Jane Leeves

Jane Leeves
at the 1995 Emmy Awards
Born	(1961-04-18) 18 April 1961 Ilford, London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Marshall Coben (1996–present)

Jane Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English actress.

After beginning her career on 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.

She is best known for playing Daphne Moon on the television sitcom Frasier for the entire run of the series, from 1993 until 2004. She shared an Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series SAG Award with other principal cast members in 1999, and was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Prior to her fame as Daphne, she was known for the co-starring role of "Blue" in Throb.

More recently she has worked in television production, but beginning in June 2010, Leeves was back in front of the camera as Joy on TV Land’s original sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Early life

Leeves was born in Ilford, London. She later moved to 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 .

Career

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 movie 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.

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.

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.

Leeves provides guest vocals in The Penguins of Madagascar as Lulu, a female chimp, with whom Phil falls in love.

She currently plays a guest starring role in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette and Tom's therapist.

She is also playing a fortysomething in the new 2010 hit TV Land comedy, Hot in Cleveland, with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick (also her co-star in the later years of Frasier), and TV and film legend Betty White.

With Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company "Bristol Cities". Their latest project was a pilot for a US remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, with Kirstie Alley in the title role.

Personal life

She has been married to Marshall Coben, a CBS Paramount Television executive, since December 21, 1996, and they have two children. Daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben was born on January 9, 2001. Frasier co-star Peri Gilpin was in the delivery room when daughter Isabella was born and is Isabella's godmother. Son Finn William Leeves Coben, was born on December 19, 2003.

Filmography

Leeves at the 1994 Emmys

• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) (uncredited)
• The Hunger (1983) (uncredited)
• To Live and Die in L.A. credited as Jane Leaves (1985)
• Mr. Write (1994)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
• James and the Giant Peach (1996) (voice)
• Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1999)
• Music of the Heart (1999)
• The Event (2003)
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) (voice)
• Endless Bummer (2008)

Television

• Double Trouble (1984) (unknown episodes, 1984)
• The Benny Hill Show (4 episodes, 1983–1985)
• Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, 1987)
• Throb (48 episodes, 1986–1988)
• It's a Living (1 episode, 1989)
• Hooperman (1 episode, 1989)
• Mr. Belvedere (1 episode, 1989)
• Murphy Brown (9 episodes, 1989–1993)
• My Two Dads (1 episode, 1990)
• Room for Romance (1 episode, 1990)
• Who's the Boss? (1 episode, 1990)
• Blossom (1 episode, 1991)
• Red Dwarf (1992) - unaired US pilot
• Just Deserts (1992)
• Seinfeld (4 episodes, 1992–1998)
• Frasier (263 episodes, 1993–2004)
• Caroline in the City (1 episode, 1995)
• The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century (unknown episodes, 1996)
• Pandora's Clock (1996)
• Hercules (2 episodes, 1998)
• Just Deserts (1999)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1 episode, 2000)
• The Simpsons (The Regina Monologues, 2003)
• Misconceptions (7 episodes, 2006)
• Twenty Good Years (1 episode, 2006)
• The Starter Wife (2 episodes, 2008)
• The Penguins of Madagascar (1 episode, 2009) as Lulu
• Desperate Housewives (2 episodes, 2010) as Dr. Graham
• Hot in Cleveland (11 episodes, 2010–present)

External links

• Jane Leeves at IMDb
• Template:Ymovies name
• Hot in Cleveland Blog on TV Land