What happened to Calista Flockhart, the famous Ally McBeal?

The name Calista Flockhart means, for a generation (or several), going back 20 years and remembering one of the best series of the late twentieth century: 'Ally McBeal.'

The series launched an actress who, until then, was unknown to the general public, into star status.

There were five seasons (1997 to 2002) and 112 of 'Ally McBeal.'

After the show, the actress seemingly disappeared, but the reality was different! Before getting into the present and future, let's review the life of the actress.

A native of Freeport, Illinois, Calista Flockhart (1964) was born into a wealthy family where she soon showed an interest in acting.

She went to Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Jersey, where she befriended Jane Krakowski, who would become her friend and co-star in 'Ally McBeal.' Krakowski played the unforgettable and foul-mouthed Elaine Vassal.

Flockhart's beginnings were far from easy. In the late 80s, at the age of 25, she moved to New York, where she signed up for all the auditions that her two jobs - waitressing and aerobics instructor - would allow her.

She landed her first television role in an episode of 'Guiding Light,' a soap opera that had begun airing in 1937 and went on to accumulate 18,000 episodes.

In the 90s, she played several roles, small and large. The most prominent was in 'Quiz Show' in 1994, where she played Barnard's girlfriend.

This role and her impressive work on Broadway, where she appeared in 'Three Sisters' and 'The Glass Menagerie,' helped her get the audition that would change her life.

In 1997, David E. Kelley selected Calista Flockhart for the new legal drama he was preparing for Fox.

The series dominated TV and her character, a young lawyer who starts a new office after being fired from her previous one for denouncing a partner's harassment, was one of the key figures of late 90s pop culture.

For five seasons, Calista Flockhart amassed millions of viewers and many awards such as the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the People's Choice Award.

She was the leading actress in a series in which Jane Krakowski, Lucy Liu, Portia de Rossi, Robert Downey Jr., and Peter MacNicol, among other great actors, participated.

In parallel, the actress made films such as 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1999), an adaptation of the classic by William Shakespeare, and 'Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her' (2000).

She also participated in Jaume Balagueró's horror film 'Fragile,' where she played Amy, a new nurse at a gloomy children's hospital. This was in 2005, three years after the cancelation of 'Ally McBeal.'

In addition, in 2006, Calista Flockhart started filming 'Brothers & Sisters', where she played Kitty Walker for five seasons and 110 episodes (between 2006 and 2011).

Then, along came Harrison Ford. He and Flockhart met during the 2002 Golden Globes, where a toast raised by Ford accidentally got Calista's drink on his suit.

The love story intensified when Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford, 22 years her senior, tied the knot in June 2010.

The couple is not only still together but forms one of the most stable marriages in Hollywood. They share a 16-year-old son, Liam.

Once 'Brothers & Sisters' was finished, in 2011, Calista Flockhart's career took a rather discreet course.

Except for her role in 'Supergirl,' where she gave life to Cat Grant in the first season and several later episodes, the actress chose to lead a family life and stay away from the spotlight.

(In the image: Chadwick Boseman, Calista Flockhart, and Harrison Ford at the premiere of '42' in 2013)

Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford are very family-oriented. They spend long periods at their ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The actor told 'The Land Report' in 2007 that "being normal is a kind of victory... I’ll fix a fence, repair a piece of equipment, or plow the driveway if there’s snow. There’s always plenty of work to do."

It's clear that a couple as well known as Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford had to go to a distant ranch if they wanted to keep their privacy safe. And that is what they have successfully done.

Since 2021, there has been talk about a return of the series 'Ally McBeal.' In the summer of 2022, Deadline reported that ABC had contracted a spin-off in which a young black lawyer, supposedly the daughter of Ally McBeal's roommate in the original series, would be the main character.

The 'new Ally McBeal' series would once again be produced by David E. Kelley, but as of the latest reports, it is not certain whether Calista Flockhart will play a role in the series.

Whether she makes a reappearance or not, the world is a better place knowing that Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford are still together and in love.