Alicia Witt

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress and musician. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in Dune (1984) as Alia and Twin Peaks (1990) as Gersten Hayward. Witt was a regular on Cybill Shepherd's sitcom Cybill (1995–1998) for four seasons, playing the title character's daughter, Zoey Woodbine. She had a critically acclaimed role as a disturbed teenager in Fun (1994), appeared as a music student in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) and as a terrorized college student in the horror film Urban Legend (1998). She appeared in Vanilla Sky (2001) as Libby, Two Weeks Notice (2002), Last Holiday (2006), 88 Minutes (2007) as Kim Cummings, I Care A Lot (2020) and Longlegs (2024). Witt has made television appearances in shows such as The Walking Dead, The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights as Cheryl, Twin Peaks: The Return as Gersten Hayward, CSI: Miami, Supernatural, Justified and Orange Is the New Black. She starred in five episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Detective Nola Falacci in Season 7, temporarily replacing actress Julianne Nicholson, who was on maternity leave.

In addition to her acting, Witt is an accomplished pianist, singer, and songwriter. She has starred in nine annual Hallmark Christmas films, the first broadcast in 2013. In her most recent Hallmark film, Christmas Tree Lane (2020), she was also executive producer and storywriter, and contributed two original songs which her character sings.

Early life and education

Witt was born on August 21, 1975<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Diane (née Pietro), a junior high school reading teacher, and Robert Witt, a science teacher and photographer. Her mother was an American and Guinness World Record holder for the longest hair<ref name="telegram2">Template:Cite news</ref> from 1989 to 1996.Template:Citation needed Witt has a brother, Ian.<ref name="pittsburgh" /><ref name="record-journal" /> Talking by age two and reading by the age of four,<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> she has been described as a child prodigy.<ref name="latimes87" /> Her acting talent was recognized by director David Lynch in 1980, when he heard her recite Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on the television show That's Incredible! at age five. Lynch began working with her in film and television before Witt earned her high-school equivalency credential at age 14. From the ages of 10 to 14, she took four piano lessons a week, including from a Boston University professor,<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> and competed nationally.<ref name="wwd2008">Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

Film and television

Witt's discovery by Lynch led to her casting as the "flame-haired" child in Dune (1984), as Paul Atreides's sister Alia; she turned eight during filming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She worked with Lynch again when she appeared in an episode of Twin Peaks,<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> playing the younger sister of Lara Flynn Boyle's character Donna.

Her acting background led to small parts in Mike Figgis' Liebestraum in 1991 (her brother Ian also appears), the Gen-X drama Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993), and the television film The Disappearance of Vonnie (1994). In 1994, Witt landed her first lead role in a film, playing a disturbed, murderous teenager in Fun and receiving the Special Jury Recognition Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Witt was then cast in Four Rooms<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> as Madonna's lover in the episode "The Missing Ingredient".

Witt was introduced to a larger audience in the role of Cybill Shepherd's daughter, Zoey Woodbine, in the sitcom Cybill. While playing that part from 1995 to 1998, she also had film roles in Stephen Herek's Mr. Holland's Opus,<ref name=Rosenbloom/> Alexander Payne's Citizen Ruth,<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> Robert Allan Ackerman's Passion's Way (based on the Edith Wharton novel, The Reef) and Richard Sears' comedy Bongwater. After Cybill was cancelled, Witt went on to leading roles in Jamie Blanks' horror film Urban Legend (1998) as Natalie,<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /><ref name=Rosenbloom/> and in Kevin Altieri/Touchstone Pictures' limited-release animated feature Gen¹³.

In 2000, Witt had starring roles on episodes of the television shows Ally McBeal and The Sopranos, the lead role in the Matthew Huffman comedy Playing Mona Lisa and a part in John Waters' Cecil B. Demented.<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" />

Next, she acted in a small part in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001). Witt played "Two", the college graduate discussing loss of her virginity, in Rodrigo García's Ten Tiny Love Stories and played the role of promiscuous Barbie, half-sister of the title character, in American Girl. Witt also appeared in Marc Lawrence's romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice (2002).

