Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and raised in a strict household. Her father worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and her mother was a former schoolteacher and author. Heather and her sister, Aimee Graham, were forced to relocate often as a result of their father's occupation, and Heather became increasingly shy. Surprisingly, she had a passion for acting from an early age and despite being labeled a "theater geek" by her peers, she was voted Most Talented by her high school senior class. Unfortunately, her love of acting created a tension between her and her family, although her mother obligingly drove her to auditions in Hollywood throughout her adolescence. Shortly after graduating high school Heather moved to Los Angeles and got small roles in a variety of films, including Drugstore Cowboy (1989). When her career did not take off as quickly as she had hoped, Heather enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles to get her degree in drama. Heather dropped out of UCLA after two years to pursue her acting career on a full-time basis, playing a recurring role on the television series "Twin Peaks" (1990) and appearing in such films as Diggstown (1992) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Aside from gaining a modeling contract with Emanuel Ungaro Liberte, Heather has starred in over 50 films. Her career started to gain momentum when she appeared in Swingers (1996), a role she received after being taken out swing dancing by Jon Favreau. After a well-received performance in Boogie Nights (1997), she appeared in several high-profile films such as Lost in Space (1998), Bowfinger (1999), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), From Hell (2001), and Anger Management (2003). Her roles consisted of prostitutes, strippers, porn stars and lesbians. Heather also appeared in nine episodes of "Scrubs" (2001) during its 2004-2005 season, and starred in many independent films, including Bobby (2006), which received critical acclaim. After starring on her own short-lived sitcom and a number of forgettable movies, she appeared in the blockbuster comedy The Hangover (2009). Heather has never married, although she has had romances with actors Heath Ledger, James Woods, Matt Dillon, Edward Burns, Kyle MacLachlan, Josh Lucas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Elias Koteas, and Matthew Perry, musicians Adam Ant, Elijah Allman, and Jason Falkner, and directors Stephen Hopkins, Chris Weitz, and Yaniv Raz.
