynch.
In 1994, Alicia was awarded with the Special Jury Award for her role as Bonnie in the film Fun, and went on to star in the made-for-TV movie The Disappearance of Vonnie. Alicia received what could be considered her big break, in 1995. She was cast as Zoey on the CBS sitcom Cybill.
Many more film roles began coming her way. Alicia was cast as the hopeless clarinet player in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) (she actually had to learn how to play the instrument badly); she also appeared in one of the segments of the Tarantino film Four Rooms (1995), in which she portrayed Madonna's lover.
She also had a role in Citizen Ruth (1996), starring Burt Reynolds and Kelly Preston.
By 1998, Alicia was established as a big-screen actress. That year she appeared in Bongwater as well as a role in the animated film Gen 13 (for which she provided her voice). Alicia finally scored a starring role in the teen slasher hit Urban Legend, co-starring Rebecca Gayheart.
In 1999, Alicia starred in The Reef, alongside Sela Ward and Timothy Dalton.
No longer typecast as the child prodigy (which was never really a stretch for the beautiful redhead), Alicia moved on in 2000, to star in Cecil B. Demented, as Stephen Dorff's porn-star girlfriend Cherish Oh Lordy, and Playing Mona Lisa, as a pianist who turns into a party girl.
2001 saw Alicia starring in the Tom Cruise/Penelope Cruz vehicle, Vanilla Sky, as well as Ten Tiny Love Stories.
In 2002, Alicia Witt starred in American Girl, which didn't do well at the box office. Lucky for her, she went on to star in the Sandra Bullock movie Two Weeks Notice, which was a huge success.
After a year away from the big screen, Alicia returned in 2004 to star in two films: The Upside Of Anger and Kingdom in Twilight. She's also set to make her London stage debut in a West End revival of The Shape of Things, by Neil LaBute.
When not acting and playing the piano, Alicia listens to big band music and is an avid wig collector.
TRIVIA:
Used to play the piano at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Appeared on "That's Incredible!" (1980) at the age of four due to her amazing reading skills. She also performed the balcony scene of _Romeo and Juliet (1968/I)_ with the host.
Parents are Robert and Diane. Brother is Ian.
Was home schooled and received high school diploma at age fourteen.
Is a classically trained pianist
In June 2004, she modeled what is claimed to be the most expensive hat ever made, the US$2,700,000 Chapeau d'Amour by celebrity couture hat designer Louis Mariette, at Christies in London.
Grew up down the street from screenwriter Caitlin McCarthy (II) in Worcester, Massachusetts. McCarthy wrote the adapted historical drama "Vera," which will star Lucie Vondrácková - Alicia Witt's co-star in Last Holiday (2006).
Her mother is Diane Witt, who was in the Guiness Book of World Records from 1988 to 1996 for having the world's longest hair.
After Kate Hudson passed on playing Mary Jane Watson in _Spider- Man (2002)_ , the role was offered to Alicia Witt, who also turned it down. The part later on went to Kirsten Dunst, who had to audition for this role.
Her brother Ian Rob Witt appeared with her in the film Liebestraum (1991)_ . |
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