Leaving L.A.

ABC (ended 1997)

Cast & Crew

EDIT
  • Melina Kanakaredes

    Libby Galante

    8.9
    Melina is a second-generation Greek-American who was born and raised in Akron, Ohio area, as the youngest of three sisters. Her retired father was an insurance salesman and her mother is a homemaker. Growing up, she spent many hours in her family's candy store. As a teenager she got involved in dance and theatrical productions. She graduated in 1985 from Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio, and went to Ohio State University to study music, dance and theater, but the lack of unity between the theater and music departments prompted her to opt for a conservatory education. She transferred to Point Park College in Pittsburgh, which was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and she soon appeared in commercials, industrial films and on stage at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of fine arts in theater and moved to New York City, where she supported her acting dreams by working on a dinner boat and in off-Broadway plays. Eventually, Melina was spotted by a William Morris agent, and from 1991-95, she portrayed Greek immigrant Eleni Andros Cooper and earned two Emmy nominations in the daytime drama "The Guiding Light." This led to being cast in a recurring role as Jimmy Smits' girlfriend in "NYPD Blue." In 1995 she co-starred in the drama series "New York News" and was a co-lead in the drama "Leaving L.A." She guest-starred in "The Practice" and "Oz," as well as in the television movie "Saint Maybe." Her feature films include the recent "Rounders," "Dangerous Beauty" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight." Known for researching her projects, she visited a coroner's office for "Leaving L.A." and plastic surgeons for "Providence." She was cast for "Providence" without an audition and the other members of the cast were chosen on the basis of their chemistry with her. When not filming, Melina Kanakaredes enjoys visiting her family in Ohio, reading, swimming, working out with the Pilates system, traveling (especially to Greece), listening to James Taylor, and is a sports fan of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Bulls. She met her husband, Peter Constantinides, a professional chef, at Ohio State in Sigma Epsilon Phi, a group for Greek-American students. Her extended family is so large that she and her husband invited 550 guests to their wedding in 1992. The couple and their two daughters, Zoe (2000) and Karina Eleni (2003), reside in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.moreless
  • Lorraine Toussaint

    Dr. Claudia Chan

    9.2
    When deciding upon a career, young Lorraine Toussaint let her fingers do the walking. The actress, who now shifts from playing a successful attorney in "Any Day Now" to an assertive medical examiner in NBC's "Crossing Jordan," gained her initial interest in acting after somebody asked her -- at the age of 11 -- what she wanted to do with her life. Puzzled, she opened the phone directory, turned to the "A" section and found a variety of acting school advertisements. She called the school with the largest ad, and quickly found herself hooked. Toussaint got her start studying theater at New York's renowned High School of Performing Arts and The Juilliard School. On her graduation day, she landed her first paying job as Lady Macbeth with "Shakespeare & Company." That was just the beginning as she spent 12 years working in New York theater prior to moving to Los Angeles. Toussaint starred for four seasons as Rene Jackson on the critically acclaimed cable drama "Any Day Now," a role she concluded last year. As a result, she was nominated for four NAACP Image Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series, a TV Guide Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series and received the Wiley A. Branton Award from the National Bar Association. Toussaint's other television credits include recurring roles on NBC's Emmy Award-winning drama "Law & Order" and "Murder One" as well as regular series lead roles on "Leaving L.A.," "Where I Live" and "Amazing Grace." She also appeared in several television movies, including "Lullabyes and Lies," "A Case of Deadly Force," "The Cherokee Kid," "Nightjohn," "If These Walls Could Talk," "America's Dream," and the miniseries "Queen," starring Halle Berry. Toussaint's feature-film credits include "Point of No Return," "Psalms from the Underground," "Breaking In" and "Hudson Hawk." Upcoming projects for Toussaint include producing the cable television movie "The Joyce Ann Brown Story," which is currently in development. Toussaint currently resides in Los Angeles. In her free time she enjoys traveling, cooking and hiking with her dog, Kaia. Her birthday is April 4. From: NBCmoreless
  • Hilary Swank

