Linda Hunt was born in Morristown, New Jersey on April 2, 1945. Her parents, Elsie and Raymond Hunt, reared her in Connecticut. Linda’s parents began to worry about her when she was only half a year old.
Linda’s motor skills were not developing normally, so her parents brought her to a hospital in New York for treatment.
What the physicians discovered was not precisely what Linda’s parents expected to hear. As The Bulletin reported in 1991, Linda was diagnosed with cretinism, a disorder characterized by severely stunted physical and mental development, which would almost certainly lead to her institutionalization.
Elsie and Raymond, on the other hand, were not about to give up hope. They were determined to assist their precious Linda and utilized literature and theater to inspire and grow her.
Linda’s motor abilities were on level with those of a normal youngster by the time she attended school. However, she suffered owing to her cognitive disabilities and tiny size.
The rigorous treatment was difficult for Hunt, as it would have been for anyone else. She, on the other hand, opted to use it as a kind of motivating approach since she recognized her own uniqueness.
Linda had a difficult school year, but her parents were desperate to see their cherished daughter thrive in life. Then, at the age of eight, she saw something that altered her life forever.
Linda said that she has always had a passion for performing and theater. Her greatest source of inspiration occurred when she was eight years old and her parents took her to watch the Broadway musical Peter Pan.
Linda made the decision at that time to dedicate her life to acting and theater. She said that she aspired to be a “high priestess of theater.” She had a private acting coach in high school and was moved to an elite boarding school.
Linda’s parents would go to any length to see their daughter accomplish her goals.
Linda’s parents encouraged her to pursue a professional acting career, but they were concerned that she didn’t have a backup plan. As a consequence, her dad, Raymond, urged her to study directing as well; he even attempted to persuade her to get a teaching degree in case things didn’t work out.
Fortunately, everything worked out. Linda Hunt was diagnosed with hypopituitary dwarfism after graduating from high school. The disorder prevents the body from producing the normal quantity of growth hormones. As a result, Linda is much shorter than the average woman (she stands at 4 feet, 9 inches tall).
Linda, like she had been in the past, was not going to be stopped by a diagnosis.
Hunt was ready to take on the world after attending the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and the DePaul University Theatre School in Chicago. She relocated to New York City, where her desire to work in theater became even stronger.
Yet, once in the “Big Apple,” she had no idea what to do or where to start.
However, Linda found several minor jobs working backstage at off-Broadway companies, and her group of friends helped her stay positive. At the same time, she received a variety of dwarfism therapies. These weren’t successful, so she began to doubt her ability to thrive in the business. She eventually returned to her parents’ house to reconsider her choice.
As previously stated, she had a private acting coach while in high school. Moving back to her parents’ home turned out to be the finest thing she could have done.
Linda made her Broadway debut in Oh, Wilderness in 1975. As a result, she landed her first on-screen role. Hunt made history four years after appearing in the film Fame in 1978.
Linda played Billy Kwan in the film The Year of Living Dangerously, with Mel Gibson. The film was a smash hit, and Hunt won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She was the first individual to get an Academy Award for portraying a cis-gender character of the opposite gender.
Linda’s career has progressed tremendously since then. She’s been a genuine star on NCIS for the previous 10 years, having appeared in a whopping 280 episodes as Operations Manager Henrietta “Hetty” Lange.
Linda has been somewhat silent since she missed season 12 due to COVID-19 issues. Fans of the show have wondered about whether or not she would return, but happily, news concerning her future seems to be good.
In the late 1970s, Linda Hunt’s career took off. It is also when she met the love of her life, with whom she is still married.
Hunt and her wife, Karen Kline, have been married since 2008, although they met much earlier, and their love story is simply amazing!
Karen and Linda were introduced for the first time in 1978. Karen told that when she first met Linda, it was her fashion sense more than her height that impressed her. And, thankfully, Karen confirms that height does not matter.
Their first attraction has blossomed into a lasting relationship.
Linda and Karen aren’t very open, much as fans don’t know much about her NCIS character, Hetty’s, private life. The pair want to stay out of the public glare and to keep their relationship secret.
What is known is that the couple does not have kids and instead has three adopted dogs. They reside in a lovely Hollywood mansion constructed in 1919. The couple opened their home to the public in a feature article for the Los Angeles Times.
Linda Hunt has an estimated net worth of $12 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth!
Linda Hunt is a great inspiration to many. Linda never gave up and kept her ambition alive despite the brutal treatment she received from her classmates as a young girl and having to return to her parents when things didn’t work out.
Now, she seems to be enjoying her best life with her loving spouse Karen; we wish them all the best in the future!
