Early life

Nixon was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Anne Elizabeth (née Knoll; 1930-2012), originally from Chicago, Illinois, and Walter E. Nixon, Jr., a radio journalist from Texas. She graduated from Hunter College High School and attended Barnard College. In the spring of 1986, she studied abroad with Semester at Sea.

Career

Early career

Nixon's first onscreen appearance was as an imposter on To Tell the Truth, where her mother worked. She began acting at age 12 as the object of a wealthy school mate's crush in The Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid, a 1979 ABC Afterschool Special. She made her feature debut co-starring with Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal in Little Darlings (1980). She made her Broadway debut as Dinah Lord in a 1980 revival of The Philadelphia Story. Alternating between film, TV and stage, she did projects like the 1982 ABC movie My Body, My Child, the features Prince of the City (1981) and I Am the Cheese (1983), and the 1982 Off-Broadway productions of John Guare's Lydie Breeze.

In 1984, while a freshman at Barnard College, Nixon made theatrical history by simultaneously appearing in two hit Broadway plays directed by Mike Nichols. These were The Real Thing, where Nixon played the daughter of Jeremy Irons and Christine Baranski; and Hurlyburly, where she played a young woman who encounters sleazy Hollywood executives. The two theaters were just two blocks apart and Nixon's roles were both short, so she could run from one to the other. Onscreen, she played the role of Salieri's maid/spy, Lorl, in Amadeus (1984). In 1985, she appeared alongside Jeff Daniels in Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky at Second Stage Theatre.

She landed her first major supporting role in a movie as an intelligent teenager who aids her boyfriend (Christopher Collet) in building a nuclear bomb in Marshall Brickman's The Manhattan Project (1986). Nixon was part of the cast of the NBC miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan (NBC, 1988) starring Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey, and portrayed the daughter of a presidential candidate (Michael Murphy) in Tanner '88 (1988), Robert Altman's political satire for HBO. She reprised the role for the 2004 sequel Tanner on Tanner.

1990s

On stage, Nixon portrayed Juliet in a 1988 New York Shakespeare Festival production of Romeo and Juliet, and acted in the workshop production of Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Heidi Chronicles, playing several characters after it came to Broadway in 1989. She was the guest star in the second episode of the long running NBC television series Law & Order. She played the role of an agoraphobic woman in a February 1993 episode of Murder, She Wrote titled, "Threshold of Fear." She replaced Marcia Gay Harden as Harper Pitt in Tony Kushner's Angels in America (1994), received a Tony nomination for her performance in Indiscretions (Les Parents Terribles) (1996, her sixth Broadway show) and, though she originally lost the part to another actress, eventually took over the role of Lala Levy in the Tony-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997).

Nixon was a founding member of the theatrical troupe The Drama Dept., which included Sarah Jessica Parker, Dylan Baker, John Cameron Mitchell and Billy Crudup among its actors, appearing in the group's productions of Kingdom on Earth (1996), June Moon and As Bees in Honey Drown (both 1997), Hope is the Thing with Feathers (1998), and The Country Club (1999).

Nixon has contributed supporting performances to Addams Family Values (1993), Baby's Day Out (1994), Marvin's Room (1996) and The Out-of-Towners (1999).

Stardom

She raised her profile significantly as one of the four regulars on HBO's successful comedy Sex and the City (1998-2004), as the lawyer Miranda Hobbes. Nixon received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (2002, 2003, 2004), winning the award in 2004, for the show's final season.

The immense popularity of the series led Nixon to enjoy her first leading role in a feature, playing a video artist who falls in love, despite her best efforts to avoid commitment, with a bisexual actor who just happens to be dating a gay man (her best friend) in Advice From a Caterpillar (2000), as well as starring opposite Scott Bakula in the holiday television movie Papa's Angels (2000). In 2002, she also landed a role in the indie comedy Igby Goes Down, and her turn in the theatrical production of Clare Boothe Luce's play The Women was captured for PBS' Stage on Screen series.

