Kyra Sedgwick

Kyra Sedgwick
Sedgwick receiving a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, June 2009
Born	Kyra Minturn Sedgwick[1] (1965-08-19) August 19, 1965 New York City, New York, United States
Other names	Kiko
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Spouse(s)	Kevin Bacon (m. 1988)
Children	2

Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (born August 19, 1965)^[2] is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010. The series ended on August 13, 2012, following the completion of its seventh season.^[3]

Early life

Sedgwick was born in New York City, the daughter of Patricia (née Rosenwald), a speech teacher and educational/family therapist, and Henry Dwight Sedgwick V, a venture capitalist.^[1][4][5] Her father was Episcopalian and of English heritage, and her mother was Jewish.^[6] On her father's side, she is a descendant of Judge Theodore Sedgwick, Endicott Peabody (the founder of the Groton School), William Ellery (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), John Lathrop (American minister) (1740–1816), of Boston, Massachusetts and is the great-granddaughter of Henry Dwight Sedgwick III, and thus the corresponding niece to his brother Ellery Sedgwick, owner/editor (1908-1938) of The Atlantic Monthly. Sedgwick is also a sister of actor Robert Sedgwick, half-sister of jazz guitarist Mike Stern, the first cousin once removed of actress Edie Sedgwick, and a niece of the writer John Sedgwick.^[7]

Sedgwick's parents separated when she was 4 and divorced when she was 6; her mother subsequently remarried Ben Heller, an art dealer.^[1][8] Sedgwick graduated from Friends Seminary and attended Sarah Lawrence College.^[1] She transferred from Sarah Lawrence to the University of Southern California, graduating with a theater degree.^[9]

Career

Sedgwick made her debut at the age of 16 on the television soap opera Another World. In 1988 she made a strong impression in a TV version of Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky. During the 1990s she appeared in several Hollywood movies, including Singles (1992), Heart and Souls (1993), Something to Talk About (1995) and Phenomenon, in which she played the love interest of John Travolta's character.^[8] She starred in the Emmy Award–winning^[10] 1992 made-for-TV film Miss Rose White as a Jewish immigrant who comes to terms with her ethnicity.^[11] She played the parts of Mae Coleman in 2003's Secondhand Lions and Stella Peck in the 2007 film The Game Plan. She also starred alongside her husband Kevin Bacon in the 2004 film The Woodsman. She dubbed the voice of Batwoman in the animated movie Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.

Sedgwick starred in the television series The Closer from 2005 to 2012. In 2007 she began earning roughly US$300,000 per episode.^[12] Over the life of the series she was nominated for and won several awards for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. She received a Golden Globe award in 2007 for her performance as lead actress and won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010. In 2009, Sedgwick was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television.^[13]

The Closer ended on August 13, 2012,^[14] following the completion of its seventh season; the series's broadcaster, TNT, said that the decision to retire the series was made by Sedgwick.^[3] A sequel series starring most of the same cast called Major Crimes continues in its place.^[15]

Sedgwick is producing the pilot of Proof for TNT.^[16]

Personal life

Sedgwick married actor Kevin Bacon on September 4, 1988.^[1] They have two children, Travis Sedgwick Bacon (born June 23, 1989) and Sosie Ruth Bacon (born March 15, 1992).^[17] The family resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.^[18] She is also the aunt of R&B/pop singer George Nozuka and his younger singer/songwriter brother Justin Nozuka (their mother, Holly, is Sedgwick's half-sister). Sedgwick has identified herself as Jewish,^[19][20] and also has stated that she participates in Passover seders.^[21] Sedgwick learned in 2011, via her appearance on the U.S. TV show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, that she and Kevin Bacon are tenth cousins, once removed.^[22][23]

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Until 2011, Sedgwick had made television history, being the only female actor to be nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award every year that her show aired in the eligibility period. However, that came to an end in 2011 when Sedgwick failed to receive a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 2011 Emmy Awards.

References

External links

• Kyra Sedgwick at the Internet Movie Database
• Kyra Sedgwick on Twitter
• Kyra Sedgwick on Myspace
• Kyra Sedgwick at AllMovie
• Kyra Sedgwick at TV Tropes