In 2003–04, she lived in the United Kingdom (during this time she portrayed Joan Allen's daughter in the U.S.-based comic drama The Upside of Anger).Template:Cn Between the two projects, Witt went to South Africa to shoot a film interpretation of the epic poem "Das Nibelungenlied", played one of the central characters, Kriemhild, in the German television film Kingdom in Twilight. Kingdom in Twilight has the title Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King in the U.S. and The Ring of the Nibelungs and The Sword of Xanten elsewhere.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Witt filmed the Last Holiday (2006) and the thriller 88 Minutes (2007)<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> and joined the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent for the 2007–2008 season. In the latter she played Detective Nola Falacci, a character temporarily replacing Megan Wheeler as Detective Mike Logan's partner (who was away on maternity leave) and was a recurring character in the 2007–2008 season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Witt appeared in the role of Amy in the film Peep World (2010).<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" />

File:Alicia Witt 2012.jpg

Witt in 2012

Witt appeared as the character Elaine Clayton in Cowgirls 'n Angels (2012),<ref name="Marx_NYT_2010" /> and in 2013, co-starred in the independent film Cold Turkey (opposite Peter Bogdanovich and Cheryl Hines); therein, she additionally performed an original musical piece over the end credits. Her dramatic performance in this film was critically acclaimed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with New York MagazineTemplate:'s David Edelstein proclaiming her turn one of the top performances of 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She appeared in four Christmas films in 2013: the feature film Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas, A Snow Globe Christmas for the Lifetime Channel and A Very Merry Mix-Up as an antique store owner, Alice Chapman for the Hallmark Channel and in 2014, the Hallmark Channel's Christmas at Cartwright's. Also in 2014, Witt appeared in a guest-starring role on the DirecTV series, Kingdom,<ref name="eonline2014">Template:Cite web</ref> which aired that October.

In 2014, in the fifth season of the FX series Justified she played Wendy Crowe, the brightest member of a Floridian crime family that gets entangled in the show's events in Kentucky.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2016, Witt appeared in two episodes of The Walking Dead;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the same month, it was announced that she would also be reprising her role as Gersten Hayward in the 2017 Twin Peaks series.<ref name="twinpeaks" /> Witt filmed a guest-starring role on season 12 of Supernatural as Lily Sunder, a former enemy of Castiel's.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, she had a recurring role on the seventh season of Orange Is the New Black as Zelda.

In 2022, Witt appeared in the crime thriller Alice. In 2024, Witt starred in Oz Perkins's horror film Longlegs, opposite Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage.<ref name=grobar/>

Theater

Witt made her stage debut in 2001, at Los Angeles' historic Tiffany Theater, in Robbie Fox's musical The Gift, in which she played a high-priced, albeit disease-carrying, stripper.

While in residence in the UK in 2004, she starred as Evelyn in a stage production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things at the New Ambassadors Theatre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2006, Witt returned to the London stage at the Royal Court Theatre, in the critically well-received Piano/Forte, wherein she was "well-cast" in portraying the stammering, emotionally damaged pianist Abigail, sister to "unloved attention-seeker" Louise (Kelly Reilly).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Witt performed alongside Amber Tamblyn in Neil LaBute's play, Reasons to Be Pretty, at the Geffen Playhouse, which ran until August 31, 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music

File:Alicia-Witt Mechanics-Hall 2012 01.jpg

Witt performing in 2012

In addition to acting, Witt is a professional singer-songwriter and pianist,<ref name="incredible" /> and is reported to have been a musical prodigy.<ref name="latimes87" /> She played piano at the restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in the early/mid 1990s.<ref name="wwd2008" />

Responses to her 2006 stage portrayal of Abigail in Piano/Forte, which included scenes of piano-playing, noted her skill as an "outstanding pianist".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2009, Witt released her self-titled extended play album,<ref>Template:ASIN</ref> followed by Live at Rockwood in 2012<ref>Template:ASIN</ref> and Revisionary History in 2015;<ref name="npr-revisionary-history" /><ref>Template:ASIN</ref> the latter was produced by Ben Folds.<ref name=ambio/> In 2013, Witt and Folds performed a song they had co-written on the soundtrack for the independent film Cold Turkey. The Nashville Scene said of Revisionary History: "Witt's new album Revisionary History is a piano-pop gem that sounds by turns like 'Grey Seal'–era Elton John, an alt-universe Fiona Apple and a film-noir chanteuse notching her nights in cigarette burns on the fallboard."<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

In 2016, Witt joined the cast of ABC's Nashville in a recurring capacity playing established country singer Autumn Chase. Witt performed several songs throughout season four.

