Heather Graham mini-bio: Graham was brought up in a traditional Catholic family of Irish descent. She's since estranged herself from the Catholic Church she grew up in, saying it is, "made up of closed-minded men who believe a woman's sexuality is evil...Why do I have to do what all these men are saying?" She's practiced transcendental meditation since 1991.
Her father, Jim, is a retired FBI agent and her mother, Joan, is a noted author of children's books. Graham has a younger sister, Aimee, who is also an aspiring actress and writer. Growing up in Virginia, Graham attended North Springfield Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia. Her family then moved to the Conejo Valley in California where she attended Sumac Elementary School, Lindero Canyon Middle School, and Agoura High School where she graduated in 1988.
Initially, Graham's parents were very supportive of her budding acting career; her mother drove Graham to her auditions. However, her parents were adamant that she should not appear in any movie featuring sex. Graham appeared fully nude in several scenes in her breakout role in Boogie Nights. Graham is currently estranged from her parents, who are still practicing Catholics.
In 1991, she appeared in Twin Peaks as Annie Blackburn, Agent Cooper's second-season love interest.
After high school, Graham enrolled in extension classes at the University of California, Los Angeles and met actor James Woods. Their subsequent romantic involvement led to Graham being cast in Diggstown (1992), which starred Woods. After two years had passed, Graham stopped taking classes at UCLA to pursue acting full time, over her parents' objections. She moved to Hollywood where she worked different jobs while continuing to establish herself as a starlet, for a time romantically involved and living with 1980s pop star Adam Ant.
As a supporting actress, Graham was cast in a number of parts that brought her critical notice, including Nadine in Drugstore Cowboy (1989). However, her breakthrough role was that of 1970s porn starlet Roller Girl in Boogie Nights (1997), for which she received several award nominations. Her first starring role was in 1999 with her lead role as Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She also appeared in the music video for "American Woman"- a song which Lenny Kravitz covered for the film's soundtrack. More recently, she starred as Mary Kelly in the film From Hell (2001), based on the story of Jack the Ripper.
Although Graham has been prominently featured in mainstream films, she has also been cast in a number of independent films. Many of those films, like 2002's The Guru, have brought her critical praise.
She was named by People Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World 2001" [3]. In addition to her relationship with Woods, she also has been romantically involved with actor Edward Burns, producer-director Chris Weitz, actors Josh Lucas, Heath Ledger, Elias Koteas, Kyle MacLachlan, and director Stephen Hopkins.
She also played herself on one episode of the hit series Sex and the City. Graham enjoyed special guest-star status on several episodes of NBC-TV's Scrubs during its fourth season (2004–2005), and also appeared in a small role as a teacher in an episode of Fox's Arrested Development. In 2005, Graham became the spokeswoman and TV model for Garnier brand of hair care products. Graham's print ad for Skyy vodka, which was photographed in 1993 (titled "#3, Entourage") is still appearing in national magazines today as well.
Graham's most recent project was starring in the ABC-TV comedy series Emily's Reasons Why Not in 2006. Despite an extensive ad campaign, ABC-TV announced that the show was canceled after its first airing on January 9, 2006. Because they print their covers weeks in advance and did not expect the quick cancellation, Life Magazine did a cover story on Graham two weeks later in their January 27, 2006 issue and referred to her as "TV’s sexiest star."
