Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston poses backstage during the 8th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, February 25, 2006 in Beverly Hills.

Acting is in her blood. In more than 50 movies, Anjelica Huston played some pretty imposing characters, like her Oscar-nominated role as a con artist in "The Grifters," the ghoulish Morticia in "The Addams Family," and the girlfriend of a mob hit man in "Prizzi's Honor," for which she won an Academy Award.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Left: Director John Huston, with his daughter Anjelica, at the 1961 Berlin Film Festival.

Anjelica Huston was born heir to a Hollywood dynasty. Her grandfather, actor Walter Huston, won an Oscar for "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." It was directed by her father, John Huston, who took home an Oscar, too. Anjelica's older brother, Tony, became an actor and screenwriter, while her younger brother, Danny, also became an actor. Anjelica's nephew, Jack Huston, also took up acting ("Boardwalk Empire").

Correspondent Lee Cowan asked Anjelica, "Did you feel it was a burden, a family burden?"

"I always liked being a Huston," she replied. "And I always felt like it was my right, and it was my birthright and it was who I was."

Anjelica Huston kissed by her older brother, Tony.

She was born in Santa Monica, Calif., but grew up on a country estate in Ireland.

Anjelica Huston with her mother, Enrica, a former ballerina who was John Huston's fourth wife; her older brother Tony; and her father John Huston, December 1956 in Tobago.

Anjelica Huston in the summer of 1958.

Anjelica Huston climbing a tree at age 7.

A Huston family portrait in Ireland, 1962.

Anjelika Huston on Victoria, in Rome, 1963.

An undated portrait of Anjelica Huston, at the Peggy Carty School in Ireland.

When Anjelica was 16, John Huston cast her in her first movie, a medieval romance titled, "A Walk With Love and Death."

In a 1987 interview with CBS News, John Huston said it was "a big mistake" casting his daughter: "I put her into a picture at the wrong moment. She wasn't all that good in it."

Anjelica Huston agreed, telling correspondent Lee Cowan, "I wasn't ready to work with him. And he was too tough on me, and it was all too personal."

The critics tore her apart, but the harsh reviews were suddenly replaced by another harsh reality: the death of her mother in a car accident.

Left: Anjelica Huston applying makeup backstage at Zandra Rhodes' charity fashion show for the Newsvendor's Benevolent Fund at the Savoy in London, June 13, 1973.

Following the death of her mother, Anjelica moved to New York, where she was soon modeling for the likes of Vogue. She also took up with well-known fashion photographer Bob Richardson, who was 23 years older than she.

Anjelica Huston arrives at the 58th annual Academy Awards ceremony with her "Prizzi's Honor" co-star Jack Nicholson, March 24, 1986 in Los Angeles.

Beginning in 1973, Huston and Nicholson were together for 16 years -- their private life a source of constant speculation. Their relationship was very publicly ended when Nicholson fathered a child with someone else.

In the 1985 crime comedy "Prizzi's Honor," Anjelica Huston played Maerose, whose mob family connections include a former boyfriend, hit man Charley (Jack Nicholson).

Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, director John Huston and Anjelica Huston in "Prizzi's Honor" (1985).

Having directed his father to an Oscar win, John Huston had the honor of directing his daughter to one, too.

Winners at the 58th annual Academy Awards, March 24, 1986. From left are Best Actor William Hurt ("Kiss of the Spider Woman"); Best Supporting Actress Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor"); Best Actress Geraldine Page ("The Trip to Bountiful"); and director-producer Sidney Pollack ("Out of Africa").

Donal McCann and Anjelica Huston in "The Dead" (1987), adapted from a short story by James Joyce. It was the last film directed by John Huston.

Angelica Huston as the "other woman" in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989).

Huston would return in a more comedic role in Allen's "Manhattan Murder Mystery."

In the 1989 "Enemies: A Love Story," Anjelica Huston played a Holocaust survivor who arrives in New York City to locate her husband, Herman Broder (Ron Silver). Her arrival complicates matters for Broder, for Broder's current wife (Margaret Sophie Stein), and his married lover (Lena Olin).

Huston received her second Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance.

Anjelica Huston and Robert Duvall in the miniseries "Lonesome Dove" (1989), based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

Huston received the first of six Emmy Award nominations for her performance. She has also been nominated for "Buffalo Girls," "Bastard Out of Carolina," "The Mists of Avalon," "Iron Jawed Angels," and "Medium."

Anjelica Huston starred in the comic fantasy, "The Witches" (1990), based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Huston played the Grand High Witch leading a convention of witches at an English resort.

Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening starred in "The Grifters" (1990). Based on a novel by Jim Thompson, the modern film noir of con artists received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress (Huston), Best Supporting Actress (Bening), Best Director (Stephen Frears), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Donald E. Westlake).

