| Melissa Leo |
Leo at the 2009 premiere of Whatever Works |
| Born |
Melissa Chessington Leo
September 14, 1960 (1960-09-14) (age 49)
Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress |
| Years active |
1984–present |
Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960), also known as Margaret May II or Margaret May, is an American actress best known for playing the tough-minded shift-Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street from 1993–1997. She has also been a regular on All My Children and The Young Riders. Feature films she has appeared in include A Time of Destiny, Last Summer in the Hamptons, 21 Grams, Confess, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. In 2009, she received an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the 81st Academy Awards for her role in Frozen River. Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer hailed her as "one of America's most underrated character actresses"[1].
Personal life
Leo was born in Manhattan,[2] New York City, New York, the daughter of Peggy, a teacher, and Arnold Leo, an editor at Grove Press, fisherman, and spokesman for the East Hampton Baymen's Association.[3][4] She has a son with actor and former boyfriend John Heard named John Matthew Heard (born 1987).
Leo was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[2] She is a former resident of Putney, Vermont[5] and now lives in Stone Ridge, New York.[6]
Awards and nominations
In 1985 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy at the Daytime Emmy Awards/12th Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in a Drama Series for All My Children.
Melissa Leo, January 2006
In 2004 she won the PFCS Award at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards for Best Ensemble Acting for 21 Grams (2003) shared with Kevin Chapman, Benicio Del Toro, Teresa Delgado, Clea DuVall, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Danny Huston, Eddie Marsan, Marc Musso, Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. She was also the runner-up for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress for 21 Grams.
In 2006 she won the Bronze Wrangler at the Western Heritage Awards for Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) shared with Tommy Lee Jones (Film producer/actor), Michael Fitzgerald (Film producer), Luc Besson (Film producer), Pierre-Ange Le Pogam (Film producer), Guillermo Arriaga (screenwriter), Barry Pepper (actor), Dwight Yoakam (actor), Julio Cedillo (actor), Levon Helm (actor), January Jones (actress) and Vanessa Bauche (actress).
In 2008 she won the Maverick Actor Award and also the Best Actress award at the Method Fest for Lullaby (2008). Her performance in the film Frozen River earned her the Best Actress award from the Independent Spirit Awards and nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards, and the Academy Awards. Roger Ebert backed her for an oscar win stating,"Best Actress: Melissa Leo. What a complete performance, evoking a woman's life in a time of economic hardship. The most timely of films, but that isn't reason enough. I was struck by how intensely determined she was to make the payments, support her two children, carry on after her abandonment by a gambling husband, and still maintain rules and goals around the house. This was a heroic woman.
"The film's premise seems unlikely: A poor woman in a part-time job fights to survive. She gets some help from her concerned teenage son. She catches another desperate woman trying to steal her car. They team up to drive across a frozen river to smuggle immigrants from Canada to the USA. This could have made a terrible movie.
"Courtney Hunt, the writer-director, works with Leo to make this unlikely woman convincing and believable. There is no strain, no going for effects. Leo plays very close to the bone, closer to the soul. She does what she does because her kids can't live on breakfast cereal and Tang. She is never pathetic. She is resourceful. She trusts herself. She's trying to raise good kids. I cared deeply for her, I even loved the character, so there's my vote."
She also received the Spotlight award from the National Board of Review.
Filmography
Film
- Always (1985) .... Peggy
- Streetwalkin' (1985) .... Cookie
- Silent Witness (1985) (TV) .... Patti Mullen
- Deadtime Stories (1986) .... Judith 'MaMa' Baer
- A Time of Destiny (1988) .... Josie Larraneta
- Nasty Boys (1989) (TV) .... Katie Morrisey
- The Bride in Black (1990) (TV) .... Mary Margaret
- Carolina Skeletons (1991) (TV) .... Cassie
- Immaculate Conception (1992) .... Hannah
- Venice/Venice (1992) .... Peggy
- The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) .... Beatrice Grey
- Garden (1994) .... Elizabeth
- Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995) .... Trish
- In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice (1995) (TV) .... Carol Manning
- Under the Bridge (1997) .... Kathy
- The 24 Hour Woman (1999) .... Dr. Suzanne Pincus
- Code of Ethics (1999) .... Jo DeAngelo
- Homicide: The Movie (2000) (TV) .... Det. Sgt. Kay Howard
- Fear of Fiction (2000) .... Sigrid Anderssen
- 21 Grams (2003) .... Marianne Jordan
- First Breath (2004) .... Detective Waxman
- From Other Worlds (2004) .... Miriam
- Hide and Seek (2005) .... Laura
- Runaway (2005) .... Lisa Adler
- No Shoulder (2005) .... Ruth
- Patch (2005) .... Maelynn
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) .... Rachel
- American Gun (2005) .... Louise
- Confess (2005) .... Agnes Lessor
- Stephanie Daley (2006) .... Miri
- The Limbo Room (2006) .... KC Collins
- Hollywood Dreams (2006) .... Aunt Bee
- The House is Burning (2006) .... Mrs. Miller
- Falling Objects (2006) .... Helga
- Bomb (2007) .... Sharon
- Midnight Son (2007) .... Rita
- Black Irish (2007) .... Margaret McKay
- The Cake Eaters (2007) .... Ceci
- Racing Daylight (2007) .... Sadie Stokes/Anna Stokes
- I Believe in America (2007) .... Soto
- Mr. Woodcock (2007) .... Sally Jansen
- One Night (2007) .... Wendy
- Frozen River (2008) .... Ray Eddy
- The Alphabet Killer (2008) .... Kathy Walsh
- Lullaby (2008) .... Stephanie
- Santa Mesa (2008) .... Maggie
- Ball Don't Lie (2008) .... Georgia
- This Is a Story About Ted and Alice (2008) .... Alice
- Righteous Kill (2008) .... Cheryl Brooks
- Predisposed (2008) .... Penny
- Greta (2009) .... Karen
- Stephanie's Image (2009) .... Stephanie
- True Adolescents (2009) .... Sharon
- Veronika Decides to Die (2009) .... Mari
- Dear Lemon Lima (2009) .... Mrs. Howard
- Don McKay (2009) .... Marie
- Welcome to the Rileys (2009) .... Mrs. Riley
- Everybody's Fine (2009) .... TBA
- Betty Anne Waters (2009) .... TBA
- The Dry Land (2010) .... Martha
- The Fighter (2010) .... TBA
Television
- All My Children (contract player, 1984-1985) .... Linda Warner
- The Equalizer (1 episode, The Defector, 1985) .... Irina Dzershinsky
- Spenser: For Hire (1 episode, Mary Hamilton, 1987) .... Mary Hamilton
- Miami Vice (1 episode, Bad Timing, 1988) .... Kathleen Gilfords
- Gideon Oliver (1 episode, Kennonite, 1989) .... Rebecca Hecht
- The Young Riders (24 episodes, 1989-1990) .... Emma Shannon
- Law & Order (3 episodes, Sweeps, Who Let the Dogs Out? and Personae Non Grata, 1993-2008) .... Alice Sutton / Sherri Quinn / Donna Cheponis
- Scarlett (1994) TV mini-series .... Suellen O'Hara Benteen
- Homicide: Life on the Street (76 episodes, 1993-1997) .... Detective Sgt. Kay Howard
- Legacy (2 episodes, Emma and The Search Party, 1998) .... Emma Bradford
- Veronica Mars (1 episode, Meet John Smith, 2004) .... Julia Smith
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (1 episode, Harvest, 2004) .... Sybil Perez
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (1 episode, The Good Child, 2005) .... Maureen Curtis
- The L Word (3 episodes, Luminous, Loyal and Lacuna, 2005) .... Winnie Mann
- Shark (1 episode, Pilot, 2006) .... Elizabeth Rourke
- Criminal Minds (1 episode, No Way Out, 2007) .... Georgia Davis
- Cold Case (1 episode, Thrill Kill, 2007) .... Tayna Raymes '94-'07
- Treme (unknown episodes, 2010) .... TBA
References
External links
