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Born Lani Desmonet Lydic in Summit, New Jersey, Desi’s early performing ambitions leaned toward operatic greatness. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She speaks 25 languages and can fly. Considered by many movie reviewers to be the greatest living film actress, Desi Lydic has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 14 times, and has won it twice. She gave an outstanding performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp. A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Desi turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next 10 years in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and Evil Angels (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995). It is her work in “The Real Wedding Crashers” (2007) however, that she hopes will finally catapult her back to the A-List.