From "The Grifters," the maternal advice of Lilly (Anjelica Huston) to her son, Roy (John Cusack), a budding con man:

"Get off the grift, Roy. You don't have the stomach for it."

They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky...

In the 1991 comedy "The Addams Family," Anjelica Huston was draped in the role of Morticia, matriarch of a most unusual clan. Also starring were Raul Julia as Gomez, Carel Struycken as Lurch, Judith Malina as Grandmama, Jimmy Workman as Pugsley Addams, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as Wednesday.

Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia as Morticia and Gomez Addams in the 1993 sequel, "Addams Family Values."

In 1992 Anjelica Huston married famed sculptor Robert Graham. At left they are photographed attending a gala at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles, California.

Graham died in 2008.

Before "Prizzi's Honor," Anjelica Huston appeared in two of Jack Nicholson's films, albeit in tiny, even uncredited roles: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

Following Huston's marriage to Robert Graham, Nicholson and Huston appeared together in "The Crossing Guard" (1995), written and directed by Sean Penn. They played a couple whose marriage was torn apart following the death of their daughter by a drunk driver.

In the romantic comedy-drama "Agnes Browne" (1999), director and star Anjelica Huston played an Irish mother left to fend for her seven children following the death of her husband. Also appearing, as himself, was singer Tom Jones.

Actresses Anjelica Huston and Lauren Bacall arrive at the 2001 Tony Awards Party June 3, 2001, in Santa Monica, Calif. Bacall was honored with the Julie Harris Lifetime Achievement Award.

Anjelica Huston's first film for director Wes Anderson was "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001), playing the wife of Gene Hackman and mother of Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Huston also appeared in Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," and "The Darjeeling Limited."

Actors Daniel Benzali, Kelly Lynch and Anjelica Huston participate in an anti-war demonstration on Hollywood Boulevard February 15, 2003 in West Hollywood, Calif.

Anjelica Huston played the head mistress of a pre-school academy who finds a surprising competitor when Eddie Murphy opens up his own "Daddy Day Care" (2003).

Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) featured Anjelica Huston as the wife of a celebrated oceanographer (Bill Murray) who is searching for the elusive "Jaguar shark."

After receiving seven Golden Globe nominations for her film and TV performances, Anjelica Huston won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie) for "Iron Jawed Angels." Here she poses with her award at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, January 16, 2005, in Beverly Hills, California.

Anjelica Huston arrives at the world gala film premiere for "These Foolish Things," at the Odeon Kensington on March 8, 2006 in London.

Actress Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston pose at the after-party for the premiere of "The Darjeeling Limited," at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, October 4, 2007, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Anjelica Huston reteamed with her "Grifters" costar John Cusack in the 2007 comedy drama, "Martian Child," about a writer whose adoptive child claims to be from Mars.

Anjelica Huston is photographed backstage during the 11th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards, at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel, February 17, 2009 in Beverly Hills.

Penelope Cruz, winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," poses in the press room with award presenters (from left) Anjelica Huston, Tilda Swinton, Goldie Hawn, Eva Marie Saint and Whoopi Goldberg, at the 81st annual Academy Awards, held at Kodak Theatre on February 22, 2009 in Los Angeles.

Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand and Jack Davenport as Derek Wills, the producer and director of a Broadway musical at the center of the TV series "Smash."

Anjelica Huston and Nick Jonas in the "Smash" episode, "The Cost of Art."

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors

Anjelica Houston, Debra Messing, Paula Patton, Amber Heard and Jessica Alba, along with Cash Warren and stylist Brad Goreski, attend the Michael Kors Fall 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, at The Theatre at Lincoln Center, February 15, 2012 in New York City.

Actors-siblings Danny Huston and Anjelica Huston attend a screening of "Magic City," at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International, March 22, 2012 in New York City. Danny Huston plays the gangster Ben "The Butcher" Diamond in the Starz TV series.

Danny Huston's other film appearances include "The Aviator," "The Constant Gardener," "Marie Antoinette," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," and "Hitchcock."

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi is applauded by Anjelica Huston before a speech to students at Queens College in New York, September 22, 2012.

As evident from the just-released first volume of her two-part memoir, "A Story Lately Told," Anjelica Huston says she's as proud to be a Huston now as she ever was -- on her terms, with few regrets.

"At least my life, I can go to the heights and I can go to the depths, and I can find my levels in-between," she told Lee Cowan. "That's a good life."

Left: The cover of the first volume of Anjelica Huston's memoirs.

For more info:
"A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York" by Anjelica Huston (Scribners)
Also available in eBook, Unabridged audio download, and Unabridged Audio CD formats

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan