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Melissa Leo

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Biography

A chameleon-like character actress who, by her own admission, enjoys burying herself totally into roles and not being a recognizable face Melissa Leo has…more

Born

9/14/1960, New York, New York

Birth Name

Gender

Female

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Credits

Star (6)

Role
- Treme
  Toni Bernette
  - S 2: Ep 10 That's What Lovers Do
    6/26/11
  - S 2: Ep 9 What Is New Orleans?
    6/19/11
  - S 2: Ep 8 Can I Change My Mind?
    6/12/11
  - S 2: Ep 7 Carnival Time
    6/5/11
  - S 2: Ep 6 Feels Like Rain
    5/29/11
  - + 15 More Credits
- Mildred Pierce
  Star
- All My Children
  Linda Warner (1984-1985)
  - S 36: Ep 95 Ep. #9108
    5/18/05
  - S 36: Ep 94 Ep. #9107
    5/17/05
  - S 36: Ep 93 Ep. #9106
    5/16/05
  - S 36: Ep 92 Ep. #9105
    5/13/05
  - S 36: Ep 91 Ep. #9104
    5/12/05
  - + 968 More Credits
- Homicide: Life on the Street
  Kay Howard (Seasons 1-5, TVM)
  - S 7: Ep 22 Homicide: The Movie
    2/13/00
  - S 7: Ep 23 Forgive Us Our Trespasses
    5/21/99
  - S 7: Ep 21 The Why Chromosome
    5/14/99
  - S 7: Ep 20 Lines of Fire
    5/7/99
  - S 7: Ep 19 Identity Crisis
    4/30/99
  - + 67 More Credits
- Homicide: Life on the Street
  Kay Howard
  - S 2: Ep 4 A Many Splendored Thing
    1/27/94
  - S 2: Ep 3 Black and Blue
    1/20/94
  - S 2: Ep 2 See No Evil
    1/13/94
  - S 2: Ep 1 Bop Gun
    1/6/94
  - S 1: Ep 9 Night of the Dead Living
    3/31/93
  - + 8 More Credits
- The Young Riders
  Emma Shannon (1989-90)
  - S 3: Ep 9 Spirits
    12/7/91
  - S 1: Ep 24 Gathering Clouds (2)
    5/14/90
  - S 1: Ep 23 Gathering Clouds (1)
    5/7/90
  - S 1: Ep 22 Then There Was One
    4/5/90
  - S 1: Ep 21 The Man Behind the Badge
    3/22/90
  - + 20 More Credits
Guest Star (18)

Role
- TMZ
  Herself
  - S 2: Ep 137 Episode #2.137
    2/13/09
- Law & Order
  Donna Cheponis
  - S 18: Ep 17 Personae Non Grata
    5/14/08
- Cold Case
  Tanya Raymes (1994/2007)
  - S 5: Ep 1 Thrill Kill
    9/23/07
- Criminal Minds
  Sheriff Georgia Davis
  - S 2: Ep 13 No Way Out (1)
    1/17/07
- Shark
  Elizabeth Rourke
  - S 1: Ep 1 Pilot
    9/21/06
- The L Word
  Winnie Mann
  - S 2: Ep 13 Lacuna
    5/15/05
  - S 2: Ep 8 Loyal
    4/10/05
  - S 2: Ep 7 Luminous
    4/3/05
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  Maureen Curtis
  - S 4: Ep 18 The Good Child
    4/3/05
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  Sybil Perez
  - S 5: Ep 3 Harvest
    10/14/04
- Veronica Mars
  Julia Smith
  - S 1: Ep 3 Meet John Smith
    10/12/04
- Law & Order
  Sherri Quinn
  - S 12: Ep 1 Who Let the Dogs Out?
    9/26/01
- Legacy
  Emma Bradford
  - S 1: Ep 6 The Search Party
    11/13/98
  - S 1: Ep 5 Emma
    11/6/98
- Homicide: Life on the Street
  Carrie Howard
  - S 4: Ep 21 The Wedding
    5/10/96
- Law & Order
  Alice Sutton
  - S 4: Ep 1 Sweeps
    9/15/93
- Against the Law
  Jill
  - S 1: Ep 2 Where Truth Lies
    9/30/90
- Gideon Oliver
  Rebecca Hecht
  - S 1: Ep 5 Kennonite
    5/22/89
- Miami Vice
  Kathleen Gilfords
  - S 5: Ep 4 Bad Timing
    12/2/88
- Spenser: For Hire
  Mary Hamilton
  - S 2: Ep 15 Mary Hamilton
    2/14/87
- The Equalizer
  Irina Dzershinsky
  - S 1: Ep 3 The Defector
    10/2/85

Melissa Leo News

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130

The Veronica Mars Season 1 Dossier: Episodes 1-8

By Price Peterson, Apr 10, 2012

Set your time machines for 2004: We're taking a closer look at one of TV's most beloved cult series. read more
146

Oscars 2012: A Fond Farewell to Movies (PHOTO RECAP)

By Price Peterson, Feb 27, 2012

The Academy Awards were almost decent this year! It's too bad about the host. read more

Trivia and Quotes

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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- Mellisa played a dual role, as Kay Howard's sister Carrie, at Meldrick Lewis's wedding in "The Wedding" episode of Homicide. This was speculated on at great length and later confirmed by a fellow cast member.
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- One of the reasons Melissa left the ABC show The Young Riders was over a prop. According to Miss Leo, an episode dealt with her character, Emma, and a stolen pocket watch that had been her father's and was the only thing from her former life that Emma had taken west with her. Josh Brolin's character recovers it for her. The next week she asked the producers if she could wear the pocket watch and was informed that it had already been sent back to the rental house, In her own words, "That was really painful and lost me the job eventually."
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- Miss Leo won the role of Linda Warner on the ABC soap All My Children for the 1984-'85 season, beating out, among other actresses, Julia Roberts.
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Melissa: I think the funny thing about acting for me -- and I hold it in a very holy, spiritual way -- not to be overly fundamentalist about it, but it's that important to me -- is that it is an ancient healing art. What acting is is not pretend, like the little child Melissa thought. Acting is the business of truth, so that we can see ourselves reflected back and learn.
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- Melissa: (On her no-nonsense Homicide character Sgt. Kay Howard) There were not enough women like Kay on TV and now there are none.
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- Melissa: Being an actor on a movie set is like going to the playground at recess.
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