Main menu

Search

• Donate
• Create account
• Log in

Personal tools

Contents

hide

• (Top)
• Early life
• CareerToggle Career subsection
  • 1976–1989
  • 1990–1999
  • 2000–2009
  • 2010–present
  • Stage roles
  • Writing and directing
• Other work
• Personal life
• PerformancesToggle Performances subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• AwardsToggle Awards subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• References
• Further reading
• External links

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

• Article
• Talk

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools

Appearancehide

Text

• SmallStandardLarge

Width

• StandardWide

Color (beta)

• AutomaticLightDark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Jason Leigh
Leigh in 2015
Born	Jennifer Leigh Morrow February 5, 1962 (age 63)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Noah Baumbach​​(m. 2005; div. 2013)​
Children	1
Parents	Vic MorrowBarbara Turner

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).

Leigh starred in a 1995 film written by her mother, screenwriter Barbara Turner, titled Georgia. She co-wrote and co-directed a film with Alan Cumming titled The Anniversary Party (2001). Leigh starred in the crime drama Road to Perdition (2002) and the family drama Margot at the Wedding (2007). She had a recurring role on the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds (2009–2012) and received critical acclaim for her voice work in Charlie Kaufman‘s Anomalisa (2015). For her role as fugitive Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight (2015), she was nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 2017 to 2021, she starred in the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical, while featuring in the science fiction films Annihilation (2018) and Possessor (2020). She has since starred in the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo (2023).

For her stage work, Leigh was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her off-Broadway performance as Beverly Moss in Mike Leigh‘s Abigail’s Party. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1998, when she became the replacement for the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret.

Early life

[edit]

Leigh was born February 5, 1962,^[2] in Los Angeles, California.^[3] Her father, Vic Morrow (born Victor Morozoff), was an actor, and her mother, Barbara Turner, was a screenwriter.^[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was two.^[6] Leigh’s birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name “Jason” in honor of actor Jason Robards, a family friend. Leigh’s parents were Jewish; her father’s family was from Russia and her mother’s from Austria.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Leigh is the younger of two daughters. Her older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a “technical advisor” on her 1995 film Georgia, died in 2016.^[13] Leigh also has a half-sister, actress Mina Badie (born ‘Badiyi’ – from her mother’s second marriage). Badie acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party. Film director Reza Badiyi became Leigh’s stepfather when he married Leigh’s mother, Barbara.

Career

[edit]

1976–1989

[edit]

Leigh had a nonspeaking role in her film debut Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973). At the age of 14, she attended acting workshops, taught by Lee Strasberg, and the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Afterwards, she landed a role in the film The Young Runaways (1978). She also appeared in an episode of Baretta and an episode of The Waltons. Several television films followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. She made her film debut, as a blind, deaf and mute rape victim in the 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger. She left school to star in the film.^[5]

In 1982, Leigh played a pregnant teenager in Amy Heckerling‘s high school film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars. While decrying the writing as sexist and exploitative, film critic Roger Ebert was enthusiastic about the acting, singling out Leigh and writing, “Don’t they know they have a star on their hands?”^[14] With the exception of Ridgemont High and a supporting role in the comedy film Easy Money (1983) alongside Rodney Dangerfield, Leigh’s early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged or neurotic characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries in Flesh and Blood (1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychopathic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her alongside Rutger Hauer), a mentally-disturbed, child-like young woman on the threshold of sexual awakening in the Southern Gothic film Sister, Sister (1987), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Heart of Midnight (1989).

1990–1999

[edit]

In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was awarded New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress^[15] and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress^[16] for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who is brutally gang-raped in Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Susie, a 23-year-old prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues. Roger Ebert included Last Exit in his list of Best Movies of 1990, calling Leigh’s performance brave,^[17] though his review of Miami Blues was much less sympathetic, simultaneously criticizing Leigh’s ability to play dumb roles and praising her ability to play smart roles.^[18] Entertainment Weekly called her “the Meryl Streep of bimbos”.^[19]

In his 1991 book Cult Movie Stars, Danny Peary described Leigh as “an interesting, always watchable, and extremely talented young actress,” summarizing her appeal “For those who believe that the preacher’s angelic-looking daughter is as interested in sex as the farmer’s daughter. This pretty, sweet-looking blonde has played a number of shy and innocent-looking women who are curious about sex; once they learn, they display wicked imaginations.” Peary added, “Leigh seems too gentle and looks too young and innocent to play the parts she has taken. Her females are either hungry for sex and/or have been psychologically affected by past sexual incidents… Her characters are vulnerable and almost always victimised, but usually they gave surprising resilience, and try to use their bad experiences to make themselves stronger.”^[20]

Leigh was cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft (1991), in which she played a more conventional role, the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin. She found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush (1991), portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric. Reviewing Rush, Roger Ebert noted, “Leigh of course is a veteran by now of grubby characters in sleazy films; she has become one of the best young actresses by accepting roles some of her contemporaries would not even consider… After her extraordinary work as a doomed prostitute in Last Exit to Brooklyn, here she is again, looking sweet and wholesome, and descending into a world of people who have forgotten their better natures.”^[21] Leigh’s next film, Single White Female (1992), was a surprise box-office success, bringing Leigh to her largest mainstream audience yet, portraying a mentally-ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda.^[22]

Leigh was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards^[23] and nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.^[24] Leigh co-starred with Kathy Bates as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel Dolores Claiborne (1995). Leigh achieved her greatest acclaim in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia (1995). For the role, Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (41 kg) and sang all of her songs live, including a rambling 8+¹⁄₂-minute version of Van Morrison‘s “Take Me Back”. Georgia was met with critical praise. James Berardinelli wrote, “There are times when it’s uncomfortable to watch this performance because it’s so powerful”,^[25] and Janet Maslin of The New York Times described Leigh’s “fierce, risk-taking performance and flashes of overwhelming honesty”.^[26]

Leigh won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress^[27] and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival,^[28] as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination and Sensual Knife fight nomination^[29] Some expressed surprise that she was not nominated for an Academy Award,^[30][31] while Winningham was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Throughout the 1990s, Leigh worked with many independent film directors. She worked with Robert Altman in Short Cuts (1993), playing a phone-sex operator, and Kansas City (1996), as a streetwise kidnapper. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and called him her mentor.^[4] In a change of pace from her “bad girl” roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers‘ comic homage to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph‘s film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress,^[32] as well as Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress^[33] and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics Best Actress Award.

In another change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland‘s version of the Henry James novel Washington Square (1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold digger. In 1998, she appeared alongside Campbell Scott in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television film The Love Letter. In David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999), she played a virtual-reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation.^[34]

2000–2009

[edit]

Leigh had a brief role as a gangster’s doomed wife in Sam Mendes‘s Road to Perdition (2002) and co-starred as Meg Ryan‘s brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion‘s erotic thriller In the Cut (2003). She went on to play Stevie, the prostitute girlfriend of Christian Bale‘s character in the dark thriller The Machinist (2004). Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle commented that “As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting, and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element”.^[35] Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar‘s film Childstar won her a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in 2005.^[36]

After many years of wanting to be in a Todd Solondz film,^[5] she appeared in Palindromes (2004). She also appeared in the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005), alongside Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.^[37] Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York and has acted in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, co-starring Nicole Kidman, and Greenberg. Leigh has said that the roles were not specifically written for her, as Baumbach does not write roles with actors in mind.^[4] In 2009, Leigh was cast in the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds,^[38] becoming a regular guest in the eighth season.

Leigh has received three separate career tributes: at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993,^[39] a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002,^[40] and a week-long retrospective of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles’s Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in 2001.^[41]

2010–present

[edit]

Leigh joined the drama series Revenge on ABC in 2012.^[42] In 2015, Leigh starred in Quentin Tarantino‘s western film The Hateful Eight. It is set in Wyoming after the Civil War, and was released on December 25. Leigh, along with the rest of the cast, appeared at San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film in July 2015.^[43] Leigh’s performance has received multiple award nominations at various award ceremonies, including her third Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture,^[44][45] her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role^[46] and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[47] In 2017, Leigh was reunited with her Hateful Eight co-star Tim Roth when the pair played a husband-and-wife team of contract killers in six episodes of Showtime‘s revival of David Lynch and Mark Frost‘s Twin Peaks.

Leigh played psychiatrist Dr. Ventress in the 2018 science fiction film Annihilation, alongside Natalie Portman, directed by Alex Garland and based on the novel by Jeff VanDerMeer.

In 2019, Leigh appeared in two episodes of Showtime’s last season of The Affair. She appeared in Brandon Cronenberg‘s science fiction thriller Possessor in 2020. In 2022, Leigh was cast in a lead role as Lorraine Lyon in the fifth season of the FX black comedy crime drama anthology series Fargo.