    Tiffany Roebuck

    8.7
    Like the characters she plays in her movies, Hilary Swank has survived every challenge life has thrown her way. Through all of her struggles -- parents' separation, poverty, homelessness, public divorce -- she has remained steadfast with her dream of becoming a successful actress. With already two Oscars under her name and the admiration of her peers, Swank is truly an inspiration in the entertainment industry. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 30, 1974, Hilary was raised in Bellingham, Washington. When she was nine years old, she made her acting debut in the local theater production of The Jungle Book where she played Mowgli. She continued to appear in the local theater. Before she turned sixteen, Hilary, along with her supportive mother, moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. She landed her first minor role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) followed by a lead role in The Next Karate Kid (1994). In 1997, she was cast in the popular TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 but was later fired. In 1999, Swank got the role that would earn her international fame and critical acclaim in the indie drama Boys Don't Cry. In the film, she played a small-town woman whose decision to live her life differently ended in tragedy, a portrayal for which she won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. After less-noteworthy projects in the early 2000's, Hilary blew audiences away with her brilliant performance in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. Her portrayal of a champion boxer in the movie won her a second Oscar and another Golden Globe and solidified her status as one of the best actresses in Hollywood.moreless
  • Anne Haney

    Martha Hayes

    9.4

    Anne Haney held prominent roles acting on stage, on the screen, and on T.V. All these achievements came in her mid 40s, after she had raised a daughter and buried a husband. It wasn't until after she had packed her daughter off to college and "the maid quit," as she said, that she decided to try her hand at acting. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee and studied drama, radio and T.V. at the University of North Carolina, where she met her husband, John Haney. She did apply her schooling briefly at a Memphis television station, but soon settled down with her husband and devoted herself to family life. "I was a lovely faculty wife. We made ambrosia salad. We did good works. We played a lot of bridge," she said of those times. By the 1970s, however, Haney began seeking work in local theatre productions and television commercials. Soon she was traveling with a touring company performing as the maid in Noel Coward's "Fallen Angels." She toured for two years. Eventually, she joined the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of T.V. and Radio Artists. She and her husband had, in fact, planned to move to Southern California after his retirement. She was eager to experience and, she hoped, benefit from the variety and prestige available only in Hollywood. Those plans changed when Mr. Haney died of kidney disease in 1980; Anne Haney made the trek to California alone. Not long after arriving, she had an agent and a part in the Walter Matthau vehicle "Hopscotch." As her career took off, she also secured roles on stage, notably the role of Margaret Fielding in the Theatre West production of "Verdigris." When asked whether she ever dwelled on the prospect that had she begun her career too late, she replied that "this is gravy to me. It's a wonderful way to spend the last third of my life."

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  • Christopher Meloni

    Reed Sims

    9.6

    Meloni attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he first became interested in acting. After graduation, he took a construction job in his hometown until a high school acquaintance inspired him to move to New York to study acting.

    It was there that Meloni apprenticed at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and got his first big break as the lead in the NBC comedy The Fanelli Boys. Since then, he is most recognized as Chris Keller in Oz and Elliot Stabler in Law and Order: SVU.

    Meloni lives with his wife, Sherman Williams, their daughter, Sophie [born 23 March 2001] and son, Dante [born January 2 2004]. Both children were born by a surrogate mother.

    Before acting, Meloni worked as a bouncer, a bartender, and a personal trainer.

    Update: He no longer acts as Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU. He left to pursue a filming career

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  • Cress Williams

    Dudley Adams

    7.6
  • Ron Rifkin

    Dr. Neil Bernstein

    9.0
    Ron Rifkin is 5' 10" (1.78 m). He is married to Iva Rifkin since 1966.

    Rifkin received a 1998 Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Broadway revival of Cabaret. His recent theatre credits include David Hirson's Wrong Mountain, Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, Turgenev's Month in the Country and Neil Simon's Proposals. Rifkin originated the role of Isaac Geldhart in the Jon Robin Baitz play, Substance of Fire, in which he won the Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Drama-Logue awards for Best Actor. The following year, he performed in Baitz's Three Hotels, for which he received a second Lucille Lortel award and Drama Desk nomination.

    Rifkin's film credits include Boiler Room, Keeping the Faith, The Negotiator, L.A. Confidential, the film adaptation of Substance of Fire, Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery.
    He participated in these movies as well: Last Summer in the Hamptons, Wolf, JFK, The Sting II, The Big Fix, The Sunshine Boys and Silent Running.

    On television, Rifkin has appeared in numerous made-for-television movies and miniseries, including Flowers for Algernon, Norma Jean and Marilyn, The Sunset Gang, Concealed Enemies, Buying a Landslide, Evergreen, The Winds of War and Dress Gray. He starred in the series, One Day at a Time and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill; and guest starred on ER, Law & Order, Falcon Crest, Soap, Hill Street Blues and The Outer Limits, in which he received a Cable ACE nomination.

    Rifkin has also been seen in the television film, Deliberate Intent, opposite Timothy Hutton; and in Light Up the Sky at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He also appeared in several episodes of Nero Wolfe, with Timothy Hutton directing. Other film projects for 2001 include starring roles in Dragonfly with Kevin Costner, The Majestic with Jim Carrey and Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman.

    Rifkin is probably most well known for starring as Arvin Sloane in Alias, with Jennifer Garner. Currently Rifkin stars as Saul Holden in Brothers & Sistersmoreless
  • Billie Worley

    Manny Boyd

    7.8
  • Allison Bertolino

    Kate Galante

    9.4
  • Nancy McLoughlin

    Recurring Role

    9.7
    While she was born in New York, New York, Nancy considers herself a native of Hackensack, New Jersey. Her father, a writer for Red Skelton, moved his family to Hollywood when Nancy was only 13 years old. And it wasn't long before young Nancy was bitten by the showbiz bug. She acted in plays and had a dancing career before appearing in films and on television. Her first break came when she performed in Francis Ford Coppola's "One From the Heart." Next came an appearance on the long-running daytime drama "Days of Our Lives", and in such feature films as "One Dark Night," with Meg Tilly. After her work on the Emmy-nominated miniseries "In a Child's Name," with Valerie Bertinelli, McLoughlin became a highly visible and respected actress in numerous television movies. She had a series of outstanding and memorable roles in the films "Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story," "The Fire Next Time," "The Yarn Princess," "The Third Twin," with Kelly McGillis. In 1984 she married Tom McLoughlin, and she often acts in films that he has either written or directed. One example of that would be "Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives". Together they have two children, a son and a daughter.moreless
  • John Capodice

    Guest Star

    7.2
  • Michael Cudlitz

    Joey Reno

    9.3
    Michael Cudlitz is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts. He is married to actress Rachael Cudlitz, and they have two children. His career in Hollywood began in 1988 as a carpenter on the set of Tales from the Darkside. His first acting role was in Crystal Ball (1989), in which he portrayed Scottie. Michael's most memorable role was Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman in Band of Brothers, the hugely successful mini-series for HBO. Subsequently, he has had roles in numerous films and popular series on television. Michael currently stars as Officer John Cooper on Southland for TNT.moreless
  • Diedrich Bader

    Guest Star

    9.2
    An actor whose tall, rangy build and boyish good looks have made him a natural for comic roles, Diedrich Bader was born in Alexandria, VA, on Christmas Eve 1966; his father, William Bader, was Chief of Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the Carter administration, and his mother, Gretta Bader, was a sculptor of note. When Bader was two, he and his family moved to Paris, France, where the boy was exposed to a steady diet of classic American comedies; young Bader was especially fond of Charlie Chaplin, and appeared on-stage for the first time at the age of four, imitating the Little Tramp at a revival theater during an unexpected intermission after a rare Chaplin film jammed in the projector. Bader and his family returned to the United States in time for him to enter high school, and he later attended the North Carolina School for the Arts. While vacationing in Santa Fe, NM, during spring break, Bader met a casting agent who lined up an audition for a small role in a television pilot. Bader ended up winning the leading role instead, and while the pilot never sold, it did prompt Bader to relocate to Los Angeles and begin pursuing an acting career full-time. He began landing guest spots on episodic television shows, including Cheers, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1993, Bader was cast as the Searcher on the television series Danger Theater, a short-lived spoof of action-adventure programs. Penelope Spheeris, who directed the Danger Theater episodes, remembered Bader when casting for her film The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), based on the popular sitcom of the '60s and '70s. Bader won the role of cheerful but slow-witted Jethro Bodine, and his performance was one of the comic highlights of the film. The movie significantly raised Bader's visibility, and in 1995 he was cast as the logically challenged Oswald on The Drew Carey Show. Bader's success on The Drew Carey Show led to notable supporting roles in motion pictures, such as Office Space and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; he also began doing voice work for a number of animated television projects, including Pepper Ann, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Kim Possible. In his private life, Bader married actress Dulcy Rogers in 1998. And now in 2010 Bader is the current cartoon incarnation of the dark knight also known as BATMAN in the new series "BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD" which has just been given its 3rd series and continues to win fans with children and adults alike with it's fun and at times dark tones.moreless
  • Lorna Raver

    Guest Star

    7.2
    Ms Raver received her early training and experience at Hedgerow Theater in Pennsylvania, after which she spent several seasons in New York, appearing off-Broadway in the premieres of Last Days at the Dixie Girl Cafe and Between Daylight and Boonville. She spent several years working in theatre in Chicago and regionally. She currently resides in Los Angeles where she guest stars regularly on TV and continues her first love, live theater, in plays such as The Seagull, Spinning into Butter, The Women, The American Plan, Oedipus Rex and The Drama Coach for which she won the DramaLogue and Los Angeles Weekly Awards. She performs, as well, in radio drama and played several roles in 2000x, Tales of the Next Millenia which was presented on NPR by the Hollywood Theatre of the Ear. Her published work as an audiobook narrator includes Pasadena and Tales for a Stormy Night.moreless
  • Vanessa Bell Calloway

