Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this interview from 1986, Anjelica Huston recalls the story of how her mother, Enrica Soma, came to be featured on the cover of Life Magazine as a young ballerina in 1947. Huston discusses how that magazine cover quickly secured Soma a Hollywood contract, which would lead to her parents' courtship.
Anjelica Huston was born in Santa Monica, California, on July 8, 1951. She was the eldest child in the family of the director and actor John Huston and the ballet dancer Enrica Soma. Huston spent her childhood in Galway, Ireland. In 1962, her parents divorced, and she moved to England with her mother to study at Holland Park School. Her first role in acting was as the lead in her father's movie A Walk with Love and Death (1969). In 1969, her mother died in a car crash, and her father took the family to the United States. Huston began modeling and made sporadic cameo appearances in a couple films but decided to pursue it as a career in the early '80s. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She was later nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in Enemies, a Love Story, and The Grifters, respectively. Among her roles, she starred as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), receiving Golden Globe nominations for both. More recently, she is known for her frequent collaborations with director Wes Anderson. Huston married the sculptor Robert Graham in 1992. The couple lived in Venice Beach until Graham's death in 2008.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
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Anjelica Huston, Actress & Director
Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Anjelica’s Mother on the cover on Life
01:43 - How Anjelica’s parents met
03:11 - Significance of Angelica appearing on Life
03:33 - Anjelica’s upbringing
04:08 - Anjelica’s thoughts on Mother’s cover on Life
© Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
#AnjelicaHuston #lifestories
In this interview from 1986, Anjelica Huston recalls the story of how her mother, Enrica Soma, came to be featured on the cover of Life Magazine as a young ballerina in 1947. Huston discusses how that magazine cover quickly secured Soma a Hollywood contract, which would lead to her parents' courtship.
Anjelica Huston was born in Santa Monica, California, on July 8, 1951. She was the eldest child in the family of the director and actor John Huston and the ballet dancer Enrica Soma. Huston spent her childhood in Galway, Ireland. In 1962, her parents divorced, and she moved to England with her mother to study at Holland Park School. Her first role in acting was as the lead in her father's movie A Walk with Love and Death (1969). In 1969, her mother died in a car crash, and her father took the family to the United States. Huston began modeling and made sporadic cameo appearances in a couple films but decided to pursue it as a career in the early '80s. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She was later nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in Enemies, a Love Story, and The Grifters, respectively. Among her roles, she starred as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), receiving Golden Globe nominations for both. More recently, she is known for her frequent collaborations with director Wes Anderson. Huston married the sculptor Robert Graham in 1992. The couple lived in Venice Beach until Graham's death in 2008.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/lifestoriesdotorg
Anjelica Huston, Actress & Director
Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Anjelica’s Mother on the cover on Life
01:43 - How Anjelica’s parents met
03:11 - Significance of Angelica appearing on Life
03:33 - Anjelica’s upbringing
04:08 - Anjelica’s thoughts on Mother’s cover on Life
© Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
#AnjelicaHuston #lifestories