Stage roles

[edit]

In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes‘s Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, succeeding Natasha Richardson, who originated the role in Mendes’s production.^[48] She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway in 2001.^[49] Her other theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine and Abigail’s Party. In 2011, she played Bunny in the Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves in New York City alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.^[50]

Writing and directing

[edit]

In 2001, Leigh co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, the party disintegrates into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the façade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was inspired by her recent experience filming the low-budget Dogme 95 film The King Is Alive.^[51] Leigh and co-writer Alan Cumming drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film.^[51] Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations and is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video,^[4] and costarred the pair’s real-life Hollywood friends,^[51] including Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, and Leigh’s sister Mina Badie. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review,^[52] and were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. The film received generally positive reviews.^[53]

Other work

[edit]

Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick‘s final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as a grieving patient of Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) who declares her love for him after her father’s death. Kubrick wanted to reshoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ; instead, her scenes were cut, and the role was recast with Marie Richardson.^[54] Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo‘s girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that “it just didn’t work out” and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny.^[55] In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More‘s music video for “Last Cup of Sorrow“.^[56] She was selected as one of “America’s 10 Most Beautiful Women” by Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1989 and served as a jury member at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in 2000. She narrated the audiobook for Quentin Tarantino‘s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent war, Leigh has heavily voiced support for Israel on Instagram. On February 14, 2024, Leigh signed an open letter written by pro-Israel organization Creative Community for Peace criticizing attempts to remove Israel from Eurovision 2024.^[57] Following Jonathan Glazer‘s acceptance speech at the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film in which he denounced his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation…”, Leigh was one of 1,000 Jewish members of the film industry who denounced Glazer’s speech and defended the Israeli government’s actions in another open letter.^[58]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1982, Leigh’s father, Vic Morrow, was accidentally killed along with two child actors when a helicopter stunt went wrong during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis, and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court a year later.^[59]

Leigh has described herself as shy, introverted, and averse to Hollywood publicity and scandal.^[6][60] Speaking about her roles in smaller, independent films, she said, “I’d much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can’t remember because it’s just like all the others.”^[5]

She met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach in 2001 while starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce on November 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.^[61] She sought spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple’s son, with visitation for Baumbach.^[62] The divorce was finalized in September 2013.^[63]

Performances

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Eyes of a Stranger	Tracy Harris
1982	Wrong Is Right	Young Girl
	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Stacy Hamilton
1983	Easy Money	Allison Capuletti
1984	Grandview, U.S.A.	Candy Webster
1985	Flesh + Blood	Agnes
1986	The Hitcher	Nash
	The Men’s Club	Teensy
1987	Sister, Sister	Lucy Bonnard
	Under Cover	Tanille Lareoux
1988	Heart of Midnight	Carol Rivers
1989	The Big Picture	Lydia Johnson
	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Tralala
1990	Miami Blues	Susie Waggoner
1991	Backdraft	Jennifer Vaitkus
	Crooked Hearts	Marriet Hoffman
	Rush	Kristen Cates
1992	Single White Female	Hedra ‘Hedy’ Carlson/Ellen Besch
1993	Short Cuts	Lois Kaiser
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Amy Archer
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Dorothy Parker
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Selena St. George
	Georgia	Sadie Flood	Also producer
1996	Kansas City	Blondie O’Hara
	Bastard Out of Carolina	Anney Boatwright
1997	Washington Square	Catherine Sloper
	A Thousand Acres	Caroline Cook
1999	eXistenZ	Allegra Geller
2000	The King Is Alive	Gina
	Skipped Parts	Lydia Callahan	Also co-producer
2001	The Anniversary Party	Sally Therrian	Also co-writer, co-producer and co-director with Alan Cumming
	The Quickie	Lisa
2002	Hey Arnold!: The Movie	Bridget	Voice[64]
	Road to Perdition	Annie Sullivan
	Crossed Over	Karla Faye Tucker
2003	In the Cut	Pauline
2004	The Machinist	Stevie
	Palindromes	Mark Aviva
	Childstar	Suzanne
2005	The Jacket	Dr. Beth Lorenson
	Rag Tale	Mary Josephine Morton
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Pauline
2008	Synecdoche, New York	Maria
2010	Greenberg	Beth	Also writer and producer
2013	The Spectacular Now	Sara
	Kill Your Darlings	Naomi Ginsberg
	The Moment	Lee
	Hateship, Loveship	Chloe
	Jake Squared	Sheryl
2014	Welcome to Me	Deb Moseley
	Me	Kelly
2015	Alex of Venice	Maureen
	Anomalisa	Lisa	Voice[64]
	The Hateful Eight	‘Crazy’ Daisy Domergue
2016	Morgan	Dr. Kathy Grieff
	LBJ	Lady Bird Johnson
2017	Good Time	Corey
	Amityville: The Awakening	Joan Walker
2018	Annihilation	Dr. Ventress
	White Boy Rick	FBI Agent Alex Snyder
2019	Sid & Judy	Judy Garland	Documentary film; Also voice role
	QT8: The First Eight	Herself	Documentary film[65]
2020	Possessor	Girder
2021	The Woman in the Window	Jane Russell
	Awake	Murphy
2022	Sharp Stick	Marilyn
2023	Poolman	Susan
TBA	Night Always Comes		Post-production
	Crime 101		Filming

Television

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Baretta	Marcie	Episode: “Open Season”
1978	Family	Jenny Blair	Episode: “And Baby Makes Three”
	The Wonderful World of Disney	Heather	Episode: “The Young Runaways”
1980	Angel City	Kristy Teeter	Television film
1981	The Waltons	Kathy Seals	Episode: “The Pursuit”
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laurie Mcintyre	Episode: “I Think I’m Having a Baby”
	The Killing of Randy Webster	Amy Wheeler	Television film
	The Best Little Girl in the World	Casey Powell
1982	Trapper John, M.D.	Karen McCall	Episode: “The One and Only”
	The First Time	Bonnie Dillon	Television film
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Andrea Fairchild	Episode: “Have You Ever Been Ashamed of Your Parents?”
	Girls of the White Orchid	Carol Heath	Television film; alternative title Death Ride to Osaka
1990	Buried Alive	Joanna Goodman	Television film
1998	The Love Letter	Elizabeth Whitcomb
	King of the Hill	Amy	Voice, episode: “I Remember Mono”
	Tracey Takes On…	Paige Garland	Episode: “Sports”
	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Alexandra	Voice, episode: “Gratitude”[64]
	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Teri Small	Television film
	Hercules	Tempest	Voice, 4 episodes
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Cetea	Voice, episode: “Absolute Power”[64]
	Todd McFarlane’s Spawn	Lily	Voice, 2 episodes[64]
2000	Twitch City	Faith	Episode: “The Life of Reilly”
2001	Frasier	Estelle	Voice, episode: “The Two Hundredth”
2002	Mission Hill	Eunice Eulmeyer	Voice, episode: “Kevin Loves Weirdie”
2009–2012	Weeds	Jill Price-Gray	16 episodes
2012	Revenge	Kara Clarke-Murphy	7 episodes
2014	Open	Holly	Pilot
2017	Twin Peaks	Chantal Hutchens	6 episodes
2017–2021	Atypical	Elsa Gardner	38 episodes; also producer
2018	Patrick Melrose	Eleanor Melrose	5 episodes
2019	The Affair	Adeline Taylor	2 episodes
2021	Lisey’s Story	Darla Debusher	8 episodes
2023	Hunters	Chava Apfelbaum	7 episodes
2023–2024	Fargo	Lorraine Lyon	Season 5; main role

Stage

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Theater	Notes
1986	Picnic	Madge Owens	Ahmanson Theatre	April 8, 1986 – May 24, 1986[66][67]
1989	Sunshine	Sunshine	Circle Repertory Theatre	December 9, 1989 – January 14, 1990[68]
1998	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Stephen Sondheim Theatre Studio 54	August 4, 1998 – February 28, 1999[69]
2001	Proof	Catherine	Walter Kerr Theatre	September 13, 2001 – June 30, 2002[70]
2005	Theater of the New Ear: Anomalisa	Lisa	Royce Hall	September 14, 2005 – September 16, 2005[71][72]
2005	Abigail’s Party	Beverly	Acorn Theater	December 1, 2005 – March 11, 2006[73][74]
2011	The House of Blue Leaves	Bunny Flingus	Walter Kerr Theatre	April 25, 2011 – June 25, 2011[75]

Awards

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Short Cuts

• Golden Globe Special Ensemble Cast Award (non-competitive)
• Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

• Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Anomalisa

• Nominated – Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
• Nominated – Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female

The Hateful Eight

• Won – Capri Supporting Actress Award
• Won – CinEuphoria Awards for Best Actress
• Won – National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – North Texas Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – Online Film & Television Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
• Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Nominated – AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Denver Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Georgia Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Gold Derby Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Schmoes Awards for Best Supporting Actress of the Year
• Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – IndieWire Critics’ Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – North Carolina Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Phoenix Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Seattle Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – St. Louis Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Vancouver Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Village Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress

Television

[edit]

Thanks from a Grateful Nation

• Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film

Stage

[edit]

Abigail’s Party

• Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play^[76]
• Nominated — Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress^[77]

References

[edit]

1. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh – Movies, TV Shows & Son – Biography”. March 30, 2021.
2. ^ “Celebrity birthdays for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5”. AP News. January 24, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
3. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh Biography”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Tobias, Scott (November 21, 2007). “Interview: Jennifer Jason Leigh”. The Onion A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Williams, Zoe (March 12, 2005). “What you see and what you get”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 1999
7. ^ “Actor Eulogized For Finest Performance”. The Tuscaloosa News. July 27, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
8. ^ “Age: A State of Mind”. San Jose Mercury News. August 10, 1992. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
9. ^ Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 504. ISBN 0-7119-9512-5.
10. ^ Interfaith Family: “Interfaith Celebrities: Santa’s Jewish Family, and Margot at the Wedding’s Near-Minyan” Archived July 13, 2019, at the Wayback Machine By Nate Bloom. November 22, 2007
11. ^ Friedman, Gabe (February 26, 2016). “5 incredible Jewish stories behind this year’s Oscars”. JTA.org. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
12. ^ “Good Time”. AMC Theatres. August 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2018. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry.
13. ^ Sister’s passing mentioned by Leigh in Marc Maron WTF Podcast interview on August 17, 2017 [1] Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
15. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1990”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
16. ^ “BSFC Winners 1990s”. Boston Society of Film Critics. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
17. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 30, 1990). “Roger Ebert’s Best 10 Films of 1990”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
18. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 20, 1990). “Miami Blues”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
19. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 4, 1990). “Movie Review: Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990)”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
20. ^ Cult Movie Stars by Danny Peary (1991, Simon & Schuster), p.323
21. ^ “Rush”. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
22. ^ Schroeder, Barbet (August 14, 1992), Single White Female (Drama, Thriller), Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber, Columbia Pictures, retrieved May 22, 2023
23. ^ “1993 MTV Movie Awards”. MTV. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
24. ^ “2015 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards”. Chicago Film Critics Association. December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
25. ^ Berardinelli, James. “Georgia”. Reelviews.net. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
26. ^ Maslin, Janet (September 30, 1995). “Movie Review – Georgia”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
27. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1995 Awards”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on January 18, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
28. ^ Wilmington, Michael (September 7, 1995). “Montreal Festival Honors Grosbard’s Film, Star Leigh”. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
29. ^ Dretzka, Gary (January 12, 1996). “Film Nominations Are Independent-minded”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
30. ^ Maslin, Janet (March 17, 1996). “The Un-Nominated”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
31. ^ Templeton, David (April 1996). “On Her Mind”. Metro Silicon Valley. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
32. ^ “Past Awards”. National Society of Film Critics. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
33. ^ “Chicago Film Critics Awards – 1988–97”. Chicago Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
34. ^ Cronenberg, David (April 23, 1999), eXistenZ (Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi), Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Dimension Films, Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Television Fund, retrieved May 22, 2023
35. ^ Lasalle, Mick (November 24, 2004). “Despite a skinny star, ‘Machinist’ retains its weight”. San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
36. ^ “Canada’s Awards Database”. Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013.
37. ^ Hollywood com Staff (March 4, 2005). “”The Jacket” Interviews: Adrien Brody, Jennifer Jason Leigh and director John Maybury”. Tickets to Movies in Theaters, Broadway Shows, London Theatre & More | Hollywood.com. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
38. ^ Markovitz, Adam (April 16, 2009). “Jennifer Jason Leigh joins ‘Weeds'”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
39. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 12, 1993). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Hides Inside Roles”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
40. ^ Gold, Sylviane (June 2, 2002). “FILM; Ready to Play Anyone but Herself”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
41. ^ “American Cinematheque Presents… Hearts on Fire: A Tribute to Jennifer Jason Leigh”. American Cinematheque. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
42. ^ Keck, William (September 9, 2012). “Keck’s Exclusives First Look: Jennifer Jason Leigh Gets Her Revenge”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
43. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (July 11, 2015). “Quentin Tarantino Delivers Mind-Blowing Look At ‘Hateful Eight’ – Comic Con”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
44. ^ Ayers, Mike (December 10, 2015). “Jennifer Jason Leigh on Her Golden Globe Nod: ‘Quentin Demands the Best'”. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
45. ^ Lang, Brent (December 10, 2015). “‘Carol,’ Netflix Lead Golden Globes Nomination”. Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
46. ^ “Baftas 2016: full list of nominations”. The Guardian. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
47. ^ Collis, Clark (January 14, 2016). “Oscars 2016: Jennifer Jason Leigh reflects on first-ever nomination”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
48. ^ Simonson, Robert (August 20, 1998). “Cabaret Resumes B’way Performances Aug. 20”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
49. ^ Jones, Kenneth (August 6, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Is New Star of Proof on Broadway, Sept. 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
50. ^ Gans, Andrew (June 25, 2011). “House of Blue Leaves Ends Broadway Run June 25”. Playbill. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
51. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Lemons, Stephen (June 26, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh”. Salon. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
52. ^ “National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards”. National Board of Review. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
53. ^ “The Anniversary Party”. Rotten Tomatoes. June 24, 2001. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
54. ^ Dretzka, Gary (April 27, 1999). “Hyper ‘Existenz'”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
55. ^ Jennifer Jason Leigh – Leigh Would Not Have Shied Away From Brown Bunny Controversy Archived October 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Music, Film and Entertainment News, 2007/11/19
56. ^ Samborska, Agatha. “Faith No More Frequently Asked Questions”. Faith No More Official Website. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
57. ^ CCFPeace (February 14, 2024). “Open Letter – Eurovision 2024”. Creative Community for Peace –. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
58. ^ “Hundreds of Jewish creatives denounce ‘Zone of Interest’ director’s Oscars speech”. EW.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
59. ^ “Vic Morrow’s daughters settle suit over death”. The San Bernardino Sun. Associated Press. December 31, 1983. p. A-2. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. 
60. ^ Hunt, Chris (2007). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Interview”. ChrisHunt.biz. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
61. ^ “Single White Female Star Jennifer Jason Leigh Files For Divorce”. RadarOnline. November 23, 2010. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
62. ^ Lee, Ken (November 23, 2010). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Files for Divorce”. People. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
63. ^ Finn, Natalie (October 7, 2013). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Officially Divorced From Director Noah Baumbach”. E!. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
64. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} “Jennifer Jason Leigh (visual voices guide)”. Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 10, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title’s list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
65. ^ McNary, Dave (February 13, 2019). “Director Reclaims Rights to Documentary ’21 Years: Quentin Tarantino’ (EXCLUSIVE)”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
66. ^ Drake, Sylvie (April 8, 1986). “Stage Review : Revived ‘Picnic’ Offers A Mellow Spread”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
67. ^ O’Connor, John J. (November 12, 1986). “TV REVIEW; In Showtime’s ‘Picnic,’ Classic Gets New Look”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
68. ^ “Sunshine”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
69. ^ “Cabaret”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
70. ^ “Proof”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
71. ^ Gallo, Phil (September 15, 2005). “Review: ‘Theater of the New Ear'”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
72. ^ Swed, Mark (September 16, 2005). “Review: Theater Review: Lend an ear to Charlie Kaufman”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
73. ^ “Abigail’s Party”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
74. ^ Hernandez, Ernio (March 11, 2006). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Leaves Abigail’s Party Off-Broadway March 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
75. ^ “The House of Blue Leaves”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
76. ^ Simonson, Robert (April 27, 2006). “The Drowsy Chaperone Leads 2006 Drama Desk Nominations”. Playbill. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
77. ^ “2006 Nominations”. Lucille Lortel Awards. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

Further reading

[edit]

• Dunn, Jancee (November 30, 1995). “Jennifer Jason Leigh — She’s the Queen of the Ravaged, Boozed Up, and Strung Out”. Rolling Stone. p. 57.
• “Anima Animus: Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Bisexual Method in Last Exit to Brooklyn“ by Ian Murphy (article in Alphaville journal)

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer Jason Leigh.

• Jennifer Jason Leigh at IMDb
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• In-depth interview at Museum of Moving Image in 1994 Archived March 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
• Article in Alphaville journal
• Jennifer Jason Leigh on Instagram

showAwards for Jennifer Jason Leigh

showAuthority control databases

Categories: 

• 1962 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American Jews
• Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles
• American child actresses
• American film actresses
• American musical theatre actresses
• American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American women film producers
• American women screenwriters
• Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
• Film producers from California
• Jewish American actresses
• Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
• Screenwriters from California
• Volpi Cup winners
• Writers from Los Angeles

• This page was last edited on 7 February 2025, at 01:44 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers
• Contact Wikipedia
• Code of Conduct
• Developers
• Statistics
• Cookie statement
• Mobile view

Search

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

Add topicMain menu

Search

• Donate
• Create account
• Log in

Personal tools

Contents

hide

• (Top)
• Early life
• CareerToggle Career subsection
  • 1976–1989
  • 1990–1999
  • 2000–2009
  • 2010–present
  • Stage roles
  • Writing and directing
• Other work
• Personal life
• PerformancesToggle Performances subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• AwardsToggle Awards subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• References
• Further reading
• External links

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

• Article
• Talk

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools

Appearancehide

Text

• SmallStandardLarge

Width

• StandardWide

Color (beta)

• AutomaticLightDark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Jason Leigh
Leigh in 2015
Born	Jennifer Leigh Morrow February 5, 1962 (age 63)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Noah Baumbach​​(m. 2005; div. 2013)​
Children	1
Parents	Vic MorrowBarbara Turner

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).

Leigh starred in a 1995 film written by her mother, screenwriter Barbara Turner, titled Georgia. She co-wrote and co-directed a film with Alan Cumming titled The Anniversary Party (2001). Leigh starred in the crime drama Road to Perdition (2002) and the family drama Margot at the Wedding (2007). She had a recurring role on the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds (2009–2012) and received critical acclaim for her voice work in Charlie Kaufman‘s Anomalisa (2015). For her role as fugitive Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight (2015), she was nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 2017 to 2021, she starred in the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical, while featuring in the science fiction films Annihilation (2018) and Possessor (2020). She has since starred in the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo (2023).

For her stage work, Leigh was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her off-Broadway performance as Beverly Moss in Mike Leigh‘s Abigail’s Party. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1998, when she became the replacement for the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret.

Early life

[edit]

Leigh was born February 5, 1962,^[2] in Los Angeles, California.^[3] Her father, Vic Morrow (born Victor Morozoff), was an actor, and her mother, Barbara Turner, was a screenwriter.^[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was two.^[6] Leigh’s birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name “Jason” in honor of actor Jason Robards, a family friend. Leigh’s parents were Jewish; her father’s family was from Russia and her mother’s from Austria.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Leigh is the younger of two daughters. Her older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a “technical advisor” on her 1995 film Georgia, died in 2016.^[13] Leigh also has a half-sister, actress Mina Badie (born ‘Badiyi’ – from her mother’s second marriage). Badie acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party. Film director Reza Badiyi became Leigh’s stepfather when he married Leigh’s mother, Barbara.

Career

[edit]

1976–1989

[edit]

Leigh had a nonspeaking role in her film debut Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973). At the age of 14, she attended acting workshops, taught by Lee Strasberg, and the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Afterwards, she landed a role in the film The Young Runaways (1978). She also appeared in an episode of Baretta and an episode of The Waltons. Several television films followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. She made her film debut, as a blind, deaf and mute rape victim in the 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger. She left school to star in the film.^[5]

In 1982, Leigh played a pregnant teenager in Amy Heckerling‘s high school film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars. While decrying the writing as sexist and exploitative, film critic Roger Ebert was enthusiastic about the acting, singling out Leigh and writing, “Don’t they know they have a star on their hands?”^[14] With the exception of Ridgemont High and a supporting role in the comedy film Easy Money (1983) alongside Rodney Dangerfield, Leigh’s early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged or neurotic characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries in Flesh and Blood (1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychopathic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her alongside Rutger Hauer), a mentally-disturbed, child-like young woman on the threshold of sexual awakening in the Southern Gothic film Sister, Sister (1987), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Heart of Midnight (1989).

1990–1999

[edit]

In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was awarded New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress^[15] and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress^[16] for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who is brutally gang-raped in Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Susie, a 23-year-old prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues. Roger Ebert included Last Exit in his list of Best Movies of 1990, calling Leigh’s performance brave,^[17] though his review of Miami Blues was much less sympathetic, simultaneously criticizing Leigh’s ability to play dumb roles and praising her ability to play smart roles.^[18] Entertainment Weekly called her “the Meryl Streep of bimbos”.^[19]

In his 1991 book Cult Movie Stars, Danny Peary described Leigh as “an interesting, always watchable, and extremely talented young actress,” summarizing her appeal “For those who believe that the preacher’s angelic-looking daughter is as interested in sex as the farmer’s daughter. This pretty, sweet-looking blonde has played a number of shy and innocent-looking women who are curious about sex; once they learn, they display wicked imaginations.” Peary added, “Leigh seems too gentle and looks too young and innocent to play the parts she has taken. Her females are either hungry for sex and/or have been psychologically affected by past sexual incidents… Her characters are vulnerable and almost always victimised, but usually they gave surprising resilience, and try to use their bad experiences to make themselves stronger.”^[20]

Leigh was cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft (1991), in which she played a more conventional role, the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin. She found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush (1991), portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric. Reviewing Rush, Roger Ebert noted, “Leigh of course is a veteran by now of grubby characters in sleazy films; she has become one of the best young actresses by accepting roles some of her contemporaries would not even consider… After her extraordinary work as a doomed prostitute in Last Exit to Brooklyn, here she is again, looking sweet and wholesome, and descending into a world of people who have forgotten their better natures.”^[21] Leigh’s next film, Single White Female (1992), was a surprise box-office success, bringing Leigh to her largest mainstream audience yet, portraying a mentally-ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda.^[22]

Leigh was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards^[23] and nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.^[24] Leigh co-starred with Kathy Bates as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel Dolores Claiborne (1995). Leigh achieved her greatest acclaim in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia (1995). For the role, Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (41 kg) and sang all of her songs live, including a rambling 8+¹⁄₂-minute version of Van Morrison‘s “Take Me Back”. Georgia was met with critical praise. James Berardinelli wrote, “There are times when it’s uncomfortable to watch this performance because it’s so powerful”,^[25] and Janet Maslin of The New York Times described Leigh’s “fierce, risk-taking performance and flashes of overwhelming honesty”.^[26]

Leigh won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress^[27] and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival,^[28] as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination and Sensual Knife fight nomination^[29] Some expressed surprise that she was not nominated for an Academy Award,^[30][31] while Winningham was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Throughout the 1990s, Leigh worked with many independent film directors. She worked with Robert Altman in Short Cuts (1993), playing a phone-sex operator, and Kansas City (1996), as a streetwise kidnapper. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and called him her mentor.^[4] In a change of pace from her “bad girl” roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers‘ comic homage to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph‘s film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress,^[32] as well as Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress^[33] and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics Best Actress Award.

In another change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland‘s version of the Henry James novel Washington Square (1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold digger. In 1998, she appeared alongside Campbell Scott in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television film The Love Letter. In David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999), she played a virtual-reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation.^[34]

2000–2009

[edit]

Leigh had a brief role as a gangster’s doomed wife in Sam Mendes‘s Road to Perdition (2002) and co-starred as Meg Ryan‘s brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion‘s erotic thriller In the Cut (2003). She went on to play Stevie, the prostitute girlfriend of Christian Bale‘s character in the dark thriller The Machinist (2004). Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle commented that “As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting, and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element”.^[35] Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar‘s film Childstar won her a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in 2005.^[36]

After many years of wanting to be in a Todd Solondz film,^[5] she appeared in Palindromes (2004). She also appeared in the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005), alongside Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.^[37] Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York and has acted in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, co-starring Nicole Kidman, and Greenberg. Leigh has said that the roles were not specifically written for her, as Baumbach does not write roles with actors in mind.^[4] In 2009, Leigh was cast in the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds,^[38] becoming a regular guest in the eighth season.

Leigh has received three separate career tributes: at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993,^[39] a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002,^[40] and a week-long retrospective of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles’s Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in 2001.^[41]

2010–present

[edit]

Leigh joined the drama series Revenge on ABC in 2012.^[42] In 2015, Leigh starred in Quentin Tarantino‘s western film The Hateful Eight. It is set in Wyoming after the Civil War, and was released on December 25. Leigh, along with the rest of the cast, appeared at San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film in July 2015.^[43] Leigh’s performance has received multiple award nominations at various award ceremonies, including her third Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture,^[44][45] her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role^[46] and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[47] In 2017, Leigh was reunited with her Hateful Eight co-star Tim Roth when the pair played a husband-and-wife team of contract killers in six episodes of Showtime‘s revival of David Lynch and Mark Frost‘s Twin Peaks.

Leigh played psychiatrist Dr. Ventress in the 2018 science fiction film Annihilation, alongside Natalie Portman, directed by Alex Garland and based on the novel by Jeff VanDerMeer.

In 2019, Leigh appeared in two episodes of Showtime’s last season of The Affair. She appeared in Brandon Cronenberg‘s science fiction thriller Possessor in 2020. In 2022, Leigh was cast in a lead role as Lorraine Lyon in the fifth season of the FX black comedy crime drama anthology series Fargo.

Stage roles

[edit]

In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes‘s Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, succeeding Natasha Richardson, who originated the role in Mendes’s production.^[48] She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway in 2001.^[49] Her other theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine and Abigail’s Party. In 2011, she played Bunny in the Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves in New York City alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.^[50]

Writing and directing

[edit]

In 2001, Leigh co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, the party disintegrates into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the façade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was inspired by her recent experience filming the low-budget Dogme 95 film The King Is Alive.^[51] Leigh and co-writer Alan Cumming drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film.^[51] Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations and is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video,^[4] and costarred the pair’s real-life Hollywood friends,^[51] including Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, and Leigh’s sister Mina Badie. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review,^[52] and were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. The film received generally positive reviews.^[53]

Other work

[edit]

Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick‘s final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as a grieving patient of Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) who declares her love for him after her father’s death. Kubrick wanted to reshoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ; instead, her scenes were cut, and the role was recast with Marie Richardson.^[54] Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo‘s girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that “it just didn’t work out” and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny.^[55] In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More‘s music video for “Last Cup of Sorrow“.^[56] She was selected as one of “America’s 10 Most Beautiful Women” by Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1989 and served as a jury member at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in 2000. She narrated the audiobook for Quentin Tarantino‘s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent war, Leigh has heavily voiced support for Israel on Instagram. On February 14, 2024, Leigh signed an open letter written by pro-Israel organization Creative Community for Peace criticizing attempts to remove Israel from Eurovision 2024.^[57] Following Jonathan Glazer‘s acceptance speech at the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film in which he denounced his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation…”, Leigh was one of 1,000 Jewish members of the film industry who denounced Glazer’s speech and defended the Israeli government’s actions in another open letter.^[58]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1982, Leigh’s father, Vic Morrow, was accidentally killed along with two child actors when a helicopter stunt went wrong during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis, and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court a year later.^[59]

Leigh has described herself as shy, introverted, and averse to Hollywood publicity and scandal.^[6][60] Speaking about her roles in smaller, independent films, she said, “I’d much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can’t remember because it’s just like all the others.”^[5]

She met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach in 2001 while starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce on November 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.^[61] She sought spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple’s son, with visitation for Baumbach.^[62] The divorce was finalized in September 2013.^[63]

Performances

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Eyes of a Stranger	Tracy Harris
1982	Wrong Is Right	Young Girl
	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Stacy Hamilton
1983	Easy Money	Allison Capuletti
1984	Grandview, U.S.A.	Candy Webster
1985	Flesh + Blood	Agnes
1986	The Hitcher	Nash
	The Men’s Club	Teensy
1987	Sister, Sister	Lucy Bonnard
	Under Cover	Tanille Lareoux
1988	Heart of Midnight	Carol Rivers
1989	The Big Picture	Lydia Johnson
	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Tralala
1990	Miami Blues	Susie Waggoner
1991	Backdraft	Jennifer Vaitkus
	Crooked Hearts	Marriet Hoffman
	Rush	Kristen Cates
1992	Single White Female	Hedra ‘Hedy’ Carlson/Ellen Besch
1993	Short Cuts	Lois Kaiser
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Amy Archer
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Dorothy Parker
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Selena St. George
	Georgia	Sadie Flood	Also producer
1996	Kansas City	Blondie O’Hara
	Bastard Out of Carolina	Anney Boatwright
1997	Washington Square	Catherine Sloper
	A Thousand Acres	Caroline Cook
1999	eXistenZ	Allegra Geller
2000	The King Is Alive	Gina
	Skipped Parts	Lydia Callahan	Also co-producer
2001	The Anniversary Party	Sally Therrian	Also co-writer, co-producer and co-director with Alan Cumming
	The Quickie	Lisa
2002	Hey Arnold!: The Movie	Bridget	Voice[64]
	Road to Perdition	Annie Sullivan
	Crossed Over	Karla Faye Tucker
2003	In the Cut	Pauline
2004	The Machinist	Stevie
	Palindromes	Mark Aviva
	Childstar	Suzanne
2005	The Jacket	Dr. Beth Lorenson
	Rag Tale	Mary Josephine Morton
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Pauline
2008	Synecdoche, New York	Maria
2010	Greenberg	Beth	Also writer and producer
2013	The Spectacular Now	Sara
	Kill Your Darlings	Naomi Ginsberg
	The Moment	Lee
	Hateship, Loveship	Chloe
	Jake Squared	Sheryl
2014	Welcome to Me	Deb Moseley
	Me	Kelly
2015	Alex of Venice	Maureen
	Anomalisa	Lisa	Voice[64]
	The Hateful Eight	‘Crazy’ Daisy Domergue
2016	Morgan	Dr. Kathy Grieff
	LBJ	Lady Bird Johnson
2017	Good Time	Corey
	Amityville: The Awakening	Joan Walker
2018	Annihilation	Dr. Ventress
	White Boy Rick	FBI Agent Alex Snyder
2019	Sid & Judy	Judy Garland	Documentary film; Also voice role
	QT8: The First Eight	Herself	Documentary film[65]
2020	Possessor	Girder
2021	The Woman in the Window	Jane Russell
	Awake	Murphy
2022	Sharp Stick	Marilyn
2023	Poolman	Susan
TBA	Night Always Comes		Post-production
	Crime 101		Filming

Television

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Baretta	Marcie	Episode: “Open Season”
1978	Family	Jenny Blair	Episode: “And Baby Makes Three”
	The Wonderful World of Disney	Heather	Episode: “The Young Runaways”
1980	Angel City	Kristy Teeter	Television film
1981	The Waltons	Kathy Seals	Episode: “The Pursuit”
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laurie Mcintyre	Episode: “I Think I’m Having a Baby”
	The Killing of Randy Webster	Amy Wheeler	Television film
	The Best Little Girl in the World	Casey Powell
1982	Trapper John, M.D.	Karen McCall	Episode: “The One and Only”
	The First Time	Bonnie Dillon	Television film
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Andrea Fairchild	Episode: “Have You Ever Been Ashamed of Your Parents?”
	Girls of the White Orchid	Carol Heath	Television film; alternative title Death Ride to Osaka
1990	Buried Alive	Joanna Goodman	Television film
1998	The Love Letter	Elizabeth Whitcomb
	King of the Hill	Amy	Voice, episode: “I Remember Mono”
	Tracey Takes On…	Paige Garland	Episode: “Sports”
	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Alexandra	Voice, episode: “Gratitude”[64]
	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Teri Small	Television film
	Hercules	Tempest	Voice, 4 episodes
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Cetea	Voice, episode: “Absolute Power”[64]
	Todd McFarlane’s Spawn	Lily	Voice, 2 episodes[64]
2000	Twitch City	Faith	Episode: “The Life of Reilly”
2001	Frasier	Estelle	Voice, episode: “The Two Hundredth”
2002	Mission Hill	Eunice Eulmeyer	Voice, episode: “Kevin Loves Weirdie”
2009–2012	Weeds	Jill Price-Gray	16 episodes
2012	Revenge	Kara Clarke-Murphy	7 episodes
2014	Open	Holly	Pilot
2017	Twin Peaks	Chantal Hutchens	6 episodes
2017–2021	Atypical	Elsa Gardner	38 episodes; also producer
2018	Patrick Melrose	Eleanor Melrose	5 episodes
2019	The Affair	Adeline Taylor	2 episodes
2021	Lisey’s Story	Darla Debusher	8 episodes
2023	Hunters	Chava Apfelbaum	7 episodes
2023–2024	Fargo	Lorraine Lyon	Season 5; main role

Stage

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Theater	Notes
1986	Picnic	Madge Owens	Ahmanson Theatre	April 8, 1986 – May 24, 1986[66][67]
1989	Sunshine	Sunshine	Circle Repertory Theatre	December 9, 1989 – January 14, 1990[68]
1998	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Stephen Sondheim Theatre Studio 54	August 4, 1998 – February 28, 1999[69]
2001	Proof	Catherine	Walter Kerr Theatre	September 13, 2001 – June 30, 2002[70]
2005	Theater of the New Ear: Anomalisa	Lisa	Royce Hall	September 14, 2005 – September 16, 2005[71][72]
2005	Abigail’s Party	Beverly	Acorn Theater	December 1, 2005 – March 11, 2006[73][74]
2011	The House of Blue Leaves	Bunny Flingus	Walter Kerr Theatre	April 25, 2011 – June 25, 2011[75]

Awards

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Short Cuts

• Golden Globe Special Ensemble Cast Award (non-competitive)
• Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

• Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Anomalisa

• Nominated – Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
• Nominated – Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female

The Hateful Eight

• Won – Capri Supporting Actress Award
• Won – CinEuphoria Awards for Best Actress
• Won – National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – North Texas Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – Online Film & Television Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
• Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Nominated – AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Denver Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Georgia Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Gold Derby Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Schmoes Awards for Best Supporting Actress of the Year
• Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – IndieWire Critics’ Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – North Carolina Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Phoenix Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Seattle Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – St. Louis Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Vancouver Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Village Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress

Television

[edit]

Thanks from a Grateful Nation

• Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film

Stage

[edit]

Abigail’s Party

• Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play^[76]
• Nominated — Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress^[77]

References

[edit]

1. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh – Movies, TV Shows & Son – Biography”. March 30, 2021.
2. ^ “Celebrity birthdays for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5”. AP News. January 24, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
3. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh Biography”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Tobias, Scott (November 21, 2007). “Interview: Jennifer Jason Leigh”. The Onion A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Williams, Zoe (March 12, 2005). “What you see and what you get”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 1999
7. ^ “Actor Eulogized For Finest Performance”. The Tuscaloosa News. July 27, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
8. ^ “Age: A State of Mind”. San Jose Mercury News. August 10, 1992. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
9. ^ Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 504. ISBN 0-7119-9512-5.
10. ^ Interfaith Family: “Interfaith Celebrities: Santa’s Jewish Family, and Margot at the Wedding’s Near-Minyan” Archived July 13, 2019, at the Wayback Machine By Nate Bloom. November 22, 2007
11. ^ Friedman, Gabe (February 26, 2016). “5 incredible Jewish stories behind this year’s Oscars”. JTA.org. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
12. ^ “Good Time”. AMC Theatres. August 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2018. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry.
13. ^ Sister’s passing mentioned by Leigh in Marc Maron WTF Podcast interview on August 17, 2017 [1] Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
15. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1990”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
16. ^ “BSFC Winners 1990s”. Boston Society of Film Critics. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
17. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 30, 1990). “Roger Ebert’s Best 10 Films of 1990”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
18. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 20, 1990). “Miami Blues”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
19. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 4, 1990). “Movie Review: Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990)”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
20. ^ Cult Movie Stars by Danny Peary (1991, Simon & Schuster), p.323
21. ^ “Rush”. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
22. ^ Schroeder, Barbet (August 14, 1992), Single White Female (Drama, Thriller), Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber, Columbia Pictures, retrieved May 22, 2023
23. ^ “1993 MTV Movie Awards”. MTV. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
24. ^ “2015 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards”. Chicago Film Critics Association. December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
25. ^ Berardinelli, James. “Georgia”. Reelviews.net. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
26. ^ Maslin, Janet (September 30, 1995). “Movie Review – Georgia”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
27. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1995 Awards”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on January 18, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
28. ^ Wilmington, Michael (September 7, 1995). “Montreal Festival Honors Grosbard’s Film, Star Leigh”. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
29. ^ Dretzka, Gary (January 12, 1996). “Film Nominations Are Independent-minded”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
30. ^ Maslin, Janet (March 17, 1996). “The Un-Nominated”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
31. ^ Templeton, David (April 1996). “On Her Mind”. Metro Silicon Valley. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
32. ^ “Past Awards”. National Society of Film Critics. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
33. ^ “Chicago Film Critics Awards – 1988–97”. Chicago Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
34. ^ Cronenberg, David (April 23, 1999), eXistenZ (Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi), Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Dimension Films, Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Television Fund, retrieved May 22, 2023
35. ^ Lasalle, Mick (November 24, 2004). “Despite a skinny star, ‘Machinist’ retains its weight”. San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
36. ^ “Canada’s Awards Database”. Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013.
37. ^ Hollywood com Staff (March 4, 2005). “”The Jacket” Interviews: Adrien Brody, Jennifer Jason Leigh and director John Maybury”. Tickets to Movies in Theaters, Broadway Shows, London Theatre & More | Hollywood.com. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
38. ^ Markovitz, Adam (April 16, 2009). “Jennifer Jason Leigh joins ‘Weeds'”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
39. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 12, 1993). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Hides Inside Roles”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
40. ^ Gold, Sylviane (June 2, 2002). “FILM; Ready to Play Anyone but Herself”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
41. ^ “American Cinematheque Presents… Hearts on Fire: A Tribute to Jennifer Jason Leigh”. American Cinematheque. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
42. ^ Keck, William (September 9, 2012). “Keck’s Exclusives First Look: Jennifer Jason Leigh Gets Her Revenge”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
43. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (July 11, 2015). “Quentin Tarantino Delivers Mind-Blowing Look At ‘Hateful Eight’ – Comic Con”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
44. ^ Ayers, Mike (December 10, 2015). “Jennifer Jason Leigh on Her Golden Globe Nod: ‘Quentin Demands the Best'”. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
45. ^ Lang, Brent (December 10, 2015). “‘Carol,’ Netflix Lead Golden Globes Nomination”. Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
46. ^ “Baftas 2016: full list of nominations”. The Guardian. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
47. ^ Collis, Clark (January 14, 2016). “Oscars 2016: Jennifer Jason Leigh reflects on first-ever nomination”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
48. ^ Simonson, Robert (August 20, 1998). “Cabaret Resumes B’way Performances Aug. 20”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
49. ^ Jones, Kenneth (August 6, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Is New Star of Proof on Broadway, Sept. 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
50. ^ Gans, Andrew (June 25, 2011). “House of Blue Leaves Ends Broadway Run June 25”. Playbill. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
51. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Lemons, Stephen (June 26, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh”. Salon. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
52. ^ “National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards”. National Board of Review. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
53. ^ “The Anniversary Party”. Rotten Tomatoes. June 24, 2001. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
54. ^ Dretzka, Gary (April 27, 1999). “Hyper ‘Existenz'”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
55. ^ Jennifer Jason Leigh – Leigh Would Not Have Shied Away From Brown Bunny Controversy Archived October 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Music, Film and Entertainment News, 2007/11/19
56. ^ Samborska, Agatha. “Faith No More Frequently Asked Questions”. Faith No More Official Website. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
57. ^ CCFPeace (February 14, 2024). “Open Letter – Eurovision 2024”. Creative Community for Peace –. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
58. ^ “Hundreds of Jewish creatives denounce ‘Zone of Interest’ director’s Oscars speech”. EW.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
59. ^ “Vic Morrow’s daughters settle suit over death”. The San Bernardino Sun. Associated Press. December 31, 1983. p. A-2. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. 
60. ^ Hunt, Chris (2007). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Interview”. ChrisHunt.biz. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
61. ^ “Single White Female Star Jennifer Jason Leigh Files For Divorce”. RadarOnline. November 23, 2010. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
62. ^ Lee, Ken (November 23, 2010). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Files for Divorce”. People. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
63. ^ Finn, Natalie (October 7, 2013). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Officially Divorced From Director Noah Baumbach”. E!. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
64. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} “Jennifer Jason Leigh (visual voices guide)”. Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 10, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title’s list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
65. ^ McNary, Dave (February 13, 2019). “Director Reclaims Rights to Documentary ’21 Years: Quentin Tarantino’ (EXCLUSIVE)”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
66. ^ Drake, Sylvie (April 8, 1986). “Stage Review : Revived ‘Picnic’ Offers A Mellow Spread”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
67. ^ O’Connor, John J. (November 12, 1986). “TV REVIEW; In Showtime’s ‘Picnic,’ Classic Gets New Look”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
68. ^ “Sunshine”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
69. ^ “Cabaret”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
70. ^ “Proof”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
71. ^ Gallo, Phil (September 15, 2005). “Review: ‘Theater of the New Ear'”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
72. ^ Swed, Mark (September 16, 2005). “Review: Theater Review: Lend an ear to Charlie Kaufman”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
73. ^ “Abigail’s Party”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
74. ^ Hernandez, Ernio (March 11, 2006). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Leaves Abigail’s Party Off-Broadway March 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
75. ^ “The House of Blue Leaves”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
76. ^ Simonson, Robert (April 27, 2006). “The Drowsy Chaperone Leads 2006 Drama Desk Nominations”. Playbill. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
77. ^ “2006 Nominations”. Lucille Lortel Awards. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

Further reading

[edit]

• Dunn, Jancee (November 30, 1995). “Jennifer Jason Leigh — She’s the Queen of the Ravaged, Boozed Up, and Strung Out”. Rolling Stone. p. 57.
• “Anima Animus: Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Bisexual Method in Last Exit to Brooklyn“ by Ian Murphy (article in Alphaville journal)

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer Jason Leigh.

