Born in Los Angeles, Jennifer Jason Leigh - the daughter of actor Vic Morrow - worked in her first film at the age of nine, in a nonspeaking role for the film Death of a Stranger (Tod eines Fremden (1973)). At 14 she attended summer acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg and landed a role in the Disney TV movie The Young Runaways (1978) (TV), and received her Screen Actors Guild membership in an episode of the TV series "Baretta" (1975) when she was 16. Jennifer performed in several TV movies and dropped out of Pacific Palisades High School six weeks short of graduation for her major role in the film Eyes of a Stranger (1981). Her first major success came as the female lead in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
Daughter of actor Vic Morrow and actress-screenwriter Barbara Turner.Won two 1990 Critic Society awards for her portrayal of Tralala in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and as Susan Waggoner in Miami Blues (1990).Selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar Magazine, 1989.Has a sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, and a half-sister, actress Mina Badie. Her stepfather is director Reza Badiyi.Well-known in Hollywood for the exhausting research she does for each of her portrayals and for her affinity of playing lurid roles.Had a part filmed for Eyes Wide Shut (1999). When director Stanley Kubrick wanted to do re-shoots, she was unavailable and her entire part was redone with another actress.Born at 12:33pm-PST.She went down to a weight of 86 lbs for her role as an anorexic teenager in the TV movie The Best Little Girl in the World (1981) (TV).In 1997, she appeared in Faith No More's music video of "Last Cup of Sorrow," the plot of which was a modification of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958).Father, Vic Morrow, died while filming Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) due to a tragic accident on the set.Measurements: 34B-23-34 1/2 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).After reading the script for Backdraft (1991), she reportedly told director Ron Howard that she wished she was the fire because it has the best part.She attended the infamous "Stagedoor Manor," which is an upstate New York summer camp that trains teenagers in acting, singing and dancing. Her fellow alumni include sitcom actor Zach Braff from NBC's "Scrubs" (2001), the writer and director Todd Graff (who made a film about the camp), and the pop star Mandy Moore.Is of Russian descent.She is good friends with actress/model Phoebe Cates; they met while filming Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) together.Frequently works with maverick director Robert Altman who, before his maverick days, worked with her father, Vic Morrow on the sixties televison series "Combat!" (1962).Lived with Eric Stoltz for 5 years in the 80sOne of her best friends is Paul Thomas Anderson.Took the name 'Jason' from family friend actor Jason Robards.She has worked with three of the four Baldwin brother in five different movies. Miami Blues (1990) and Lymelife (2005) with Alec Baldwin, Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) with Stephen Baldwin and Backdraft (1991) with William Baldwin.Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2000.Auditioned for the role of Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984) but director James Cameron considered her too young for the part. Linda Hamilton ended up playing the part.The song "Jennifer Jason Leigh" by the punk band J Church has lyrics made up from interview quotes.Has become somewhat famous for turning down many roles in some popular movies: the Jodie Foster's roles in Taxi Driver (1976), The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Contact (1997), Flightplan (2005) and Inside Man (2006); the Brooke Shields' roles in Pretty Baby (1978) and The Blue Lagoon (1980); the Ally Sheedy roles in The Breakfast Club (1985) and St. Elmo's Fire (1985), the Laura San Giacomo role in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), the Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman (1990), the Kyra Sedgwick role in Singles (1992), the Lori Petty role in A League of Their Own (1992), the Asia Argento role in La sindrome di Stendhal (1996), the Julianne Moore role in Boogie Nights (1997), the Kim Basinger role in L.A. Confidential (1997), the Lara Flynn Boyle role in Men in Black II (2002) and the Heather Graham role in Adrift in Manhattan (2007). She also turned down a recurring role on the TV show "Lost" (2004), which was eventually played by Cynthia Watros. She also turned down the role of Bree on the TV series "Desperate Housewives" (2004), which was eventually played by Marcia Cross.She signed on for the film Spread (2009) but later backed out, and is being replaced by Anne Heche.She was one of several actresses considered by Jane Campion for the Holly Hunter role in The Piano (1993), but she was unable to meet with her because she was shooting Rush (1991) at the time.Dario Argento offered her the female lead in his film La sindrome di Stendhal (1996), but she turned it down. It was eventually played by his daughter Asia Argento.She turned down the Kyra Sedgwick role in Singles (1992).She was offered the Kim Basinger role in L.A. Confidential (1997) but turned it down as she had already played a few prostitutes.She won the role in Washington Square (1997) over Meg Ryan and Anne Heche.She won the role in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) over Winona Ryder and Bridget Fonda.Auditioned for the Nicole Kidman role in To Die For (1995).Auditioned for the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).Moved in with Jack Black and Nicole Kidman during filming Margot at the Wedding (2007), because they wanted to perfect their roles as a dysfunctional family.She has received three separate career tributes - at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993, a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002, and a week-long retrospective showing of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles' Egyptian Theatre in June 2001.Turned down the Jodie Foster's roles in Taxi Driver (1976), The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Contact (1997), Flightplan (2005) and Inside Man (2006).Did an audition for the role of Violet in Pretty Baby (1978), but the part went to Brooke Shields instead.
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Jennifer Jason Leigh
Date of Birth: |
5 February 1962
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Biography: |
Born in Los Angeles, Jennifer Jason Leigh - the daughter of actor Vic Morrow - worked in h...more
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Trivia: |
Daughter of actor Vic Morrow and actress-screenwriter Barbara Turner.Won two 1990 Critic S...more
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Awards: |
Nominated for Golden Globe.
Another
18 wins
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10 nominations
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