Post-Sex in the City, Nixon made a guest appearance on ER in 2005, as a mother who undergoes a tricky procedure to lessen the effects of a debilitating stroke. She followed up with a turn as Eleanor Roosevelt for HBO's Warm Springs (2005), which chronicled Franklin Delano Roosevelt's quest for a miracle cure for his polio. Nixon earned an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her performance. In December 2005, she appeared in the Fox TV series House in the episode "Deception", as a patient who suffers a seizure.

In 2006, she appeared in David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Rabbit Hole in a Manhattan Theatre Club production, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Play). (This part was later played by Nicole Kidman in the movie adaptation of the play.) In 2008, she revived her role as Miranda Hobbes in the Sex and the City feature film, directed by HBO executive producer Michael Patrick King and co-starring the cast of the original series. Also in 2008, she won an Emmy for her guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portraying a woman pretending to have dissociative identity disorder. In 2008, Nixon made a brief uncredited cameo in the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She appears in the background when Jason Segel's character mimics characters from Sex in the City at a bar.

In 2009, Nixon won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album along with Beau Bridges and Blair Underwood for the album An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore).

2010s

In March 2010, Nixon received the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards. The award is presented to an openly LGBT media professional "who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBT community". It was announced in June 2010 that Nixon would appear in four episodes of the Showtime series The Big C.

Nixon appeared in a Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode based on the problems surrounding the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Her character is "Amanda Reese, the high-strung and larger-than-life director behind a problem-plagued Broadway version of Icarus", loosely modeled after Spider-Man director, Julie Taymor.

In 2012, Nixon starred as Professor Vivian Bearing in the Broadway debut of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit. Produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, the play opened January 26, 2012 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Nixon received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play for this performance.

In 2012, Nixon also starred as Petranilla in the TV miniseries of Ken Follett's World Without End broadcast on the ReelzChannel, alongside Ben Chaplin, Peter Firth, Charlotte Riley and Miranda Richardson.

In 2015, Nixon appeared in two films, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival; Stockholm, Pennsylvania, and James White. She received critical acclaim for both performances, especially for the latter, which many considered as "Oscar-worthy". Later in 2015, Nixon played the leading role of reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson in the biographical film A Quiet Passion directed and written by Terence Davies.

In May 2016, it was announced that Nixon would play Nancy Reagan in the upcoming television film adaptation of Killing Reagan. Filming will begin in late May and will be released sometime in the fall of 2016.

Personal life

From 1988 to 2003, Nixon was in a relationship with schoolteacher Danny Mozes. They have two children together, daughter Sam (born 1996) and son Charles Ezekiel (born 2002).

In 2004, Nixon began dating education activist Christine Marinoni. Nixon and Marinoni became engaged in April 2009 and were married in New York City on May 27, 2012, with Nixon wearing a custom-made, pale green dress by Carolina Herrera. Marinoni gave birth to a son, Max Ellington, in 2011.

Regarding her sexual orientation, Nixon remarked in 2007: "I don't really feel I've changed. I'd been with men all my life, and I'd never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn't seem so strange. I'm just a woman in love with another woman." She identified herself as bisexual in 2012. Nixon has taken a public stand supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington State, Marinoni's home state, hosting a fund-raising event in support of Washington Referendum 74 for that purpose.

