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Christine Lahti
Lahti in 2016
Born	Christine Ann Lahti (1950-04-04) April 4, 1950 (age 74) Birmingham, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Florida State University University of Michigan (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Thomas Schlamme ​(m. 1983)​
Children	3

Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film Swing Shift. Her other film roles include ...And Justice for All (1979), Housekeeping (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Leaving Normal (1992), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). For her directorial debut with the 1995 short film Lieberman in Love, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Lahti made her Broadway debut in 1980 as a replacement in Loose Ends, and went on to star in the Broadway productions of Present Laughter (1982) and The Heidi Chronicles (1989). An eight-time Golden Globe nominee and six-time Emmy Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe for the 1989 TV movie No Place Like Home, and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1998 for her role as Kate Austin in the CBS series Chicago Hope (1995–99). She returned to Broadway in 2009 to star in God of Carnage. She has had a number of recurring roles: as Sonya Paxton in the NBC series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2009–11), as Doris McGarrett in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0 (2012–19), and as Laurel Hitchin in NBC's The Blacklist (2015–17). She currently appears as Sheryl Luria in the CBS/Paramount+ series Evil.

Early life

Lahti was born in Birmingham, Michigan, the daughter of Elizabeth Margaret (née Tabar), a painter, homemaker, and nurse, and Paul Theodore Lahti, a surgeon. She has three sisters, Carol, Catherine, and Linda, and two brothers, Paul Jr. and James Lahti. Her paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants and her maternal grandparents were from Austria-Hungary. Lahti was raised in the Lutheran Church.

Lahti studied Fine Arts at Florida State University and received her bachelor's degree in Drama from the University of Michigan, where she joined Delta Gamma sorority. She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City, as well as completing a two-year professional actor training program at the William Esper Studio for the performing arts in Manhattan.

Career

After college, Lahti headed to New York City in 1973, where she worked as a waitress and did commercials. Her breakthrough movie was ...And Justice for All (1979) with Al Pacino. In the film Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981), starring Richard Dreyfuss and John Cassavetes, she was cast as a physician who grows attached to a paralyzed patient seeking the right to leave the hospital. Later, she was cast in an important role in Running on Empty, a 1988 movie in which she and Judd Hirsch played the parents of a musically promising son; the family went underground to avoid the FBI after the parents had damaged a napalm factory, and they all must periodically move on short notice and assume new identities. She has also focused on television, beginning with her role in the made-for-TV adaptation of The Executioner's Song (1982). She appeared on Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein's seriocomic play, The Heidi Chronicles.

Lahti received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Swing Shift (1984), and won an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for Lieberman in Love (1995), in which she starred and also directed. It was adapted from Lieberman in Love, a short story by W. P. Kinsella. Lahti won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1998 for her role in Chicago Hope. Lahti was in the bathroom when she won the third award and finally came to the stage following an attempt by show producer John Tinker to accept on her behalf and an interruptive riff by Robin Williams. In 1999, she presented with a piece of toilet paper attached to her shoe as an "inside joke" about her previous appearance.

In 2001, her first directorial feature-length film, My First Mister, was released. Starring Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks, the movie debuted with good reviews. In DVD commentary she applauds the work of her cast and crew, remarking " was very lucky to have such a wonderful crew..." She said she felt regret that the film was rated R, for language, despairing that the movie might not be viewed by teens who would relate with the characters. Also, Lahti mentioned that she would have liked to have had more time to shoot different perspectives in order to facilitate story arc.

Lahti starred in the executive ADA role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sonya Paxton while the character Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) was in appeals. She was in the first four episodes of the 11th season and returned for the show's eighth episode, where she clashed with Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March). Lahti later guest starred in the ninth and 17th episodes of the 12th season, where she reprised her role as Paxton. Her character was murdered in the 17th episode.

She returned to Broadway upon joining the cast of the Tony Award–winning play God of Carnage on November 17, 2009, replacing Marcia Gay Harden. Both actresses had a few special appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In September 2011, Lahti starred with Morgan Freeman in the Broadway debut of Dustin Lance Black's play, 8—a reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage—as Kris Perry. In March 2012, she was featured with Jamie Lee Curtis and Jansen Panettiere at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The production was broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Her book of autobiographical essays, titled True Stories From an Unreliable Eyewitness, was published in 2018 by Harper Wave.

In 2020, Lahti appeared as a guest on the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip marathon fundraiser episode of The George Lucas Talk Show.

Personal life

Lahti has been married to television director Thomas Schlamme since September 4, 1983. They have three children. Lahti resides in Los Angeles, California, with her family. She also owns an apartment in Greenwich Village.

In 2004, Lahti took part in a protest against the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Since May 2005, Lahti has been a contributor at HuffPost.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Published works

• Lahti, Christine. True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness (2018)

References

1. "Schools, colleges grant undergraduate honors". The Michigan Daily. March 28, 1969. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
2. Myers, Marc (November 27, 2018). "Told She'd Never Make It, Christine Lahti Has the Last Laugh". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
3. Tucsoncitizen.com
4. Orlando Sentinel
5. "Funeral Notices — Tucson Citizen Morgue, Part 2 (1993–2009)". Tucson Citizen. December 27, 1995. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
6. "Lahti looks beyond mainstream for her roles as real women". Los Angeles Daily News. May 31, 1992. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
7. "Intimate Portrait: Christine Lahti". fortunecity.com. March 16, 2005. Archived from the original on March 16, 2005. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
8. Pfefferman, Naomi (April 10, 2003). "Showtime Examines Shoah Diva Doctor | Arts". Jewish Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
9. HB Studio Alumni
10. "William Esper : Notable Alumni". esperstudio.com. 2020.
11. Ausiello, Michael (June 29, 2009). "'SVU' scoop: Christine Lahti is the new ADA!". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
12. Ross, Robyn. "Christine Lahti Back for More Law & Order: SVU". TV Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
13. Piepenberg, Erik (August 18, 2011). "Lahti, Birney Join the Cast of Adam Rapp's New Play". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
14. Kennedy, Mark (January 17, 2012). "'8,' Dustin Lance Black Gay Marriage Play, Goes National During 2012". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
15. ""8": A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality". YouTube. March 3, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
16. Gray, Stephen (March 1, 2012). "YouTube to broadcast Proposition 8 play live". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
17. ^ Newman, Judith (April 3, 2018). "Christine Lahti's Tales of Feminism, Sex and Aging in Hollywood". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
18. "True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness - Christine Lahti - Hardcover". HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
19. ^ "The Thrive Questionnaire with Christine Lahti". thriveglobal.com. June 19, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
20. "Celebrities Protest Killings in Mexico". Los Angeles Times/Reuters. February 15, 2004. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
21. Wightman, Catriona (February 21, 2011). "'Californication' star joins CBS pilot". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 30, 2012.

External links

• Christine Lahti at IMDb
• Christine Lahti at the Internet Broadway Database
• Christine Lahti at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Christine Lahti biography by Finn Film Entertainment

• 1950 births
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actresses from Michigan
• American bloggers
• American film actresses
• American people of Finnish descent
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American women bloggers
• Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
• Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners
• Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners
• Florida State University alumni
• Living people
• People from Birmingham, Michigan
• William Esper Studio alumni
• University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni