Jane Leeves
| Jane Leeves | |
|---|---|
 Leeves in August 2012 |
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| Born | 18 April 1961 Ilford, Essex, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse(s) | Marshall Coben (1996–present) |
| Children | Isabella Kathryn Coben (b. 2001) Finn William Leeves Coben (b. 2003) |
Jane Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English film, stage and television actress, comedienne and dancer.
Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in the 1983 popular British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show. Leeves moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles until she secured a recurring part in the television sitcom Murphy Brown. In 1986–1988, Leeves garnered her first leading role in the short-lived sitcom Throb[1] and, in 1993, achieved wider fame as Daphne Moon on the television sitcom Frasier for the entire run of the series, from 1993 until 2004, for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards during the show's run.[2] She received further recognition for her performances in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Music of the Heart (1999) and The Event (2003).
More recently she has worked in television production, but beginning in June 2010, Leeves returned to acting, as Joy on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.[3]
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Early life [edit]
Leeves was born in Ilford, Essex before moving to Crawley, Sussex and then East Grinstead. Early in her career she trained as a ballet dancer at Bush Davies School of Dance and worked as a model, until she made her first film appearance in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Leeves abandoned the possibility of a career in ballet due to an ankle injury.[4]
Career [edit]
She was a regular on The Benny Hill Show (as one of "Hill's Angels"), putting her experience as a dancer in the famous "Christmas in Heaven" scene from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and appeared as a tourist with a baby in the David Lee Roth music video for the song "California Girls," but struggled for several years to establish herself. She became somewhat visible as the flighty record company employee, Blue (née Prudence Anne Bartlett), on the syndicated sitcom Throb!.
She had a recurring role in the television series Murphy Brown which provided her first period of success, playing Audrey, the loud and awkward girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). Leeves also appeared as the troublesome Marla the Virgin in four risqué episodes of Seinfeld: "The Virgin", "The Contest", "The Pilot" and "The Finale - Part 2". During this period Leeves was cast as Holly for the pilot of the U.S. version of the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. She also had a role as a lesbian in the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A.
In 1993, she joined the cast of the television series Frasier. Leeves played the eccentric, forthright and allegedly psychic Mancunian Daphne Moon. By the start of 2000-01 season, Leeves was pregnant, and the writers incorporated her pregnancy into shows as weight gain due to her character's stress from her relationship with Niles (portrayed by David Hyde Pierce). By the conclusion of Frasier, Leeves had received an Emmy Award nomination for her role and had become the highest-paid British actress in Hollywood.[5]
Appearing less frequently in cinema, Leeves lent her regular voice and her singing voice to the animated film James and the Giant Peach (1996) and acted in the film Music of the Heart (1999).
In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway musical Cabaret.[6]
In 2004, she hosted an episode of the British television comedy quiz show Have I Got News for You.
Her 2006 show, The WB's sitcom Misconceptions, went unaired.[7]
Leeves provides guest vocals in The Penguins of Madagascar as Lulu, a female chimp, with whom Phil falls in love.
With Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company "Bristol Cities" (cockney rhyming slang for 'titties'[8]). Their latest project was in 2007 a pilot for a US remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, with Kirstie Alley in the title role.[9]
In 2010 she was a guest star in two episodes in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette and Tom's therapist, Dr. Graham.
