Daryl Hannah

Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Susan Jeanne Metzger, a producer and former schoolteacher, and Donald Christian Hannah, a tugboat and barge company owner.[2][3] Her parents divorced, and her mother subsequently married businessman Jerrold Wexler, brother of cinematographer Haskell Wexler. Hannah grew up with siblings Don and Page Hannah and her maternal half-sister, Tanya Wexler, in Long Grove, Illinois.[4] She was raised Roman Catholic.[5]

Hannah became interested in movies at a young age, partly due to insomnia. She has said that she was very shy growing up.[6] As a young child, Hannah was emotionally isolated and struggled in school.[5] She was subsequently diagnosed with autism, and medical professionals urged her parents to have her institutionalized and medicated.[7][8][9] Instead, her mother decided to relocate with Hannah temporarily to Jamaica, in hopes that the change in environment would help her daughter.[5] Hannah later attended the progressive Francis W. Parker School in Chicago before enrolling at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she studied ballet and acting.[10][11]

Hannah being interviewed by Link TV during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver

Hannah, an active environmentalist, created her own weekly video blog called DHLoveLife on sustainable solutions.[30] She is often the sound recordist, camera person and on-screen host for the blog.[31] As of 2006, her home—which was built with green materials—ran on solar power, and she drove a car that ran on biodiesel.[32] She has been vegetarian since age 11,[33] and later became vegan. In late 2006, she volunteered to act as a judge for Treehugger.com's "Convenient Truths" contest.[34][35] On December 4, 2008, Hannah joined Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's crew aboard the MY Steve Irwin as part of Operation Musashi.[36]

On June 13, 2006, Hannah was arrested, along with actor Taran Noah Smith, for her involvement with over 350 farmers, their families and supporters, confronting authorities trying to bulldoze the largest urban farm in the U.S., located in South Central Los Angeles. She chained herself to a walnut tree at the South Central Farm for three weeks to protest against the farmers' eviction by the property's new owner, Ralph Horowitz. The farm had been established in the wake of the 1992 L.A. riots to allow people in the city to grow food for themselves. However, Horowitz, who had paid $5 million for it, sought to evict the farmers to build a warehouse. He had asked for $16 million to sell it but turned down the offer when the activists raised that amount after the established deadline. Hannah was interviewed via cell phone shortly before she was arrested, along with 44 other protesters, and said that she and the others are doing the "morally right thing".[37] She spent some time in jail.[38]

Hannah has also worked to help end sexual slavery and has traveled around the world to make a documentary.[39]

Hannah was among 31 people arrested on June 23, 2009, in a protest against mountaintop removal in southern West Virginia, part of a wider campaign to stop the practice in the region. The protesters, who also included NASA climate scientist James E. Hansen, were charged with obstructing officers and impeding traffic after they sat in the middle of State Route 3 outside Massey Energy's Goals Coal preparation plant, The Charleston Gazette reported.[40] In a Democracy Now! phone interview on June 24, 2009, Hannah spoke briefly on why she went to West Virginia and risked arrest.[41]

Hannah being arrested in Washington, D.C., while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline, 2013

Hannah was arrested on August 30, 2011, in front of the White House as part of a sit-in to protest against the proposed Keystone oil pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.[42] In a Huffington Post piece co-authored with Phil Radford, Hannah explained that the purpose of her action was to "shine the light" on the President's decision on the pipeline for "millions of voters" to see.[43] In October 2011, Hannah and other pipeline opponents rode horses and bicycles and walked from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the Rosebud Reservation to protest the project.[44]

Hannah was the executive producer of Greedy Lying Bastards, a 2012 documentary against climate change denial.[45]

In September 2012, Hannah signed environmental activist Tom Weis' open letter calling on President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney to withdraw their support for the construction of the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, that would transport oil sands from Montana to Texas. Other signatories included climate scientist James Hansen and actors Sheryl Lee, Mariel Hemingway, and Ed Begley Jr.[46] On October 4, 2012, Hannah was arrested and jailed in Wood County, Texas, for criminal trespassing. She and a local landowner, 78-year-old Eleanor Fairchild, were arrested while protesting against the TransCanada Keystone XL oil sands pipeline by attempting to block heavy construction equipment. Although they were charged with trespassing, they were in fact protesting on Fairchild's land.[47] On February 13, 2013, Hannah was arrested at the White House along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Conor Kennedy during a climate change protest against the proposed Keystone Pipeline.[48]

On April 26, 2014, in Washington, Hannah and Neil Young led a march by the "Cowboy and Indian Alliance" group against the Obama administration to reject the proposed Keystone Pipeline.[49][50][51]

Hannah endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[52]

She is a member of the World Future Council.[53][54]

Hannah with Jackson Browne at the Academy Awards, 1988

Hannah had long-term relationships with John F. Kennedy Jr.[55] and musician Jackson Browne.[56] She and Browne began dating in 1983 and broke up in 1992 amid unsubstantiated rumors that Browne had been physically abusive to her.[57] Browne later prevailed in a defamation dispute with Fox Television which issued a retraction.[58][59] Hannah began a relationship with musician Neil Young in 2014, and they married in 2018.[60][61][62]

Hannah was among the numerous women who brought sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein. In a part of Ronan Farrow's 2017 exposé, Hannah claimed that Weinstein sexually harassed her multiple times during the production of Kill Bill and that he once tried to break into her hotel room. Fearing that he intended to rape her, she fled the room through a fire escape.[63] Hannah later expressed belief that Weinstein sabotaged her career in retaliation for refusing his advances, as she struggled to find work after appearing in Kill Bill.[64]

• Best Fight—MTV Movie Awards Kill Bill: Volume 2, 2005
• Best Supporting Actress—Saturn Award Kill Bill: Volume 2, 2004
• Best Actress—Saturn Award Splash, 1984
• Influencer of the Year Award—National Biodiesel Board, 2004
• Ongoing Commitment Award—Environmental Media Award, 2004
• Environmental Activism – Water Quality Awards, 2006
• Environmental Preservation – Artivist Awards, 2006
• Special golden camera 300 – Manaki Brothers Film Festival, 2010
• Grammy - Best Music Film for "A Band a Brotherhood a Barn", 2023 (nominated)

• Daryl Hannah at IMDb
• Daryl Hannah at AllMovie
• Daryl Hannah at Rotten Tomatoes
• Daryl Hannah at the TCM Movie Database