In August 2018, Witt released a five-song EP album titled 15,000 Days (a reference to the length of time she had been alive when she recorded the album) working with producer Jacquire King.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She released her album The Conduit on September 24, 2021, which she co-produced with Jordan Lehning and Bill Reynolds.

In 2020, Witt released two new Christmas songs, as heard in her Hallmark Christmas film, Christmas Tree Lane. "Why Christmas" and "Christmas Will Never End" are performed on-screen by her character, music-store owner and songwriter Meg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2023, Witt released the six-song EP, Witness.<ref name=Rosenbloom/><ref name=Patterson/><ref name=Avila/>

Other appearances

In September 1990, Witt competed on Wheel of Fortune.<ref name="worcester" />

On June 14, 2004, Witt modeled what is believed to be the most expensive hat ever made, for Christie's auction house in London. The Chapeau d'Amour, designed by Louis Mariette, is valued at US$2.7 million and is encrusted in diamonds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On October 5, 2021, Witt released a book called Small Changes: A Rules-Free Guide to Add More Plant-Based Foods, Peace & Power to Your Life.

In 2023, Witt competed in season nine of The Masked Singer as "Dandelion". While having bested Dee Snider as "Doll" and Lou Diamond Phillips as "Mantis" (who was spared by Robin Thicke ringing the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell) on "WB Movie Night", she was eliminated in "Masked Singer in Space" alongside Melissa Joan Hart as "Lamp".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

On December 20, 2021, Witt's parents were found dead in their Worcester, Massachusetts, home.<ref name="telegram2"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The cause was revealed on February 24, 2022, as "probable cardiac dysrhythmia" due to the cold of their neglected and improperly heated home. In a Facebook post, Witt revealed that her parents were fiercely independent and refused help with home repairs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Witt battled breast cancer in 2021, and has been cancer-free since 2022 after undergoing chemotherapy and a mastectomy.<ref name=Rosenbloom>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Patterson>Template:Cite web</ref> In light of her cancer diagnosis and treatment, Witt has quit drinking alcohol.<ref name=Avila>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1984	Dune	Alia Atreides	Credited as Alicia Roanne Witt	<ref name=nolasco>Template:Cite web</ref>
1991	Liebestraum	Girl in Dream
1993	Bodies, Rest & Motion	Elizabeth
1994	Fun	Bonnie
1995	Four Rooms	Kiva	Segment: "The Missing Ingredient"
1995	Mr. Holland's Opus	Gertrude Lang		<ref name=nolasco/>
1996	Citizen Ruth	Cheryl Stoney
1997	Bongwater	Serena
1998	Urban Legend	Natalie Simon
1999	Template:Sortname	Sophy Viner
2000	Playing Mona Lisa	Claire Goldstein
2000	Cecil B. Demented	Cherish
2000	Gen13	Caitlin Fairchild	Voice, direct-to-video
2001	Vanilla Sky	Libby		<ref name=nolasco/>
2001	Ten Tiny Love Stories	Two
2002	American Girl	Barbie
2002	Two Weeks Notice	June Carver		<ref name=nolasco/>
2004	Girls' Lunch		Short film
2005	Template:Sortname	Hadley Wolfmeyer
2006	Last Holiday	Ms. Burns
2007	88 Minutes	Kim Cummings
2010	Template:Sortname	Shelly	Short film
2010	Peep World	Amy
2011	Template:Sortname	Maria
2011	Joint Body	Michelle Page
2012	Cowgirls n' Angels	Elaine Clayton
2012	Bending the Rules	Roslyn Wohl
2012	I Do	Mya Edwards
2013	Weiner Dog Nationals	Melanie
2013	A Madea Christmas	Amber
2014	Template:Sortname	Lily
2016	Six LA Love Stories	Michelle
2017	Template:Sortname	Denise
2018	Mississippi Requiem	Minnie
2018	Spare Room	Ginny
2020	I Care a Lot	Dr. Karen Amos
2020	Modern Persuasion	Wren Cosgrove
2021	Fuzzy Head	Mother
2022	Alice	Rachel
2024	Longlegs	Ruth Harker		<ref name=grobar>Template:Cite web</ref>
TBA	Shiver	Template:TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Twin Peaks	Gersten Hayward	Episode #2.1
1993	Hotel Room	Diane	Episode: "Blackout"
1994	Template:Sortname	Janine	Television film
1995–1998	Cybill	Zoey Woodbine	Main role
2000	Ally McBeal	Hope Mercey	2 episodes
	The Sopranos	Amy Safir	Episode: "D-Girl"
2003	Template:Sortname	Liz	Episode: "The Executions of Grady Finch"
2004	Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King	Kriemhild	Television film
2007	Blue Smoke	Reena Hale	Television film
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Nola Falacci	Main role (season 7)
2008	Wainy Days	Laura	Episode: "Shelly II"
	Puppy Love	Claire	Series
	Two and a Half Men	Dolores Pasternak	Episode: "A Jock Strap in Hell"
2009–2012	Template:Sortname	Rosalind Harker	3 episodes
2009–2011	Friday Night Lights	Cheryl	Recurring role (season 4)
2010	Edgar Floats	Sandra	Television film
	Backyard Wedding	Kim Tyler	Television film
2011	CSI: Miami	Michelle Baldwin	Episode: "Blood Lust"
2012	Person of Interest	Connie Wyler	Episode: "The High Road"
2013	A Very Merry Mix-Up	Alice Chapman	Television film
	A Snow Globe Christmas	Meg	Television film
2014	Kingdom	Melanie	Episode: "Flowers"
	Justified	Wendy Crowe	Recurring role (season 5)
	Christmas at Cartwright's	Nicky Talbot	Television film
	The Librarians	Lucinda McCabe / Morgan le Fay	Episode: "And the Rule of Three"
2015	House of Lies	Maya	2 episodes
	Elementary	Dana Powell	Episode: "When Your Number's Up"
	Don't Blink	herself	Episode: "Magic Money, Knife Tosses and Sonic Booms"
	I'm Not Ready for Christmas	Holly Nolan	Television film
2016	The Walking Dead	Paula	2 episodes
	Motive	Cindy Vernon	1 episode
	Nashville	Autumn Chase	Recurring role (season 4); guest role (season 6)
	Christmas List	Isobel Gray	Television film
2017	Supernatural	Lily Sunder	Episode: "Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets"
	Twin Peaks	Gersten Hayward<ref name="twinpeaks" />	2 episodes
	The Exorcist	Nikki Kim	Recurring role
	The Mistletoe Inn	Kim Rossi	Television film
2018	Disjointed	Rosie Bush	Episode: "Helium Dream"
	Lore	Marjorie Cameron	Episode: "Jack Parsons: The Devil and the Divine"
	Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane	Emma	Television film
2019	Orange Is the New Black	Zelda	Recurring role (season 7)
	Our Christmas Love Song	Melody	Television film
2020	Christmas Tree Lane	Meg	Television film
2021–2022	Stargirl	Maggie Shaw	2 episodes (1 episode uncredited)
2023	The Masked Singer	Dandelion/Herself	Season 9 contestant