In October 2006, Nixon was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram. She initially decided not to go public with her illness because of the stigma involved, but in April 2008, she announced her battle with the disease in an interview with Good Morning America. Since then, Nixon has become a breast cancer activist. She convinced the head of NBC to air her breast cancer special in a prime time program, and became an Ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Little Darlings	Sunshine Walker
1981	Prince of the City	Jeannie
1982	My Body, My Child	Nancy	Television film
1983	I Am the Cheese	Amy Hertz
1984	Amadeus	Lorl
1986	Manhattan Project, TheThe Manhattan Project	Jenny Anderman
1987	O.C. and Stiggs	Michelle
1988	Murder of Mary Phagan, TheThe Murder of Mary Phagan	Doreen
1989	Let It Ride	Evangeline
1991	Love, Lies and Murder	Donna	Television film
1993	Pelican Brief, TheThe Pelican Brief	Alice Stark
1993	Addams Family Values	Heather
1993	Through an Open Window	Nancy Cooper	Short film
1994	Baby's Day Out	Gilbertine
1996	Marvin's Room	Retirement Home Director
2000	Papa's Angels	Sharon Jenkins
2001	Advice From a Caterpillar	Missy
2002	Igby Goes Down	Mrs. Piggee
2005	Warm Springs	Eleanor Roosevelt	Television film
2005	Little Manhattan	Leslie Burton
2006	One Last Thing...	Carol
2007	Babysitters, TheThe Babysitters	Gail Beltran
2008	Sex and the City: The Movie	Miranda Hobbes
2009	Lymelife	Melissa Bragg
2009	Englishman in New York, AnAn Englishman in New York	Penny Arcade
2010	Sex and the City 2	Miranda Hobbes
2011	Too Big to Fail	Michele Davis	Television film
2011	Rampart	Barbara
2014	5 Flights Up	Niece
2015	Stockholm, Pennsylvania	Marcy Dargon
2015	James White	Gail White
2015	The Adderall Diaries	Jen Davis
2015	A Quiet Passion	Emily Dickinson
2016	Killing Reagan	Nancy Reagan	Television film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Tanner '88	Alex Tanner	10 episodes
1989	Gideon Oliver	Allison Parrish Slocum	Episode: "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver"
1989	The Equalizer	Jackie	Episode: "Silent Fury"
1990	The Young Riders	Annie	2 episodes
1990	Law & Order	Laura di Biasi	Episode: "Subterranean Homeboy Blues"
1993	Murder, She Wrote	Alice Morgan	Episode: "Threshold of Fear"
1996	Early Edition	Sheila	Episode: "Baby"
1998-2004	Sex and the City	Miranda Hobbes	94 episodes
1999	Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits	Trudy	Episode: "Alien Radio"
1999	Touched by an Angel	Melina Richardson/Sister Sarah	Episode: "Into the Fire"
2004	Tanner on Tanner	Alex Tanner	4 episodes
2005	ER	Ellie	Episode: "Alone in a Crowd"
2005	House	Anica Jovanovich	Episode: "Deception"
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Janis	Episode: "Alternate"
2010-2011	Big C, TheThe Big C	Rebecca	10 episodes
2011	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Amanda Rollins	Episode: "Icarus"
2012	World Without End	Petronilla	7 episodes
2012	30 Rock	Herself	Episode: "Kidnapped by Danger"
2013-2014	Alpha House	Senator Carly Armiston	6 episodes
2014	Hannibal	Kade Prurnell	4 episodes
2016	Broad City	Barb	Episode: "2016"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1987	Theatre World Award		The Philadelphia Story	Won
1987	Young Artist Awards	Exceptional Performance by a Younger Actress in a Supporting Role	The Manhattan Project	Nominated
1995	Tony Awards	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Indiscretions	Nominated
2000	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Sex and the City	Nominated
2001	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
2003	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2004	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
2005	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Warm Springs	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Sex and the City	Nominated
2006	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film	Warm Springs	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie		Nominated
	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	Rabbit Hole	Won
2008	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Won
2009	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Cast	Sex and the City: The Movie	Nominated
	Grammy Awards	Best Spoken Word Album	An Inconvenient Truth	Won
2011	Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Actress	Sex and the City 2	Won
2012	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	Wit	Nominated
2015	Critics Choice Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Limited Series	Stockholm, Pennsylvania	Nominated
2015	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	James White	Nominated
2015	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actress	James White	Nominated
2015	Online Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actress	James White	Nominated
2016	Film Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Female	James White	Nominated
2016	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film	Stockholm, Pennsylvania	Pending

Charities

Cynthia Nixon supports the following charitable causes: Breast Cancer, Education, Children, Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]