Heather Graham Biography:

Blue-eyed and angelic, with delicate doll-like features and long wavy mermaid blonde hair, actress Heather Graham has often played the bad girl who steals the audience's heart, her innocent looks in juxtaposition with her onscreen antics helping to make her an unpredictable and especially compelling presence.

Heather was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised by her strictly Catholic father, who worked for the FBI, and mother, a former schoolteacher and author. She and her sister, Aimee, were forced to relocate often, as a result of their father's occupation, and Heather became increasingly shy. Surprisingly, she had a passion for acting from an early age and despite being labeled a 'theater geek' by her peers, she was voted Most Talented by her high school senior class. Unfortunately, her love of acting created a tension between Heather and her family although her mother obligingly drove her to auditions in Hollywood throughout her adolescence.

After debuting with a strong performance as a drunken dream girl in 1988's silly "License to Drive" (a vehicle for the Coreys--Feldman and Haim), Graham was hired by director Gus Van Sant for his gripping "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989). Her performance as a young and doomed addict won praise and notice for this veteran of small TV parts (e.g., two 1987 episodes of the ABC sitcom "Growing Pains") as well as a Best Actress nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards. The following year saw Graham take on the recurring role of Annie, an ex-nun who becomes the love interest of Kyle MacLachlan's Agent Cooper, in David Lynch's always strange series "Twin Peaks" (ABC). In 1991, she took on a more conventional role as a college student with parental difficulties in the unimpressive 1950s set musical drama "Shout". She returned to television that year with a starring role alongside Josh Hamilton and Anne Heche, as the young version of Jessica Lange's character in "O Pioneers!" for CBS. After reprising her role of Annie in the incoherent "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (1992) the actress appeared in "Diggstown" (also 1992) and "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993), both roles playing up Graham's fresh-faced innocence. She went on to bide her time in features like the poorly received "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" and the little-seen independent drama "Desert Winds" (both 1994).

Graham had a small part in the acclaimed "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994), and took the starring role in the direct-to-video release "Toughguy/Terrified" (1995), before offering a memorable supporting turn as Lorraine, a swing dancing beauty who is able to pull Jon Favreau's heartbroken Mike out of his funk in 1996's "Swingers". This role helped to re-establish Graham, who was next seen in 1997's celebrated "Boogie Nights" as Rollergirl, a young porn star who is never without her skates. Graham's energetic portrayal of Rollergirl, the 'daughter' of the film's surrogate family setup, conveyed a surprising and touching innocence and humor, with her uncharacteristic brutal attack on a high school tormentor near the film's end serving as a particularly well-acted dramatic highlight. She followed this attention-grabbing performance with a cameo in "Scream 2", playing Drew Barrymore's character from the original in "Stab", the slasher film-within-a-slasher film. Also in 1997, Graham co-starred with Natasha Gregson Wagner and Robert Downey Jr. in "Two Girls and a Guy", a real-time look at a wandering boyfriend, and the confrontation between him and two of his misled lovers. She was a shining part of the otherwise disappointing film, and the eye-flashing ferocity unleashed in her scenes with Downey proved her more than just a pretty face.

After the overt sexuality of her last two starring efforts, Graham went studious as Dr. Judy Robinson in the feature adaptation of "Lost in Space" (1998), spurning the advances of Matt LeBlanc and outfitted from wrist to ankle in modest astro-jumpsuits. In 1999 she reached her largest audience, co-starring as Felicity Shagwell, 1960s CIA agent in the blockbuster sequel "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Decked out in risque mod-meets-flower child gear and purring memorably cheeky lines such as "Shagwell by name, shag very well by reputation", Graham's sweet and sultry presence was the perfect swinging counterpart to Mike Myers' Powers. She followed up with a role in the comedy "Bowfinger" (also 1999), starring alongside Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy as a young Hollywood hopeful. In 2000, Graham starred opposite Luke Wilson as an abandoned wife on a mission to keep her vows, seeking out her husband on a whirlwind road trip in "Committed", a film featuring a cast with dozens of young up and coming actors and hip musicians.

2001 proved to be a solid year for Graham, who starred in the Jack the Ripper thriller "From Hell" opposite Johnny Depp, as well as the smaller romantic comedy "Sidewalks of New York" opposite Ed Burns. Also in 2001, perhaps unwisely, Graham jumped on the teen gross-out train with the gigantic flop "Say It Isn't So." While the legendary Farrelly brothers produced the movie, it lacked any kind of a comic spark. Graham's reputation remained intact after this small misstep however, and starred in the thriller "Killing Me Softly" in 2002 opposite Joseph Fiennes. That year she also starred in the largely ignored comedy The Guru with Marisa Tomei. The following year she had a cameo appearance in Anger Management and also had a role in the romantic comedy Hope Springs. In 2004 she is set to appear in Gray Matters and .45.