Cynthia Nixon: From Stage and Screen Star to Political Activist
Cynthia Ellen Nixon, born on April 9, 1966, is an accomplished American actress, activist, and theater director. She has achieved widespread recognition for her diverse roles in television, film, and theater, and for her advocacy on various social and political issues. Nixon's career spans decades, marked by critical acclaim, prestigious awards, and a commitment to public service.
Early Life and Education
Born in Manhattan, New York City, Cynthia Nixon is the only child of Walter Elmer Nixon Jr., a radio journalist, and Anne Elizabeth (née Knoll), an actress. Her mother, whom she credits with "indoctrinating" her into the theater, played a significant role in shaping her early interest in acting. Nixon is of English and German descent. Her parents divorced when she was six years old.
Nixon began her education at Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School, demonstrating an early commitment to academics alongside her burgeoning acting career. She balanced her professional pursuits with her studies, ultimately using her acting earnings to finance her college education at Barnard College, where she earned a B.A. in English Literature. Nixon also participated in the Semester at Sea Program in the spring of 1986.
Early Career
Nixon's journey into the world of acting began at a young age. Her first TV appearance was at age eight on the game show To Tell the Truth, where her mother worked. At age 12, she acted in an ABC Afterschool Special. In 1980, at age 14, she made her Broadway debut in The Philadelphia Story. In 1984, while a freshman at Barnard College, Nixon achieved a rare feat by appearing in two different Broadway plays simultaneously: The Real Thing and Hurlyburly. The plays were only two blocks apart, and Nixon's roles were short enough that she could run between the two theaters.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Nixon continued to build her career with roles in numerous movies, TV shows, and plays. She 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.
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Rise to Fame with 'Sex and the City'
In 1998, Nixon's career reached new heights when she began starring as Miranda Hobbes, the pragmatic and intelligent lawyer in the HBO series Sex and the City. The show's immense popularity catapulted her to international fame and earned her widespread critical acclaim. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City, she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She reprised the role in the films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). She also stars in the follow-up TV show And Just Like That… Since 2021 she returned to the role of Miranda Hobbes in the Sex and the City revival And Just Like That… for HBO Max where she also serves as an executive producer.
Stage Career
Nixon has maintained a strong presence on the stage throughout her career. In 1980, at age 14, she made her Broadway debut in The Philadelphia Story. In 1984, while a freshman at Barnard College, Nixon made theatrical history by simultaneously appearing in two hit Broadway plays directed by Mike Nichols. They were The Real Thing, where she played the daughter of Jeremy Irons and Christine Baranski; and Hurlyburly, where she played a young woman who encounters sleazy Hollywood executives.
She was a founding member of the Off-Broadway theatrical troupe Drama Dept., 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 won two Tony Awards, which are the highest awards for theater. She won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Rabbit Hole, the 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for An Inconvenient Truth, and the 2017 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Little Foxes.
In 2012, Nixon starred as Professor Vivian Bearing in the Broadway debut of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit. Nixon appeared on Broadway in the revival of The Little Foxes, officially opening on April 19, 2017, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
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Film and Television Roles
Beyond her iconic role in Sex and the City, Nixon has appeared in a variety of films and television shows, showcasing her versatility as an actress. Onscreen, she played the role of Salieri's maid/spy, Lorl, in Amadeus (1984). 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).
She played Eleanor Roosevelt in the HBO movie Warm Springs (2005), which earned her another Emmy nomination. She starred in the Netflix series Ratched in 2020. Since 2022, she has played Ada Brook in the HBO series The Gilded Age.
In 2015, Nixon appeared in two films which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: Stockholm, Pennsylvania and James White. Nixon played the leading role of reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson in the biographical film A Quiet Passion directed and written by Terence Davies.
Political Activism and Advocacy
Nixon is passionate about making the world a better place. Besides acting, Nixon is known for her activism. She supports public education, women's health, and equal rights for all people. She is a strong supporter of public schools and has worked with groups that fight for better funding for education. She is a spokesperson for New York’s Alliance for Quality Education, a public education fairness advocacy organization. Both Nixon and her kids attended or attend New York City public schools.
Nixon has been a longtime advocate for the rights of LGBTQ people. She has spoken at rallies and supported marriage equality. She first made national headlines in politics when she became involved in the 2011 campaign to legalize same-same marriage in New York. During that campaign, she lobbied state lawmakers in Albany. Beyond lobbying for marriage equality, Nixon was active in the Fight Back New York PAC, which works to get politicians who don’t support marriage equality out of office. She has been honored for for LGBT visibility by GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.
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In 2018, Nixon announced she was running for Governor of New York. She challenged the current governor, Andrew Cuomo, in the Democratic primary election. Her campaign focused on issues like improving public schools, creating more jobs, and protecting the environment. In contrast to Cuomo, Nixon supported the legalization of marijuana. The most important reason, she said, was racial justice. "People across all ethnic and racial lines use marijuana at roughly the same rate, but the arrests for marijuana are 80 percent black and Latino." Nixon said that the revenues from legalization should be prioritized to the communities that had been harmed by them, as a form of "reparations".
In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Nixon endorsed Bernie Sanders before campaigning for him in early February 2020 in Las Vegas. In 2023, Nixon signed an open letter expressing "serious concerns about editorial bias" in reporting by the New York Times on transgender people.
Personal Life and Health
From 1988 to 2003, Nixon was in a relationship with Danny Mozes. They have two children. In 2004, Nixon began dating activist Christine Marinoni. They got engaged in 2009 and were married in New York City in 2012. Marinoni gave birth to a son 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.
In 2006, Nixon was diagnosed with breast cancer. She spoke about her experience publicly to encourage others to get regular check-ups. She is now a breast cancer activist and works with organizations like Susan G. O.C. Mrs.
Awards and Recognition
Cynthia Nixon has received numerous awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Tony Awards. She won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Rabbit Hole, the 2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for An Inconvenient Truth, and the 2017 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Little Foxes.
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