Cady Huffman
Encyclopedia
Catherine Elizabeth “Cady” Huffman (born February 2, 1965) is a Tony Award-winning
American actress.
to Lorayne, a pre-school assistant director turned realtor, and Clifford Huffman, an attorney. She is the younger sister of actor Linus Huffman and automotive writer John Pearley Huffman whose work often appears in Car and Driver
magazine and The New York Times
. She attended public schools in Santa Barbara (skipping the fourth grade) and graduated from the local San Marcos High School in June 1982. Huffman started performing in Santa Barbara's very active local theater community well before her teenage years. She also studied ballet at The Goleta School of Ballet and performed numerous classical ballets with the school's company.
The Santa Barbara theater also produced such notable actors as Eric Stoltz
, Anthony Edwards
, Randolph Mantooth
, Howard McGillin
, and Kathleen Wilhoite
.
's Big Deal
, to be followed by a Tony-Award nomination for her performance in The Will Rogers Follies (1991). In 2001, she played the role of Ulla in the Broadway
musical The Producers
, by Mel Brooks
. Huffman received the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
for the role.
She made her film debut in the 1992 film Hero
which stars Dustin Hoffman
, Geena Davis
, and Andy García
. She has since appeared in Space Marines
, Romance & Cigarettes
, and The Nanny Diaries
. She also appeared in the 2010 film The Company Men
alongside Ben Affleck
, Kevin Costner
, Tommy Lee Jones
, and Chris Cooper
.
During 2003 and 2004, she produced, starred in and acted as production designer for the independent film Sunday On The Rocks directed by Joe Morton
.
On television she has had guest starring roles on programs such as Frasier
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, and Mad About You
. She appeared as herself in several guest spots on the television show Curb Your Enthusiasm
during 2004. The show's 4th season plot involved Larry David
joining the cast of The Producers
. Beginning in August 2005, Huffman took over for Kimberlin Brown
as Dr. Paige Miller on One Life to Live
. Her last episode aired on January 23, 2006. During 2011 she has appeared in two episodes of The Good Wife
.
She is a regular food judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America
, described by host Alton Brown
as "the Kitty Carlisle" of the series.
During July and August 2007, Huffman starred in the off-Broadway play Surface to Air directed by James Naughton
, a rare dramatic part for the actress who usually appears on stage in musicals.
During May 2009, she appeared in the new musical Pirates! in Boston in anticipation of a Broadway run.
She now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
American actress.
Early life
Huffman was born in Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
to Lorayne, a pre-school assistant director turned realtor, and Clifford Huffman, an attorney. She is the younger sister of actor Linus Huffman and automotive writer John Pearley Huffman whose work often appears in Car and Driver
Car and Driver
Car and Driver is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. Its total circulation is 1.31 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011...
magazine and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. She attended public schools in Santa Barbara (skipping the fourth grade) and graduated from the local San Marcos High School in June 1982. Huffman started performing in Santa Barbara's very active local theater community well before her teenage years. She also studied ballet at The Goleta School of Ballet and performed numerous classical ballets with the school's company.
The Santa Barbara theater also produced such notable actors as Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
, Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
, Randolph Mantooth
Randolph Mantooth
Randolph Donald Mantooth is an American character actor of stage, film and television. Mantooth is best known for his work in the 1970s medical drama, Emergency!, as Johnny Gage, a Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic...
, Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
, and Kathleen Wilhoite
Kathleen Wilhoite
Kathleen Wilhoite is an American film and television actress, as well as a singer-songwriter. She also voiced the title character in the animated series Pepper Ann...
.
Career
Huffman first came to Broadway as a replacement cast member in the hit musical La Cage aux Folles (1985), and was quickly cast in Bob FosseBob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
's Big Deal
Big Deal (musical)
Big Deal is a musical with a book by Bob Fosse using songs from various composers such as Ray Henderson, Eubie Blake, and Jerome Kern. It was based on the film "Big Deal on Madonna Street" by Mario Monicelli...
, to be followed by a Tony-Award nomination for her performance in The Will Rogers Follies (1991). In 2001, she played the role of Ulla in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
, by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
. Huffman received the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
for the role.
She made her film debut in the 1992 film Hero
Hero (1992 film)
Hero is a comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy García, Chevy Chase, and Joan Cusack. It was released in the United States on October 20, 1992.-Plot:...
which stars Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
, Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
, and Andy García
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
. She has since appeared in Space Marines
Space Marines (film)
-Plot:Col. Fraser leads a group of space pirates to take over a ship and capture an important official.- Cast :* Billy Wirth - Zack Delano* Cady Huffman - Dar Mullins* John Pyper-Ferguson - Col. Fraser* Edward Albert - Capt. Gray* Meg Foster - Cmdr. Lasser...
, Romance & Cigarettes
Romance & Cigarettes
Romance & Cigarettes is a 2005 American musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Turturro. The film stars an ensemble cast, including James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken,...
, and The Nanny Diaries
The Nanny Diaries
The Nanny Diaries is a 2002 novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, both of whom are former nannies. The book satirizes upper class Manhattan society as seen through the eyes of their children's caregivers....
. She also appeared in the 2010 film The Company Men
The Company Men
The Company Men is an American drama film written and directed by John Wells. It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010 and had a one-week run in December 10, 2010 to be eligible for the year's Academy Awards...
alongside Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
, Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
, and Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (actor)
Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
.
During 2003 and 2004, she produced, starred in and acted as production designer for the independent film Sunday On The Rocks directed by Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
.
On television she has had guest starring roles on programs such as Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, and Mad About You
Mad About You
Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
. She appeared as herself in several guest spots on the television show Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
during 2004. The show's 4th season plot involved Larry David
Larry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
joining the cast of The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
. Beginning in August 2005, Huffman took over for Kimberlin Brown
Kimberlin Brown
Kimberlin Ann Brown is an American actress, best known for her iconic role as Sheila Carter on The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful Kimberlin Ann Brown (born June 29, 1961 in Hayward, California) is an American actress, best known for her iconic role as Sheila Carter on The...
as Dr. Paige Miller on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
. Her last episode aired on January 23, 2006. During 2011 she has appeared in two episodes of The Good Wife
The Good Wife
The Good Wife is an American legal drama that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009. The series was created by Robert King and Michelle King. It stars Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski, Archie Panjabi, Matt Czuchry and Josh Charles. Executive producers are the Kings, Ridley and Tony Scott,...
.
She is a regular food judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
, described by host Alton Brown
Alton Brown
Alton Crawford Brown is an American television personality, author, actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show Good Eats and the mini-series Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves, and he is the host and main commentator on Iron Chef America...
as "the Kitty Carlisle" of the series.
During July and August 2007, Huffman starred in the off-Broadway play Surface to Air directed by James Naughton
James Naughton
James Naughton is an American director, theater, film and television actor.-Early life:Naughton was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Rosemary and Joseph Naughton, both of whom were teachers He is the brother of actor David Naughton.-Career:Naughton graduated from Brown University and...
, a rare dramatic part for the actress who usually appears on stage in musicals.
During May 2009, she appeared in the new musical Pirates! in Boston in anticipation of a Broadway run.
Personal life
Huffman married attorney and basketball coach William Healy in 1994; they divorced in 2010. They had no children.She now lives in Brooklyn, New York.