Since 2010 she has been playing a fortysomething in the new TV Land comedy, Hot in Cleveland, with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick (also her co-star in the final season of Frasier), and TV and film legend Betty White. In 2011 she was nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with cast.[10]
Personal life [edit]
She has been married to Marshall Coben, a CBS Paramount Television executive, since 21 December 1996, and they have two children. Daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben was born on 9 January 2001, and the pregnancy was written into the Frasier plotline as a weight-gaining problem for Daphne Moon. Frasier co-star Peri Gilpin was in the delivery room when daughter Isabella was born and is Isabella's godmother; Leeves is also godmother of Gilpin's daughter Stella. The two live next door to one another in Los Angeles. Her son Finn William Leeves Coben, was born on 19 December 2003, and both David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney are his godfathers.[11]
Filmography [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Nice to See You | Performer | Television movie |
| 1983 | Monty Python's The Meaning of Life | Dancer | Uncredited |
| 1983 | The Hunger | Unknown | Uncredited |
| 1983-1985 | The Benny Hill Show | Hill's Angel | (TV series, 4 episodes) |
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. | Serena | Credited as Jane Leaves |
| 1987 | Murder, She Wrote | Gwen Petrie | (TV series, 1 episode: "It Runs in the Family") |
| 1986-1988 | Throb | Prudence Bartlett | (TV series, 48 episodes) |
| 1989 | It's a Living | Terry Tedaldo | (TV series, 1 episode: "He Never Sang for His Father") |
| 1989 | Mr. Belvedere | Professor Ann Burns | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Professor") |
| 1989 | Hooperman | Annie | (TV series, 1 episode: "Stakeout") |
| 1989-1993 | Murphy Brown | Audrey Cohen | (TV series, 9 episodes) |
| 1990 | My Two Dads | Harriet | (TV series, 1 episode: "See You in September?") |
| 1990 | Room for Romance | Unknown | (TV series, 1 episode: "A Midsummer Night's Reality") |
| 1990 | Who's the Boss? | Ms. Adams | (TV series, 1 episode: "Parental Guidance Suggested") |
| 1991 | Blossom | Sheila | (TV series, 1 episode: "Love Stinks") |
| 1992 | Red Dwarf | Holly | Television movie |
| 1992 | Just Deserts | Amy Phillips | |
| 1992-1998 | Seinfeld | Marla Penny | (TV series, 4 episodes) |
| 1993-2004 | Frasier | Daphne Moon | (TV series, 263 episodes) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated-Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series |
| 1994 | Mr. Write | Wylie | |
| 1994 | Miracle on 34th Street | Alberta Leonard | |
| 1995 | Caroline in the City | Daphne Moon | (TV series, 1 episode: "Caroline and the Bad Back") |
| 1996 | James and the Giant Peach | Ladybug | Voice role |
| 1996 | Pandora's Clock | Rachel Sherwood | Television movie |
| 1996 | The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century | Caroline Webb | Voice role |
| 1998 | Hercules: The Animated Series | Athena | (TV series, 5 episodes) |
| 1999 | Don't Go Breaking My Heart | Juliet Gosling | |
| 1999 | Music of the Heart | Dorothea von Haeften | |
| 2003 | The Event | Mona | |
| 2003 | The Simpsons | Edwina | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Regina Monologues") |
| 2006 | Misconceptions | Amanda Watson | (TV series, 7 episodes) |
| 2006 | Twenty Good Years | Mary Frances | (TV series, 1 episode: "Big Love") |
| 2006 | Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties | Eenie | Voice role |
| 2008 | The Starter Wife | Ann Hefton | (TV series, 2 episodes) |
| 2009-2011 | The Penguins of Madagascar | Lulu | (TV series, 2 episodes) |
| 2009 | Phineas and Ferb | Admiral Acronym | (TV series, 2 episodes) |
| 2009 | Endless Bummer | Liv | |
| 2010 | Desperate Housewives | Dr. Graham | (TV series, 2 episodes) |
| 2010 | Notes from the Underbelly | Gracie | (TV series, 1 episode: "Accidental Family Bed") |
| 2010–present | Hot in Cleveland | Joy Scroggs | (TV series, 63 episodes) Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
References [edit]
- ^ "Throb" (1986)
- ^ Das, Lina (2010-07-30). "How Benny Hill babe Jane Leeves became the queen of U.S. TV". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ Dawidziak, Mark (2010-01-14). "Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick will be 'Hot in Cleveland'". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
- ^ "Full Cast of The Meaning of Life on IMDB". imdb.com. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
- ^ Jane Leeves Trivia
- ^ "Jane Leeves Sets Dates for B'way's Cabaret - Broadway Tickets". Broadway.com. 2002-02-19. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ List of television series cancelled before airing an episode
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jo7gAjlWnc Jane Leeves on Graham Norton
- ^ Kirby, Terry (2007-02-07). "US version of 'Vicar of Dibley' to star Kirstie Alley - Media, News". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ SAG's TV nominations: What did they miss?
- ^ Mulkerrins, Jane (2011-02-13). "Jane Leeves in Hot in Cleveland has struck sitcom gold again". Dailymail. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
External links [edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jane Leeves |
- Jane Leeves on Twitter
- Jane Leeves at the Internet Movie Database
- Jane Leeves at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jane Leeves at AllRovi
- Jane Leeves at Yahoo! Movies
- Hot in Cleveland Blog on TV Land
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- 1961 births
- 20th-century English actresses
- 21st-century English actresses
- Actresses from Essex
- English expatriates in the United States
- English film actresses
- English stage actresses
- English television actresses
- Living people
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People from Ilford
