Jane Elizabeth Leeves (born 18 April 1961)[1] is an English actress, best known for her role as Daphne Moon on the NBC sitcom Frasier (1993–2004), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.[2][3] She also played Joy Scroggs on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.[4]
Jane Leeves | |
|---|---|
 Leeves in 2012 | |
| Born | Jane Elizabeth Leeves 18 April 1961 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse |
Marshall Coben (m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in 1983 on the British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show, and appeared as a dancer in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.[5] She moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles. From 1986 to 1988, she had her first leading role in the short-lived sitcom Throb,[6] then secured brief recurring roles in the sitcoms Seinfeld and Murphy Brown. She received further recognition for roles in films such as Miracle on 34th Street (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Music of the Heart (1999) and The Event (2003). In 2018, she began appearing in the Fox medical drama The Resident.
Career
edit
The daughter of an engineer and a nurse, Jane Leeves was born in Ilford, Essex, England. She was raised in East Grinstead, Sussex, along with two sisters and a brother. She was a regular on The Benny Hill Show (as one of "Hill's Angels"). She made use of her experience as a dancer in a scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.[7] In the US, she appeared as a tourist with a baby in the video for David Lee Roth's song "California Girls",[citation needed] but struggled for several years to establish an acting career. She became somewhat visible as the flighty record company employee Blue (née Prudence Anne Bartlett) on the syndicated sitcom Throb.[citation needed]
She had a recurring role in the television series Murphy Brown as Audrey, the smart but awkward girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). She also appeared as the troublesome Marla the Virgin in four 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 US version of the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. She also had a role as a lesbian avant-garde dancer, the girlfriend of the girlfriend of Willem Dafoe's character, in the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A..[citation needed]
In 1993, Leeves joined the cast of the television series Frasier as the eccentric, forthright and psychic Mancunian Daphne Moon. By the start of the eighth 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 been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination (1998), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1995).[8]
Appearing less frequently in cinema, Leeves lent her speaking and singing voice to the animated film James and the Giant Peach (1996) as Mrs. Ladybug, and appeared in Music of the Heart (1999). In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway musical Cabaret.[9] In 2004, she hosted an episode of the television comedy quiz show Have I Got News for You. Her 2006 show, The WB's sitcom Misconceptions, went unaired.[10]
Leeves provided guest vocals in The Penguins of Madagascar as Lulu, a female chimp, with whom Phil fell in love. With Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company Bristol Cities (cockney rhyming slang for 'titties').[11] Their last 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.[12] In 2010, Leeves guest starred in two episodes in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette and Tom's therapist, Dr. Graham.[citation needed]
From 2010 until 2015, Leeves played the 40-something ex 'eyebrow artist to the stars' Joy Scroggs in the TV Land comedy, Hot in Cleveland, with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick (also her co-star in the final season of Frasier) and Betty White. In 2011, she was nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series along with the rest of the cast.[13] The series ended in 2015 after six seasons and 128 episodes. She returned to television in 2018, with her first series regular role in a dramatic series, the Fox medical drama The Resident playing orthopaedic surgeon Kit Voss.[14][15]
Personal life
editLeeves is married to Marshall Coben, a CBS Studios executive. Peri Gilpin, Leeves's co-star on Frasier, is her neighbor and close friend[16] and was in the delivery room when Leeves's first child was born.[17] In the season 8 episode 17 of Frasier, "It Takes Two to Tangle", Niles tells Roz that Leeves's character Daphne has lost 9 lb 12 oz at the health spa: a reference to the actual weight of Leeves's baby girl.[18]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Nice to See You | Performer | Television film |
| 1983 | Monty Python's The Meaning of Life | Dancer | Uncredited[citation needed] |
| The Hunger | |||
| 1985 | To Live and Die in L.A. | Serena | Credited as Jane Leaves |
| 1992 | Just Deserts | Amy Phillips | |
| 1994 | Mr. Write | Wylie | |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Alberta Leonard | ||
