Helen Hunt

Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and Academy Award-winning actress, widely known for her role in the television sitcom Mad about You and her Academy Award-winning role in As Good As It Gets. She has starred in several Hollywood films, including Twister, Cast Away, What Women Want, and Pay It Forward.

Hunt was born in Culver City, California, the daughter of Jane Elizabeth (née Novis), a photographer, and Gordon Hunt, a film director and acting coach. Her uncle, Peter H. Hunt, is also a director, and her maternal grandmother, Dorothy Fries (née Anderson) was a voice coach. Hunt is of Jewish (from her paternal grandmother) and Methodist background. Hunt spent part of her childhood in New York City and later attended the University of California at Los Angeles.