Christine Lahti


Christine Ann Lahti 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, Housekeeping, Running on Empty, Leaving Normal, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. 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 and The Heidi Chronicles. 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. 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 & Order: Special Victims Unit, as Doris McGarrett in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0, as Laurel Hitchin in NBC's The Blacklist, as Sheryl Luria in the CBS/Paramount+ series Evil, and as Ruby Quinn in the CBS/Paramount+ series Fire Country.
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Early life

Lahti was born in Birmingham, Michigan, the daughter of Elizabeth Margaret, 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 with Al Pacino. In the film Whose Life Is It Anyway?, 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. 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, and won an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for Lieberman in Love, 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 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. 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.

Published works

  • Lahti, Christine. ''True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness''

Awards and nominations

Lahti has received numerous accolades for her work in film and television, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, and the Screen Actors Guild.
YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
1984Los Angeles Film Critics Association AwardsBest Supporting ActressSwing ShiftNominated
1984New York Film Critics Circle AwardsBest Supporting ActressSwing ShiftWon
1985Academy AwardsBest Supporting ActressSwing ShiftNominated
1987New York Film Critics Circle AwardsBest ActressHousekeepingNominated
1988Los Angeles Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActressRunning on EmptyWon
1990Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a SpecialNo Place Like Home Nominated
1990Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionNo Place Like HomeWon
1992CableACE AwardsActress in a Movie or MiniseriesCrazy from the HeartWon
1993CableACE AwardsActress in a Movie or MiniseriesThe Fear InsideNominated
1996Academy AwardsBest Live Action Short FilmLieberman in Love Won
1996Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago Hope Nominated
1996CableACE AwardsSupporting Actress in a Movie or MiniseriesThe Four DiamondsNominated
1996Viewers for Quality Television AwardsBest Actress in a Quality Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1997Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago Hope Nominated
1997Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress – Television Series DramaChicago HopeNominated
1997Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1997Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesChicago Hope Nominated
1997Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Actress in a SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1997Viewers for Quality Television AwardsBest Actress in a Quality Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1997Satellite AwardsBest Actress in a Series, DramaChicago HopeWon
1998Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago Hope Won
1998Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress – Television Series DramaChicago HopeWon
1998Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1998Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1998Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1998Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Actress in a SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1998Viewers for Quality Television AwardsBest Actress in a Quality Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1998Lone Star Film & Television AwardsBest TV Supporting ActressHopeWon
1999Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago Hope Nominated
1999People's Choice AwardsFavorite Female TV PerformerChicago HopeNominated
1999Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
1999Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Actress in a Drama SeriesChicago HopeNominated
2001Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionTrial by MediaNominated
2001Chicago International Film FestivalGold Hugo – Best FeatureMy First MisterNominated
2005Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress – Television Series DramaJack & BobbyNominated
2005Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama SeriesJack & BobbyNominated
2005Prism AwardsPerformance in a Drama Series StorylineJack & BobbyWon
2005Women's Image Network AwardsActress in Made-for-TV Movie/MiniseriesRevenge of the Middle-Aged WomanWon
2005High Falls Film FestivalSusan B. Anthony "Failure is Impossible" Award—Won
2007Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Guest Actress in a Drama SeriesStudio 60 on the Sunset StripNominated
2011Prism AwardsPerformance in a Drama Series EpisodeLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitNominated
2017Northern Ontario Music and Film AwardsBest Performance by an Actor in a Northern Ontario ProductionThe StepsNominated
2022Critics Choice AwardsBest Supporting Actress in a Drama SeriesEvilNominated
2022Critics Choice Super AwardsBest Actress in a Horror SeriesEvilNominated