Born on December 9, 1962 in Bedford, New York, actress Felicity Kendall Huffman was raised in Aspen, Colorado with seven siblings.  She was one of seven girls and was originally given the name “Flicka” by her mother until her she had a change of heart.  Now, the whimsical sounding name is only a nickname.  But it is one that could be used to encapsulate the quirky nature and personality of the Felicity Huffman herself as well as the roles and projects she chooses.

Huffman’s acting career started at her high school, the Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan.  There she majored in theater, graduated in 1981 and went on to earn a BFA in Drama from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.  From there, Huffman attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.  Huffman established long standing partnerships with two men during her stint on Broadway.  One of them is David Mamet, a playwright and film director whose projects Huffman starred in like the play “Feed the Plow”, the play “Cryptogram” and the comedy movie “Things Change”, which was Huffman’s first film debut.  Also, Huffman at the New York Atlantic Theater Company worked alongside Mamet along with another influential male in her life, her husband William H. Macy.

After work on Broadway, Huffman worked in several T.V. movies with her role as Lady Bird Johnson in “Path to War” being a critically acclaimed performance.   And some of her big screen work included roles in Magnolia and Hackers. Huffman had hit or miss success with television series. She starred in “Sports Night” which only lasted from1998 to 2000 but for which Huffman received SAG and Golden Globe nominations.  She had been fired from the show “Thunder Alley” that had its start in 1994 but she would go on to make guest appearances on shows like “The West Wing” and “Frasier”. 

Before reaching superstardom on “Desperate Housewives” in 2004, Huffman had another series vehicle, “Out of Order”, which was on Showtime and also starred her husband.  This show had a short shelf life but it being cancelled allowed for Huffman to end up on the most popular show of her career.  “Desperate Housewives” was the show that lifted Huffman’s profile as an actress higher as well as garnered a whole host of nominations and awards. She has won a SAG award, Golden Globe, and Emmy along with the admiration of tons of new fans of “Desperate Housewives”. 

Felicity Huffman had a triumphant return to big screen movies with the indie film 2006’s
“Transamerica”.  In this film that portrayed the life of a transsexual, Huffman delivered a performance that delivered her an Independent Spirit award, Golden Globe, and a Tribeca Film Festival award.

Huffman has had very interesting things to happen in the periphery of her acting career. She had a quirky and brief musical endeavors involving a stint as a background singer for one of Tina Turner’s tour one summer.  This was discussed on an episode of Oprah in 2005.  She also was a background singer for Rebecca Pidgeon on the album New York Girls' Club.  Additionally, in 2005 she admitted that she was bulimic and anorexic when she was a young actress but that she became healthy through counseling over the years. 

Sharing a life with another actor, Huffman had the delightful coincidence of being nominated for an Emmy in the same year that her husband was nominated. They also have two daughters together.  They both continue to have prolific careers in 2007 and Huffman is planning to star again, as Lynette Scavo, in the fourth season of “Desperate Housewives”.