Alexandra Huntingdon Tydings is an American actress, director, writer, producer, and activist, best known for her role as

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

on the television series '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and its

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

, '' Xena: Warrior Princess.''

Personal life

Alexandra Tydings was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

She has four half-sisters and one half-brother, and is the daughter of former Maryland U.S. Senator

Joseph Tydings Joseph Davies Tydings (né Cheesborough; May 4, 1928 – October 8, 2018) was an American lawyer and politician from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, he was most notable for his service as a member of the United States Senate for onl ...

and his second wife, Terry Lynn Huntingdon Tydings; she is the granddaughter of former

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

U.S.

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Millard Tydings Millard Evelyn Tydings (April 6, 1890February 9, 1961) was an American attorney, author, soldier, state legislator, and served as a Democratic Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Maryland, serving in the House from 1 ...

. She is a graduate of

Sidwell Friends School Sidwell Friends School is a private, college preparatory, Quaker school located in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., offering pre-kindergarten through high school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas W. Sidwell, its motto is ' (), alludi ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, with a degree in film and critical theory. She speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. Tydings counts

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

and

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

among her favorite actors. She told Whoosh, a Xena fansite, that she most enjoys the research and collaborating process of acting and that auditioning is her least favorite part of theater arts. She competed in

Irish dancing Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, including both solo and group dance forms, for Social dance, social, Competitive dance, competitive, and performative dance, performance purposes. Irish dance has evolv ...

as a child, and performed with The Royal Ballet of London at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. Dance led to performance of all kinds; in addition to acting, she was the singer and bassist of bands Annabelle Kickbox and She's Seen You Naked. Whoosh points out that Tydings maintained a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

diet for 14 years, and that she enjoys gardening.

Career

After graduating from

, Tydings moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

to pursue an acting career. In her first major feature film, she played opposite

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

in Oscar winner

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...

's ''

The Sunchaser ''The Sunchaser'' (marketed simply as ''Sunchaser'' in promotional material) is a 1996 road crime drama film directed by Michael Cimino, written by Charles Leavitt and starring Woody Harrelson and Jon Seda. It was director Cimino's last feature- ...

'' (1996), which premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. She has since performed in dozens of roles in film, television and theater, including six years as a series regular on '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' and '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' where she played

, the Greek

of love. In 2015, Tydings wrote and directed ''The Trial of Hanna Porn'', a multi-media piece on abortion, which won the Best of Fringe award at the Charm City Fringe Festival. She then went on to write, direct and produce ''Rainbow Bridge'', an independent film about two women advocating for abortion in the United States.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tydings, Alexandra Actresses from Washington, D.C. American television actresses American film actresses Brown University alumni Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)