| 1996 | James and the Giant Peach | Mrs. Ladybug | Voice |
| Pandora's Clock | Rachel Sherwood | Television film | |
| The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century | Caroline Webb | Voice | |
| 1999 | Don't Go Breaking My Heart | Juliet Gosling | |
| Music of the Heart | Dorothea von Haeften | ||
| 2002 | The adventure of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina | Margaret Beetle | Voice role; Direct-to-DVD |
| 2003 | The Event | Mona | |
| 2006 | Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties | Eenie | Voice |
| 2009 | Endless Bummer | Liv | |
| 2012 | What About Dick? | Emma Schlegel |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–1985 | The Benny Hill Show | Hill's Angel | 4 episodes |
| 1986–1988 | Throb | Prudence Anne "Blue" Bartlett | Main role |
| 1987 | Murder, She Wrote | Gwen Petrie | Episode: "It Runs in the Family" |
| 1989 | It's a Living | Terry Tedaldo | Episode: "I Never Sang for My Father" |
| Mr. Belvedere | Professor Ann Burns | Episode: "The Professor" | |
| Hooperman | Annie | Episode: "Stakeout" | |
| 1989–1993 | Murphy Brown | Audrey Cohen | 9 episodes |
| 1990 | My Two Dads | Harriet | Episode: "See You in September?" |
| Room for Romance | Episode: "A Midsummer Night's Reality" | ||
| Who's the Boss? | Ms. Adams | Episode: "Parental Guidance Suggested" | |
| 1991 | Blossom | Sheila | Episode: "Love Stinks" |
| 1992 | Red Dwarf USA | Holly | Unsold |
| 1992–1998 | Seinfeld | Marla Penny | 4 episodes |
| 1993–2004 | Frasier | Daphne Moon | Main role; 264 episodes |
| 1995 | Caroline in the City | Daphne Moon | Episode: "Caroline and the Bad Back" |
| 1998 | Hercules | Athena | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | The Simpsons | Edwina | Voice, episode: "The Regina Monologues" |
| 2004 | Have I Got News For You | Guest Presenter | 1 episode |
| 2006 | Misconceptions | Amanda Watson | 7 episodes |
| Twenty Good Years | Mary Frances | Episode: "Big Love" | |
| 2008 | The Starter Wife | Ann Hefton | 2 episodes |
| 2009–2011 | The Penguins of Madagascar | Lulu | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2009–2013 | Phineas and Ferb | Various Characters | |
| 2010 | Desperate Housewives | Dr. Graham | 2 episodes |
| Notes from the Underbelly | Gracie | Episode: "Accidental Family Bed" | |
| 2010–2015 | Hot in Cleveland | Joy Scroggs | Main role |
| 2016 | Crowded | Gwen | Episode: "The Fixer" |
| Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures | Lt. Estoc | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 2017 | The Great Indoors | Cheryl | Episode: "Roland's Secret" |
| 2017–2019 | Mickey and the Roadster Racers | Queen of England, Babette Beagle | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2018 | We Bare Bears | Ari Curd | Voice, episode: "Googs" |
| 2018–2023 | The Resident | Dr. Kitt Voss | Series regular |
Awards and nominations
editReferences
edit- ^ "Jane Leeves's birthday is 18th April 1961". ancestry.co.uk.
- ^ "Jane Leeves". Television Academy.
- ^ "Jane Leeves". www.goldenglobes.com.
- ^ Dawidziak, Mark (14 January 2010). "Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick will be 'Hot in Cleveland'". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ Monty Python's the Meaning of Life (1983) - IMDb. Retrieved 16 December 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ sschwart. "Throb (TV Series 1986–1988)". Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Brantley, Ben (7 October 2009). "And Now for Something Just a Little Bit Different". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Jane Leeves". TV.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012.
- ^ "Jane Leeves Sets Dates for B'way's Cabaret – Broadway Tickets". Broadway.com. 19 February 2002. Retrieved 23 March 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Dyess-Nugent, Harris, VanDerWerff, Phil, Will, Todd (20 February 2012). "The unseen: 24 TV shows produced but never properly aired". AV Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Janeleeves2 (12 October 2009). "Jane Leeves on Graham Norton". YouTube.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Kirby, Terry (7 February 2007). "US version of 'Vicar of Dibley' to star Kirstie Alley – Media, News". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "SAG's TV nominations: What did they miss?". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (19 June 2018). "'The Resident': Jane Leeves Joins Season 2 As New Series Regular As Trio Exits".
- ^ "Jane Leeves Talks Her New Role in 'The Resident' & a Possible 'Frasier' Revival". TV Insider.
- ^ "Hot Shots: Jane Leeves". Cleveland Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "'FRASIER' STAR LEEVES GIVES BIRTH TO GIRL". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ ""Frasier" It Takes Two to Tangle (TV Episode 2001) - Trivia". imdb.com. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
External links
edit
- Jane Leeves on Twitter
- Jane Leeves at IMDb
- Jane Leeves at the Internet Broadway Database