• Jennifer Jason Leigh at IMDb
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• In-depth interview at Museum of Moving Image in 1994 Archived March 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
• Article in Alphaville journal
• Jennifer Jason Leigh on Instagram

showAwards for Jennifer Jason Leigh

showAuthority control databases

Categories: 

• 1962 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American Jews
• Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles
• American child actresses
• American film actresses
• American musical theatre actresses
• American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American women film producers
• American women screenwriters
• Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
• Film producers from California
• Jewish American actresses
• Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
• Screenwriters from California
• Volpi Cup winners
• Writers from Los Angeles

• This page was last edited on 7 February 2025, at 01:44 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers
• Contact Wikipedia
• Code of Conduct
• Developers
• Statistics
• Cookie statement
• Mobile view

Search

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

Add topicMain menu

Search

• Donate
• Create account
• Log in

Personal tools

Contents

hide

• (Top)
• Early life
• CareerToggle Career subsection
  • 1976–1989
  • 1990–1999
  • 2000–2009
  • 2010–present
  • Stage roles
  • Writing and directing
• Other work
• Personal life
• PerformancesToggle Performances subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• AwardsToggle Awards subsection
  • Film
  • Television
  • Stage
• References
• Further reading
• External links

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

• Article
• Talk

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools

Appearancehide

Text

• SmallStandardLarge

Width

• StandardWide

Color (beta)

• AutomaticLightDark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Jason Leigh
Leigh in 2015
Born	Jennifer Leigh Morrow February 5, 1962 (age 63)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Noah Baumbach​​(m. 2005; div. 2013)​
Children	1
Parents	Vic MorrowBarbara Turner

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).

Leigh starred in a 1995 film written by her mother, screenwriter Barbara Turner, titled Georgia. She co-wrote and co-directed a film with Alan Cumming titled The Anniversary Party (2001). Leigh starred in the crime drama Road to Perdition (2002) and the family drama Margot at the Wedding (2007). She had a recurring role on the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds (2009–2012) and received critical acclaim for her voice work in Charlie Kaufman‘s Anomalisa (2015). For her role as fugitive Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight (2015), she was nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 2017 to 2021, she starred in the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical, while featuring in the science fiction films Annihilation (2018) and Possessor (2020). She has since starred in the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo (2023).

For her stage work, Leigh was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her off-Broadway performance as Beverly Moss in Mike Leigh‘s Abigail’s Party. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1998, when she became the replacement for the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret.

Early life

[edit]

Leigh was born February 5, 1962,^[2] in Los Angeles, California.^[3] Her father, Vic Morrow (born Victor Morozoff), was an actor, and her mother, Barbara Turner, was a screenwriter.^[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was two.^[6] Leigh’s birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name “Jason” in honor of actor Jason Robards, a family friend. Leigh’s parents were Jewish; her father’s family was from Russia and her mother’s from Austria.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Leigh is the younger of two daughters. Her older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a “technical advisor” on her 1995 film Georgia, died in 2016.^[13] Leigh also has a half-sister, actress Mina Badie (born ‘Badiyi’ – from her mother’s second marriage). Badie acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party. Film director Reza Badiyi became Leigh’s stepfather when he married Leigh’s mother, Barbara.

Career

[edit]

1976–1989

[edit]

Leigh had a nonspeaking role in her film debut Death of a Stranger (The Execution) (1973). At the age of 14, she attended acting workshops, taught by Lee Strasberg, and the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Afterwards, she landed a role in the film The Young Runaways (1978). She also appeared in an episode of Baretta and an episode of The Waltons. Several television films followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision. She made her film debut, as a blind, deaf and mute rape victim in the 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger. She left school to star in the film.^[5]

In 1982, Leigh played a pregnant teenager in Amy Heckerling‘s high school film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which served as a launching pad for several of its young stars. While decrying the writing as sexist and exploitative, film critic Roger Ebert was enthusiastic about the acting, singling out Leigh and writing, “Don’t they know they have a star on their hands?”^[14] With the exception of Ridgemont High and a supporting role in the comedy film Easy Money (1983) alongside Rodney Dangerfield, Leigh’s early film work consisted of playing fragile, damaged or neurotic characters in low-budget horror or thriller genre films. She played a virginal princess kidnapped and raped by mercenaries in Flesh and Blood (1985), an innocent waitress pursued by the psychopathic title character in The Hitcher (1986) (both films pitting her alongside Rutger Hauer), a mentally-disturbed, child-like young woman on the threshold of sexual awakening in the Southern Gothic film Sister, Sister (1987), and a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Heart of Midnight (1989).

1990–1999

[edit]

In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was awarded New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress^[15] and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress^[16] for her portrayals of two very different prostitutes: the tough streetwalker Tralala who is brutally gang-raped in Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Susie, a 23-year-old prostitute who falls in love with ex-con Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues. Roger Ebert included Last Exit in his list of Best Movies of 1990, calling Leigh’s performance brave,^[17] though his review of Miami Blues was much less sympathetic, simultaneously criticizing Leigh’s ability to play dumb roles and praising her ability to play smart roles.^[18] Entertainment Weekly called her “the Meryl Streep of bimbos”.^[19]

In his 1991 book Cult Movie Stars, Danny Peary described Leigh as “an interesting, always watchable, and extremely talented young actress,” summarizing her appeal “For those who believe that the preacher’s angelic-looking daughter is as interested in sex as the farmer’s daughter. This pretty, sweet-looking blonde has played a number of shy and innocent-looking women who are curious about sex; once they learn, they display wicked imaginations.” Peary added, “Leigh seems too gentle and looks too young and innocent to play the parts she has taken. Her females are either hungry for sex and/or have been psychologically affected by past sexual incidents… Her characters are vulnerable and almost always victimised, but usually they gave surprising resilience, and try to use their bad experiences to make themselves stronger.”^[20]

Leigh was cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft (1991), in which she played a more conventional role, the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin. She found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush (1991), portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric. Reviewing Rush, Roger Ebert noted, “Leigh of course is a veteran by now of grubby characters in sleazy films; she has become one of the best young actresses by accepting roles some of her contemporaries would not even consider… After her extraordinary work as a doomed prostitute in Last Exit to Brooklyn, here she is again, looking sweet and wholesome, and descending into a world of people who have forgotten their better natures.”^[21] Leigh’s next film, Single White Female (1992), was a surprise box-office success, bringing Leigh to her largest mainstream audience yet, portraying a mentally-ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda.^[22]

Leigh was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards^[23] and nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.^[24] Leigh co-starred with Kathy Bates as a tormented, pill-popping woman hiding a history of childhood sexual abuse in the adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel Dolores Claiborne (1995). Leigh achieved her greatest acclaim in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia (1995). For the role, Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (41 kg) and sang all of her songs live, including a rambling 8+¹⁄₂-minute version of Van Morrison‘s “Take Me Back”. Georgia was met with critical praise. James Berardinelli wrote, “There are times when it’s uncomfortable to watch this performance because it’s so powerful”,^[25] and Janet Maslin of The New York Times described Leigh’s “fierce, risk-taking performance and flashes of overwhelming honesty”.^[26]

Leigh won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress^[27] and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival,^[28] as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination and Sensual Knife fight nomination^[29] Some expressed surprise that she was not nominated for an Academy Award,^[30][31] while Winningham was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Throughout the 1990s, Leigh worked with many independent film directors. She worked with Robert Altman in Short Cuts (1993), playing a phone-sex operator, and Kansas City (1996), as a streetwise kidnapper. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and called him her mentor.^[4] In a change of pace from her “bad girl” roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers‘ comic homage to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph‘s film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress,^[32] as well as Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress^[33] and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics Best Actress Award.

In another change of pace, she starred in Agnieszka Holland‘s version of the Henry James novel Washington Square (1997), as a mousy 19th-century heiress courted by a gold digger. In 1998, she appeared alongside Campbell Scott in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television film The Love Letter. In David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999), she played a virtual-reality game designer who becomes lost in her own creation.^[34]

2000–2009

[edit]

Leigh had a brief role as a gangster’s doomed wife in Sam Mendes‘s Road to Perdition (2002) and co-starred as Meg Ryan‘s brutally murdered sister in Jane Campion‘s erotic thriller In the Cut (2003). She went on to play Stevie, the prostitute girlfriend of Christian Bale‘s character in the dark thriller The Machinist (2004). Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle commented that “As the downtrodden, sexy, trusting, and quietly funny prostitute, Leigh is, of course, in her element”.^[35] Her performance as a manipulative stage mother in Don McKellar‘s film Childstar won her a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in 2005.^[36]

After many years of wanting to be in a Todd Solondz film,^[5] she appeared in Palindromes (2004). She also appeared in the psychological thriller The Jacket (2005), alongside Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.^[37] Leigh appeared in the 2008 ensemble film Synecdoche, New York and has acted in two films written and directed by her then-partner Noah Baumbach: Margot at the Wedding, co-starring Nicole Kidman, and Greenberg. Leigh has said that the roles were not specifically written for her, as Baumbach does not write roles with actors in mind.^[4] In 2009, Leigh was cast in the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds,^[38] becoming a regular guest in the eighth season.

