Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama Sports Night from 1998 to 2000, which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. She is best known for her role as Lynette Scavo in the ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–2012), for which she earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the debut season of the series, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three consecutive Golden Globe nominations. Huffman drew critical praise for her performance as a transgender woman in the independent film Transamerica (2005). The role earned her a Golden Globe Award, Independent Spirit Award, National Board of Review, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Huffman has also starred in such films as Reversal of Fortune (1990), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Magnolia (1999), Path to War (2002), Georgia Rule (2007), Phoebe in Wonderland (2008), Rudderless (2014), and Cake (2014). From 2015 to 2017, she starred in a third ABC series, the anthology crime drama American Crime, for which she received critical acclaim including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Huffman was arrested on March 12, 2019, for her involvement with a nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal. Charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, she was released on $250,000 bail. On May 13, she pleaded guilty to federal charges for paying $15,000 to have a proctor correct SAT questions answered incorrectly by her daughter. On September 13, she was sentenced to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and one year supervised release for her part in the scandal. Early life and education Huffman was born in Bedford, New York, into a wealthy family, the daughter of Grace Valle (née Ewing) and Moore Peters Huffman, a banker and partner at Morgan Stanley. Her parents divorced a year after her birth, and she was raised by both of them. When Huffman was a young teenager, she discovered that her biological father was Roger Tallman Maher, who was a family friend. She has six sisters and a brother. In the 1970s, Huffman's mother left New York and bought property in Snowmass, Colorado, where Felicity