Most audiences might know Cynthia Nixon for her role in the wildly successful comedy Sex and the City. However, the actress, who was born on April 9, 1966 in New York City, started her career during her childhood. Her first screen appearance was on the game show To Tell the Truth, where her mother worked. At age 12, she made her acting debut in the teen television movie The Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid. Her first feature film was 1980’s Little Darlings, alongside Kristy McNichol and Tatum O’Neal. That same year, she also made her Broadway debut in The Philadelphia Story.
Nixon continued performing throughout her studies at Barnard College, where she made history by appearing in two Broadway plays simultaneously. Her first major film role was in 1986’s The Manhattan Project, as the intelligent girlfriend assisting her teenage boyfriend (Christopher Collet) in creating a nuclear bomb. In 1996, she received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the play Indiscretions. Her profile, however, was significantly increased when she was cast in HBO’s successful comedy Sex and the City. Her role as no-nonsense lawyer Miranda Hobbes earned her Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2002 and 2003; she eventually won the award in 2004.
Her popularity on Sex and the City led to her first leading film role, as a video artist who is afraid of commitment yet falls in love, in the film Advice from a Caterpillar. When Sex and the City concluded, she appeared in the HBO mini-series Warm Springs, where she played Eleanor Roosevelt; her role earned her another Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries. In 2006, she finally won her first Tony award, for her performance in the play Rabbit Hole. In 2008, she reprised her role as Miranda Hobbes in the Sex and the City movie.
(Photo courtesy of HBO)