Leigh has received three separate career tributes: at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993,^[39] a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002,^[40] and a week-long retrospective of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles’s Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in 2001.^[41]

2010–present

[edit]

Leigh joined the drama series Revenge on ABC in 2012.^[42] In 2015, Leigh starred in Quentin Tarantino‘s western film The Hateful Eight. It is set in Wyoming after the Civil War, and was released on December 25. Leigh, along with the rest of the cast, appeared at San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film in July 2015.^[43] Leigh’s performance has received multiple award nominations at various award ceremonies, including her third Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture,^[44][45] her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role^[46] and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[47] In 2017, Leigh was reunited with her Hateful Eight co-star Tim Roth when the pair played a husband-and-wife team of contract killers in six episodes of Showtime‘s revival of David Lynch and Mark Frost‘s Twin Peaks.

Leigh played psychiatrist Dr. Ventress in the 2018 science fiction film Annihilation, alongside Natalie Portman, directed by Alex Garland and based on the novel by Jeff VanDerMeer.

In 2019, Leigh appeared in two episodes of Showtime’s last season of The Affair. She appeared in Brandon Cronenberg‘s science fiction thriller Possessor in 2020. In 2022, Leigh was cast in a lead role as Lorraine Lyon in the fifth season of the FX black comedy crime drama anthology series Fargo.

Stage roles

[edit]

In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes‘s Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, succeeding Natasha Richardson, who originated the role in Mendes’s production.^[48] She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway in 2001.^[49] Her other theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine and Abigail’s Party. In 2011, she played Bunny in the Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves in New York City alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.^[50]

Writing and directing

[edit]

In 2001, Leigh co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party, an independently produced feature film about a recently reconciled married couple who assemble their friends at their Hollywood Hills house, ostensibly to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. As the evening progresses, the party disintegrates into emotional confrontations and bitter arguments as the façade of their happy marriage crumbles. Leigh was inspired by her recent experience filming the low-budget Dogme 95 film The King Is Alive.^[51] Leigh and co-writer Alan Cumming drew freely from their personal experiences in the writing of the film.^[51] Leigh plays an aging actress who makes jokes about her lack of Academy Award nominations and is fearful of losing her bisexual husband (Cumming). The film was shot in 19 days on digital video,^[4] and costarred the pair’s real-life Hollywood friends,^[51] including Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, John C. Reilly, Parker Posey, and Leigh’s sister Mina Badie. Leigh and Cumming jointly received a citation for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review,^[52] and were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. The film received generally positive reviews.^[53]

Other work

[edit]

Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick‘s final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as a grieving patient of Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) who declares her love for him after her father’s death. Kubrick wanted to reshoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ; instead, her scenes were cut, and the role was recast with Marie Richardson.^[54] Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo‘s girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that “it just didn’t work out” and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny.^[55] In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More‘s music video for “Last Cup of Sorrow“.^[56] She was selected as one of “America’s 10 Most Beautiful Women” by Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1989 and served as a jury member at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in 2000. She narrated the audiobook for Quentin Tarantino‘s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent war, Leigh has heavily voiced support for Israel on Instagram. On February 14, 2024, Leigh signed an open letter written by pro-Israel organization Creative Community for Peace criticizing attempts to remove Israel from Eurovision 2024.^[57] Following Jonathan Glazer‘s acceptance speech at the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film in which he denounced his “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation…”, Leigh was one of 1,000 Jewish members of the film industry who denounced Glazer’s speech and defended the Israeli government’s actions in another open letter.^[58]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1982, Leigh’s father, Vic Morrow, was accidentally killed along with two child actors when a helicopter stunt went wrong during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis, and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court a year later.^[59]

Leigh has described herself as shy, introverted, and averse to Hollywood publicity and scandal.^[6][60] Speaking about her roles in smaller, independent films, she said, “I’d much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can’t remember because it’s just like all the others.”^[5]

She met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach in 2001 while starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005. Their son was born on March 17, 2010. Leigh filed for divorce on November 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.^[61] She sought spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple’s son, with visitation for Baumbach.^[62] The divorce was finalized in September 2013.^[63]

Performances

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Eyes of a Stranger	Tracy Harris
1982	Wrong Is Right	Young Girl
	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Stacy Hamilton
1983	Easy Money	Allison Capuletti
1984	Grandview, U.S.A.	Candy Webster
1985	Flesh + Blood	Agnes
1986	The Hitcher	Nash
	The Men’s Club	Teensy
1987	Sister, Sister	Lucy Bonnard
	Under Cover	Tanille Lareoux
1988	Heart of Midnight	Carol Rivers
1989	The Big Picture	Lydia Johnson
	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Tralala
1990	Miami Blues	Susie Waggoner
1991	Backdraft	Jennifer Vaitkus
	Crooked Hearts	Marriet Hoffman
	Rush	Kristen Cates
1992	Single White Female	Hedra ‘Hedy’ Carlson/Ellen Besch
1993	Short Cuts	Lois Kaiser
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Amy Archer
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Dorothy Parker
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Selena St. George
	Georgia	Sadie Flood	Also producer
1996	Kansas City	Blondie O’Hara
	Bastard Out of Carolina	Anney Boatwright
1997	Washington Square	Catherine Sloper
	A Thousand Acres	Caroline Cook
1999	eXistenZ	Allegra Geller
2000	The King Is Alive	Gina
	Skipped Parts	Lydia Callahan	Also co-producer
2001	The Anniversary Party	Sally Therrian	Also co-writer, co-producer and co-director with Alan Cumming
	The Quickie	Lisa
2002	Hey Arnold!: The Movie	Bridget	Voice[64]
	Road to Perdition	Annie Sullivan
	Crossed Over	Karla Faye Tucker
2003	In the Cut	Pauline
2004	The Machinist	Stevie
	Palindromes	Mark Aviva
	Childstar	Suzanne
2005	The Jacket	Dr. Beth Lorenson
	Rag Tale	Mary Josephine Morton
2007	Margot at the Wedding	Pauline
2008	Synecdoche, New York	Maria
2010	Greenberg	Beth	Also writer and producer
2013	The Spectacular Now	Sara
	Kill Your Darlings	Naomi Ginsberg
	The Moment	Lee
	Hateship, Loveship	Chloe
	Jake Squared	Sheryl
2014	Welcome to Me	Deb Moseley
	Me	Kelly
2015	Alex of Venice	Maureen
	Anomalisa	Lisa	Voice[64]
	The Hateful Eight	‘Crazy’ Daisy Domergue
2016	Morgan	Dr. Kathy Grieff
	LBJ	Lady Bird Johnson
2017	Good Time	Corey
	Amityville: The Awakening	Joan Walker
2018	Annihilation	Dr. Ventress
	White Boy Rick	FBI Agent Alex Snyder
2019	Sid & Judy	Judy Garland	Documentary film; Also voice role
	QT8: The First Eight	Herself	Documentary film[65]
2020	Possessor	Girder
2021	The Woman in the Window	Jane Russell
	Awake	Murphy
2022	Sharp Stick	Marilyn
2023	Poolman	Susan
TBA	Night Always Comes		Post-production
	Crime 101		Filming

Television

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Baretta	Marcie	Episode: “Open Season”
1978	Family	Jenny Blair	Episode: “And Baby Makes Three”
	The Wonderful World of Disney	Heather	Episode: “The Young Runaways”
1980	Angel City	Kristy Teeter	Television film
1981	The Waltons	Kathy Seals	Episode: “The Pursuit”
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laurie Mcintyre	Episode: “I Think I’m Having a Baby”
	The Killing of Randy Webster	Amy Wheeler	Television film
	The Best Little Girl in the World	Casey Powell
1982	Trapper John, M.D.	Karen McCall	Episode: “The One and Only”
	The First Time	Bonnie Dillon	Television film
1983	ABC Afterschool Special	Andrea Fairchild	Episode: “Have You Ever Been Ashamed of Your Parents?”
	Girls of the White Orchid	Carol Heath	Television film; alternative title Death Ride to Osaka
1990	Buried Alive	Joanna Goodman	Television film
1998	The Love Letter	Elizabeth Whitcomb
	King of the Hill	Amy	Voice, episode: “I Remember Mono”
	Tracey Takes On…	Paige Garland	Episode: “Sports”
	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Alexandra	Voice, episode: “Gratitude”[64]
	Thanks of a Grateful Nation	Teri Small	Television film
	Hercules	Tempest	Voice, 4 episodes
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Cetea	Voice, episode: “Absolute Power”[64]
	Todd McFarlane’s Spawn	Lily	Voice, 2 episodes[64]
2000	Twitch City	Faith	Episode: “The Life of Reilly”
2001	Frasier	Estelle	Voice, episode: “The Two Hundredth”
2002	Mission Hill	Eunice Eulmeyer	Voice, episode: “Kevin Loves Weirdie”
2009–2012	Weeds	Jill Price-Gray	16 episodes
2012	Revenge	Kara Clarke-Murphy	7 episodes
2014	Open	Holly	Pilot
2017	Twin Peaks	Chantal Hutchens	6 episodes
2017–2021	Atypical	Elsa Gardner	38 episodes; also producer
2018	Patrick Melrose	Eleanor Melrose	5 episodes
2019	The Affair	Adeline Taylor	2 episodes
2021	Lisey’s Story	Darla Debusher	8 episodes
2023	Hunters	Chava Apfelbaum	7 episodes
2023–2024	Fargo	Lorraine Lyon	Season 5; main role

Stage

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Theater	Notes
1986	Picnic	Madge Owens	Ahmanson Theatre	April 8, 1986 – May 24, 1986[66][67]
1989	Sunshine	Sunshine	Circle Repertory Theatre	December 9, 1989 – January 14, 1990[68]
1998	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Stephen Sondheim Theatre Studio 54	August 4, 1998 – February 28, 1999[69]
2001	Proof	Catherine	Walter Kerr Theatre	September 13, 2001 – June 30, 2002[70]
2005	Theater of the New Ear: Anomalisa	Lisa	Royce Hall	September 14, 2005 – September 16, 2005[71][72]
2005	Abigail’s Party	Beverly	Acorn Theater	December 1, 2005 – March 11, 2006[73][74]
2011	The House of Blue Leaves	Bunny Flingus	Walter Kerr Theatre	April 25, 2011 – June 25, 2011[75]