    Guest Star

    9.4

    Vanessa Bell Calloway has emerged as one of America's hottest actors. Her work on stage, screen, and television clearly demonstrates why she has maintained her staying power. Her work has earned her 6 NAACP Image Awardnominations. Fans still remember her as Eddie's Almost bride in Coming to America. The variety of roles Vanessa has played keeps her from being pigeonholed. Because of her ability to bring a unique presence of character to a particular piece, she appears in a different light in each role she plays. Her recurring role in David Kelly's Boston Public, earned her sixth NAACP Image Award nomination. Vanessa has guest starred on the Lifetime show For the People, and UPN productions The Parkers, and One on One. One of the most memorable televison roles to date was her portrayle of Maggie in the CBS series Under one Roof with Joe Morton and James Earl Jones.
    Her Diversity moves beyond acting. Vanessa is an accomplished dancer who trained with Alvin Alley, George Faison, and Otis Sallid. She completed her Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree, with concentration in dance, from Ohio University.

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  • Mimi Lieber

    Guest Star

    0.0
  • Wendie Jo Sperber

    Guest Star

    8.9
    Wendie was married to Richard Velasquez from 1983 to 1994) and has 2 children: a son, Preston, born 1986, and a daughter, Pearl, born 1990. Wendie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
  • Bruce French

    Guest Star

    9.2
  • Michael B. Silver

    Officer Williams

    9.1
  • Maurice Chasse

    Guest Star

    9.0
  • Shelley Malil

    Dr. Mehta

    5.0
  • Billie Worley

    Guest Star

    7.8
  • Kim Johnston Ulrich

    Guest Star

    8.7
    Kim Johnston Ulrich was born in Ripon Central Valley, California on March 24. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her hubby Robert and their son. When Kim is not on the set her hobbies include Gardening,Cooking and interior decorating. Kim plays Ivy Winthrop Crane, the ex-wife of Julian Crane. Ivy longs to rekindle the magical love that she once has wit the Chief of Police, Sam Bennett. (Visit their history fo more) She is best known for her role of Diana McCall on "As The World Turns", a role she played for over two years. Her other TV credits include Allison Yates on "Nightengales", Mark Harmon's love intrest on the series "Reasonable Doubts". Kim has also made guest apperences on "3rd Rock From The Sun", "Smart Guy", "Seventh Heaven", "Moloney", "Murder One", "Matlock" ,"Diagnosis Murder" and "Cheers". 1999 - 2003 NBC.com/Passionsmoreless
  • Michael Paul Chan

    Unknown

    9.3
    Chan, a third-generation Chinese-American born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, spent several years as a keyboard player for bands in Northern California. He became a founding member of the Asian-American Theatre Company and trained at the American Conservatory Theater. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and son. His feature film credits include "Spy Game," "The Glass House," "Once in This Life," "The Insider," "The Joy Luck Club," "Batman and Robin," "Batman Forever," "Falling Down" and "Goonies." His television credits include the series "Nikki," "Strong Medicine," "Early Edition," "Arli$$," "Party of Five," "Wonder Years," and, on CBS, "City of Angels," "Brooklyn South," "JAG" and "Nash Bridges." He also spent two seasons as the voice of "Jimmy Ho," the "Korean Soul-Brotha" on the animated series, "The PJs."moreless
  • Perry Anzilotti

    Guest Star

    9.8
  • Kimberly Huie

    Guest Star

    8.6
    Huie has performed a wide range of roles in independent films including Never Get Out Of The Boat, Shoot (Sundance Film Festival 2001), Grahams Diner (Sundance 2000), Caller ID, Hairshirt and Just for Fun. She also appeared in the cult classic Wishmaster 4, and as Denzel Washington's wife in Deep Impact. On television, Huie had recurring roles on the series Philly, Andromeda, Leaving L.A., Push, The Great Defender, and Catwalk, and she was a regular on Liberty Street. She also appeared in the pilots Raising Dad, The Corsairs and D.O.A. Kimberly's memorable guest starring appearances include The Guardian, NYPD Blue, Any Day Now, Pensacola and Chicago Hope. Born in Jamaica, Huie is fluent in both English and French, and she currently resides in Los Angeles.moreless
  • Teresa Barnwell

    Hilary Clinton

    0.0
  • Josette DiCarlo

    Guest Star

    0.0
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