Stage credits

Year	Title	Theatre
2001	Template:Sortname	Tiffany Theater, Los Angeles
2004	Template:Sortname	New Ambassadors Theatre, London
2006	Piano/Forte	Royal Court Theatre, London
2007	Dissonance	Williamstown Theatre Festival
2014	Reasons to Be Pretty	Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Template:Abbr
1994	Sundance Film Festival	Special Jury Recognition for Acting Template:Small	Fun	Template:Won	<ref name="variety-sundance" /><ref>"Disturbing film "Fun' is Alicia Witt's best role" by Jim Keogh, Telegram & Gazette (28 March 1996) Retrieved from Template:ProQuest</ref>
1995	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Debut Performance		Template:Nom	<ref>"A Bit More Dependence Than In the Past Movies: Independent Spirit Award nods expand definition to encompass works financed by production companies owned by major studios." by Richard Natale, Los Angeles Times (11 Jan 1995) [Home Edition] Retrieved from Template:ProQuest</ref>
	Gijón International Film Festival	Best Actress Template:Small		Template:Won
1996	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Template:Small	Cybill	rowspan=2 Template:Nom	<ref>"Unexpected Entries Enliven SAG Award Nominations" by Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News (19 Jan 1996) [Valley Edition] Retrieved from Template:ProQuest</ref>
1999	Saturn Awards	Best Young Actor/Actress	Urban Legend
2000	The Comedy Festival	Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actor	Playing Mona Lisa	Template:Won

Discography

• Revisionary History (2015)<ref name=amdiscography>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Conduit (2021)<ref name=nolasco/><ref name=amdiscography/>
• I Think I'm Spending Christmas with You (2024)

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:IMDb name