Calista Flockhart Biography

Calista Kay Flockhart was born on November 11, 1964 in Freeport, Illinois, USA. Her father, Ronald Flockhart, served as an executive at Kraft Foods INC, while her mother, Kay Calista nee Honohan, was a English teacher. Born second of her parents’ two children, she has an elder brother called Gary.

Because of her father’s job, the family was always on the move, requiring Calista to spend her early years in various states like Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, upstate New York, and New Jersey. As a result, she was constantly changing schools, being dubbed "the new girl" everywhere she went.

In 1983, she graduated from Shawnee High School, located in Medford Township, New Jersey. While there, she was a cheerleader and was active in the student council. She had also developed an interest in acting; she wrote a play called Toyland and acted it out to a small audience at a dinner party.

After graduating from school, she entered Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There she studied acting with William Esper, whom she later remembered with gratitude, declaring that “The time that I spent with Bill was transformative for me, and it’s my foundation.”

In 1988, Calista Flockhart graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater. In doing so, she became one of the few students who successfully completed the acting course.

In 1989, Calista Flockhart moved to New York City, where she shared a two-bedroom apartment with three other women. She worked as a waitress and an aerobics instructor. Concurrently, she continued to appear for auditions, eventually debuting on television to play Elise, a babysitter in an episode of the soap opera Guiding Light.

In October, 1989, she debuted on stage, appearing as post-teen Mary in the Circle Repertory Company’s production of Joe Pintauro's play, Beside Herself. However, nothing much came out of it and she continued to struggle.

In 1991, she got her second television role, appearing as Lillian Anderson in the TV film, Darrow. In the following year, she appeared as Mary-Margaret Carter, a girl with eating disorder, in The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic episode of the HBO drama series Lifestories: Families in Crisis.

In November 1991, she returned to the stage, playing Lucia in Mad Forest: A Play from Romania. Thereafter, she continued to appear in various plays, such as Our Town (1992-1993), Wrong Turn at Lungfish (1993), Sophistry, (1993) etc.

In 1993, she debuted in films with the role of an acting student in the romantic comedy film, Naked in New York. It was followed in 1994 by Clear Cut, Getting In and Quiz Show. Out of these four films, only Quiz Show offered her substantial speaking role.

In 1994, she debuted at the Broadway, playing Laura in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (1994-1995).  Playing Natasha in Anton Chekhov's ‘The Three Sisters’ (1997) was another of her achievements on stage.

In 1995, she had her first lead in a film, appearing as Jane, a young street walker, in Pictures of Baby Jane Doe. Also in the same year, she appeared as Helen in Drunks.

In 1996, she appeared in two films, The Birdcage and Milk & Money. They were followed in 1997 by a coming-of-age drama film Telling Lies in America, starring in it as Diney Majeski. Although they did not do very well in the box office, her acting did not go unnoticed

In 1997 she was asked to appear for an audition for the title role in the legal comedy drama television series, Ally McBeal. Aired by Fox from September 8, 1997, it earned her instant success.  As the production ended on May 20, 2002, she decided to take a break from television to be fulltime mother.

Meanwhile, she continued to appear in various films, which include A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), The Last Shot (2004) and Fragile (2005). On November 11, 2000, she hosted the Calista Flockhart / Ricky Martin episode at the Saturday Night Live.

In 2006, she returned to the television, appearing in the lead role of Kitty Walker in 110 episodes of the critically-acclaimed ABC family drama series, Brothers & Sisters. Premiering on September 24, 2006, it ran for five seasons, eventually closing on May 8, 2011.

In 2015, she got her third major television role, appearing as Cat Grant in the CBS superhero television series, Supergirl. While the series ran from October 26, 2015 to November 9, 2021, Calista Flockhart was there till 2018, initially as a series regular and then in a recurring role.

Calista Flockhart is possibly best known for portraying the role of a Boston based lawyer in 112 episodes of the Fox television series Ally McBeal. Also called Ally McBeal, her character is forever looking for her soul mate, hearing songs in her head, experiencing hallucinations. The role earned her numerous nominations and awards.

In 1998, Calista Flockhart won the Golden Globe Award in the Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy category for her work in Ally McBeal.  That apart, she also received Golden Globe nominations for the same work in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, but failed to win.

In 1999, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series category and in 2000, she won  the People's Choice Awards in the Favorite Female Television Performer category for her work in Ally McBeal,.

In 1995, she received the Theatre World Award in the Best New Talent category and Clarence Derwent Award in the Most Promising Female Performer category for her performance in The Glass Menagerie

On June 15, 2010, Calista Flockhart married actor Harrison Ford. However, they have been in a relationship since January 20, 2002, when they met at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.  Currently they live on a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming.

The couple has an adopted son called Liam Flockhart Ford, whom Flockhart had adopted at his birth in 2001.  Apart from Liam, she also has four stepchildren from Ford’s earlier marriage.