Awards

[edit]

Film

[edit]

Short Cuts

• Golden Globe Special Ensemble Cast Award (non-competitive)
• Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

• Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Anomalisa

• Nominated – Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
• Nominated – Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female

The Hateful Eight

• Won – Capri Supporting Actress Award
• Won – CinEuphoria Awards for Best Actress
• Won – National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – North Texas Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – Online Film & Television Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Won – San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
• Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Nominated – AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Austin Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Denver Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Georgia Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Gold Derby Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Golden Schmoes Awards for Best Supporting Actress of the Year
• Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – IndieWire Critics’ Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – North Carolina Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Phoenix Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Seattle Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – St. Louis Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Vancouver Film Critics Circle for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Village Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting Actress
• Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress

Television

[edit]

Thanks from a Grateful Nation

• Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film

Stage

[edit]

Abigail’s Party

• Nominated — Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play^[76]
• Nominated — Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress^[77]

References

[edit]

1. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh – Movies, TV Shows & Son – Biography”. March 30, 2021.
2. ^ “Celebrity birthdays for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5”. AP News. January 24, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
3. ^ “Jennifer Jason Leigh Biography”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Tobias, Scott (November 21, 2007). “Interview: Jennifer Jason Leigh”. The Onion A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Williams, Zoe (March 12, 2005). “What you see and what you get”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 1999
7. ^ “Actor Eulogized For Finest Performance”. The Tuscaloosa News. July 27, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
8. ^ “Age: A State of Mind”. San Jose Mercury News. August 10, 1992. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
9. ^ Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 504. ISBN 0-7119-9512-5.
10. ^ Interfaith Family: “Interfaith Celebrities: Santa’s Jewish Family, and Margot at the Wedding’s Near-Minyan” Archived July 13, 2019, at the Wayback Machine By Nate Bloom. November 22, 2007
11. ^ Friedman, Gabe (February 26, 2016). “5 incredible Jewish stories behind this year’s Oscars”. JTA.org. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
12. ^ “Good Time”. AMC Theatres. August 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2018. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry.
13. ^ Sister’s passing mentioned by Leigh in Marc Maron WTF Podcast interview on August 17, 2017 [1] Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
15. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1990”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
16. ^ “BSFC Winners 1990s”. Boston Society of Film Critics. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
17. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 30, 1990). “Roger Ebert’s Best 10 Films of 1990”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
18. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 20, 1990). “Miami Blues”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
19. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 4, 1990). “Movie Review: Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990)”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
20. ^ Cult Movie Stars by Danny Peary (1991, Simon & Schuster), p.323
21. ^ “Rush”. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
22. ^ Schroeder, Barbet (August 14, 1992), Single White Female (Drama, Thriller), Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber, Columbia Pictures, retrieved May 22, 2023
23. ^ “1993 MTV Movie Awards”. MTV. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
24. ^ “2015 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards”. Chicago Film Critics Association. December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
25. ^ Berardinelli, James. “Georgia”. Reelviews.net. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
26. ^ Maslin, Janet (September 30, 1995). “Movie Review – Georgia”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
27. ^ “New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1995 Awards”. New York Film Critics Circle. Archived from the original on January 18, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
28. ^ Wilmington, Michael (September 7, 1995). “Montreal Festival Honors Grosbard’s Film, Star Leigh”. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
29. ^ Dretzka, Gary (January 12, 1996). “Film Nominations Are Independent-minded”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
30. ^ Maslin, Janet (March 17, 1996). “The Un-Nominated”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
31. ^ Templeton, David (April 1996). “On Her Mind”. Metro Silicon Valley. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
32. ^ “Past Awards”. National Society of Film Critics. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
33. ^ “Chicago Film Critics Awards – 1988–97”. Chicago Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
34. ^ Cronenberg, David (April 23, 1999), eXistenZ (Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi), Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Dimension Films, Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Television Fund, retrieved May 22, 2023
35. ^ Lasalle, Mick (November 24, 2004). “Despite a skinny star, ‘Machinist’ retains its weight”. San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
36. ^ “Canada’s Awards Database”. Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013.
37. ^ Hollywood com Staff (March 4, 2005). “”The Jacket” Interviews: Adrien Brody, Jennifer Jason Leigh and director John Maybury”. Tickets to Movies in Theaters, Broadway Shows, London Theatre & More | Hollywood.com. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
38. ^ Markovitz, Adam (April 16, 2009). “Jennifer Jason Leigh joins ‘Weeds'”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
39. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 12, 1993). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Hides Inside Roles”. RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
40. ^ Gold, Sylviane (June 2, 2002). “FILM; Ready to Play Anyone but Herself”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
41. ^ “American Cinematheque Presents… Hearts on Fire: A Tribute to Jennifer Jason Leigh”. American Cinematheque. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
42. ^ Keck, William (September 9, 2012). “Keck’s Exclusives First Look: Jennifer Jason Leigh Gets Her Revenge”. TV Guide. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
43. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (July 11, 2015). “Quentin Tarantino Delivers Mind-Blowing Look At ‘Hateful Eight’ – Comic Con”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
44. ^ Ayers, Mike (December 10, 2015). “Jennifer Jason Leigh on Her Golden Globe Nod: ‘Quentin Demands the Best'”. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
45. ^ Lang, Brent (December 10, 2015). “‘Carol,’ Netflix Lead Golden Globes Nomination”. Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
46. ^ “Baftas 2016: full list of nominations”. The Guardian. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
47. ^ Collis, Clark (January 14, 2016). “Oscars 2016: Jennifer Jason Leigh reflects on first-ever nomination”. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
48. ^ Simonson, Robert (August 20, 1998). “Cabaret Resumes B’way Performances Aug. 20”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
49. ^ Jones, Kenneth (August 6, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Is New Star of Proof on Broadway, Sept. 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
50. ^ Gans, Andrew (June 25, 2011). “House of Blue Leaves Ends Broadway Run June 25”. Playbill. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
51. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Lemons, Stephen (June 26, 2001). “Jennifer Jason Leigh”. Salon. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
52. ^ “National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards”. National Board of Review. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
53. ^ “The Anniversary Party”. Rotten Tomatoes. June 24, 2001. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
54. ^ Dretzka, Gary (April 27, 1999). “Hyper ‘Existenz'”. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
55. ^ Jennifer Jason Leigh – Leigh Would Not Have Shied Away From Brown Bunny Controversy Archived October 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Music, Film and Entertainment News, 2007/11/19
56. ^ Samborska, Agatha. “Faith No More Frequently Asked Questions”. Faith No More Official Website. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
57. ^ CCFPeace (February 14, 2024). “Open Letter – Eurovision 2024”. Creative Community for Peace –. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
58. ^ “Hundreds of Jewish creatives denounce ‘Zone of Interest’ director’s Oscars speech”. EW.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
59. ^ “Vic Morrow’s daughters settle suit over death”. The San Bernardino Sun. Associated Press. December 31, 1983. p. A-2. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. 
60. ^ Hunt, Chris (2007). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Interview”. ChrisHunt.biz. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
61. ^ “Single White Female Star Jennifer Jason Leigh Files For Divorce”. RadarOnline. November 23, 2010. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
62. ^ Lee, Ken (November 23, 2010). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Files for Divorce”. People. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
63. ^ Finn, Natalie (October 7, 2013). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Officially Divorced From Director Noah Baumbach”. E!. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
64. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} “Jennifer Jason Leigh (visual voices guide)”. Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 10, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title’s list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
65. ^ McNary, Dave (February 13, 2019). “Director Reclaims Rights to Documentary ’21 Years: Quentin Tarantino’ (EXCLUSIVE)”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
66. ^ Drake, Sylvie (April 8, 1986). “Stage Review : Revived ‘Picnic’ Offers A Mellow Spread”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
67. ^ O’Connor, John J. (November 12, 1986). “TV REVIEW; In Showtime’s ‘Picnic,’ Classic Gets New Look”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
68. ^ “Sunshine”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
69. ^ “Cabaret”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
70. ^ “Proof”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
71. ^ Gallo, Phil (September 15, 2005). “Review: ‘Theater of the New Ear'”. Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
72. ^ Swed, Mark (September 16, 2005). “Review: Theater Review: Lend an ear to Charlie Kaufman”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
73. ^ “Abigail’s Party”. Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
74. ^ Hernandez, Ernio (March 11, 2006). “Jennifer Jason Leigh Leaves Abigail’s Party Off-Broadway March 11”. Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
75. ^ “The House of Blue Leaves”. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
76. ^ Simonson, Robert (April 27, 2006). “The Drowsy Chaperone Leads 2006 Drama Desk Nominations”. Playbill. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
77. ^ “2006 Nominations”. Lucille Lortel Awards. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

Further reading

[edit]

• Dunn, Jancee (November 30, 1995). “Jennifer Jason Leigh — She’s the Queen of the Ravaged, Boozed Up, and Strung Out”. Rolling Stone. p. 57.
• “Anima Animus: Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Bisexual Method in Last Exit to Brooklyn“ by Ian Murphy (article in Alphaville journal)

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer Jason Leigh.

• Jennifer Jason Leigh at IMDb
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jennifer Jason Leigh at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• In-depth interview at Museum of Moving Image in 1994 Archived March 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
• Article in Alphaville journal
• Jennifer Jason Leigh on Instagram

showAwards for Jennifer Jason Leigh

showAuthority control databases

Categories: 

• 1962 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American Jews
• Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles
• American child actresses
• American film actresses
• American musical theatre actresses
• American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American women film producers
• American women screenwriters
• Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
• Film producers from California
• Jewish American actresses
• Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
• Screenwriters from California
• Volpi Cup winners
• Writers from Los Angeles

• This page was last edited on 7 February 2025, at 01:44 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers
• Contact Wikipedia
• Code of Conduct
• Developers
• Statistics
• Cookie statement
• Mobile view

Search

Jennifer Jason Leigh

48 languages

Add topic