Short Biography

Christine Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and film director. Lahti was born in Birmingham, Michigan, the daughter of Elizabeth Margaret (née Tabar), a painter, homemaker and nurse, and Paul Theodore Lahti, a surgeon. Lahti has Finnish ancestry. Her surname means "a gulf", "a bay" or "a cove" in Finnish; Lahti is also a city in Finland, near Helsinki. 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 then toured Europe as part of a pantomime acting troupe. After college, Lahti headed to New York City, where she worked as a waitress and did commercials. Her breakthrough movie was …And Justice for All (1979) with Al Pacino. After starring in a few hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, Lahti chose to be primarily in films in which she wants to act, rather than take roles in bigger films, and she is adamant about spending time with her three children. She has also focused on television, beginning with her role in the 1979 made-for-TV adaptation of The Executioner`s Song. She appeared on Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein`s seriocomic play, The Heidi Chronicles. At the Governor`s Ball held after the 49th Annual Emmy Awards, 1997Lahti received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Swing Shift in 1984, and won an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for Lieberman in Love (1995), in which she starred and directed. She won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in Chicago Hope. Lahti will appear in the USA Network drama series Operating Instructions, directed by Hitch director Andy Tennant.

Lahti has been married to TV director Thomas Schlamme, a native of Texas, since September 4, 1983. They have three children: sons Wilson and Joseph, and daughter Emma. Over the past decade she has mainly acted in independent films or TV series, and she is active in political causes. Since May 2005, Lahti has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

Who's Dated Who content is contributed and edited by our readers. Please report errors or omissions on this page.