Holly Twyford
Encyclopedia
Holly Twyford is a Washington, D.C.
-based American stage actress. She is a ten-time nominee and a four-time winner of the Helen Hayes Award
.
. She attended the School of Theatre Arts at Boston University's School of Theatre Arts
before returning to the D.C. area to pursue acting. Before her theatre career was established, she worked as a bartender and in the costume department of the renowned Arena Stage
, where she would later star.
Twyford has appeared in over thirty productions, including Arena Stage, the Folger Shakespeare Library
, Studio Theatre, Source Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Theatre J, Olney Theatre
, Round House Theatre and the now-defunct Consenting Adults Theater Company, where she earned her first Helen Hayes Award nomination in 1993. She commonly collaborates with director Joe Banno on offbeat productions of Shakespeare
plays, including a 1999 version of Hamlet
at the Folger in which Twyford, along with three others, portrayed the protagonist as a fractured personality.
Twyford's film and television appearances include Out of Season, Pecker
, Falling to Peaces and a 1997 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
.
Twyford is a lesbian and has been out
for her entire career. As of 2003, she had been with her partner, an environmentalist, for eleven years.
In a 2005 group interview with director Delia Taylor and playwright Jeanette Buck for Metro Weekly, she said that she didn't feel her homosexuality had hindered her career, but that the necessity of coming out to coworkers when starting a new job "gets to be real tiring". In the same interview, she and her colleagues also discussed the paucity of female roles and the need for more female directors, playwrights and producers in both the theatre industry and Hollywood.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based American stage actress. She is a ten-time nominee and a four-time winner of the Helen Hayes Award
Helen Hayes Award
A Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...
.
Biography
Twyford grew up in Great Falls, VirginiaGreat Falls, Virginia
Great Falls is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,427 at the 2010 census.Although primarily a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., one major attraction is Great Falls Park which overlooks the Great Falls of the Potomac River, for which...
. She attended the School of Theatre Arts at Boston University's School of Theatre Arts
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
before returning to the D.C. area to pursue acting. Before her theatre career was established, she worked as a bartender and in the costume department of the renowned Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
, where she would later star.
Twyford has appeared in over thirty productions, including Arena Stage, the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
, Studio Theatre, Source Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Theatre J, Olney Theatre
Olney Theatre
Located just north of Washington, D.C. in Montgomery County, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students...
, Round House Theatre and the now-defunct Consenting Adults Theater Company, where she earned her first Helen Hayes Award nomination in 1993. She commonly collaborates with director Joe Banno on offbeat productions of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
plays, including a 1999 version of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
at the Folger in which Twyford, along with three others, portrayed the protagonist as a fractured personality.
Twyford's film and television appearances include Out of Season, Pecker
Pecker (film)
Pecker is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Waters and starring Edward Furlong and Christina Ricci. Like all Waters' films, it was filmed and set in Baltimore; this film in the Hampden neighborhood....
, Falling to Peaces and a 1997 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
.
Twyford is a lesbian and has been out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
for her entire career. As of 2003, she had been with her partner, an environmentalist, for eleven years.
In a 2005 group interview with director Delia Taylor and playwright Jeanette Buck for Metro Weekly, she said that she didn't feel her homosexuality had hindered her career, but that the necessity of coming out to coworkers when starting a new job "gets to be real tiring". In the same interview, she and her colleagues also discussed the paucity of female roles and the need for more female directors, playwrights and producers in both the theatre industry and Hollywood.
Helen Hayes Awards
| 1993 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical | |
| Her Aching Heart, Consenting Adults Theatre Company | Nomination | |
| 1998 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Romeo and Juliet, Folger Shakespeare Library | Award Recipient | |
| 1999 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Much Ado About Nothing, Folger Shakespeare Library | Nomination | |
| 1999 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| Steward of Christendom, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2000 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Desk Set, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2001 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Chesapeake, Source Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2003 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Oleanna, Source Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2003 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| The Shape of Things, The Studio Theatre | Award Recipient | |
| 2005 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| Two Gentlemen of Verona, Folger Shakespeare Library | Award Recipient | |
| 2009 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| The Road to Mecca, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2010 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Arcadia, The Folger Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2010 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| The Little Dog Laughed, Signature Theatre | Award Recipient | |
| 2010 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Lost in Yonkers, Theater J | Nomination |