Jane Leeves Biography

Jane Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English film, stage and television actress, comedian, singer and dancer.

Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in the 1983 popular British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show, and appeared as a dancer in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Leeves moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles. In 1986"1988, Leeves garnered her first leading role in the short-lived sitcom Throb and then secured a recurring part in the television sitcom Murphy Brown. In 1993 she achieved wider fame as Daphne Moon on the television sitcom Frasier for the entire run of the series, from 1993 until 2004, for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards during the show's run. She received further recognition for her performances in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Music of the Heart (1999) and The Event (2003).

More recently she has worked in television production, but beginning in June 2010, Leeves returned to acting, as Joy on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Early life

Leeves was born in Ilford, Essex before moving to Crawley, Sussex and then 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. Leeves abandoned the possibility of a career in ballet due to an ankle injury.

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 film 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. With Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company "Bristol Cities" (cockney rhyming slang for 'titties'). Their latest 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.

In 2010 she was a guest star in two episodes in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette and Tom's therapist, Dr. Graham. Since 2010 she has been playing a fortysomething in the new 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, with cast.

Personal life

She has been married to Marshall Coben, a CBS Paramount Television executive, since 21 December 1996, and they have two children. Daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben was born on 9 January 2001, and the pregnancy was written into the Frasier plotline as a weight-gaining problem for Daphne Moon. Frasier co-star Peri Gilpin was in the delivery room when daughter Isabella was born and is her godmother; Leeves is also godmother of Gilpin's daughter Stella. The two live next door to one another in Los Angeles. Her son Finn William Leeves Coben, was born on 19 December 2003, and both David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney are his godfathers.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Nice to See You	Performer	Television movie
1983	Monty Python's The Meaning of Life	Dancer	Uncredited
1983	The Hunger	Unknown	Uncredited
1983-1985	The Benny Hill Show	Hill's Angel	(TV series, 4 episodes)
1985	To Live and Die in L.A.	Serena	Credited as Jane Leaves
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Gwen Petrie	(TV series, 1 episode: "It Runs in the Family")
1986-1988	Throb	Prudence Anne "Blue" Bartlett	(TV series, 48 episodes)
1989	It's a Living	Terry Tedaldo	(TV series, 1 episode: "He Never Sang for His Father")
1989	Mr. Belvedere	Professor Ann Burns	(TV series, 1 episode: "The Professor")
1989	Hooperman	Annie	(TV series, 1 episode: "Stakeout")
1989-1993	Murphy Brown	Audrey Cohen	(TV series, 9 episodes)
1990	My Two Dads	Harriet	(TV series, 1 episode: "See You in September?")
1990	Room for Romance	Unknown	(TV series, 1 episode: "A Midsummer Night's Reality")
1990	Who's the Boss?	Ms. Adams	(TV series, 1 episode: "Parental Guidance Suggested")
1991	Blossom	Sheila	(TV series, 1 episode: "Love Stinks")
1992	Red Dwarf	Holly	Television movie
1992	Just Deserts	Amy Phillips
1992-1998	Seinfeld	Marla Penny	(TV series, 4 episodes)
1993-2004	Frasier	Daphne Moon	(TV series, 263 episodes) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated-Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series
1994	Mr. Write	Wylie
1994	Miracle on 34th Street	Alberta Leonard
1995	Caroline in the City	Daphne Moon	(TV series, 1 episode: "Caroline and the Bad Back")
1996	James and the Giant Peach	Ladybug	Voice role
1996	Pandora's Clock	Rachel Sherwood	Television movie
1996	The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century	Caroline Webb	Voice role
1998	Hercules: The Animated Series	Athena	(TV series, 5 episodes)
1999	Don't Go Breaking My Heart	Juliet Gosling
1999	Music of the Heart	Dorothea von Haeften
2003	The Event	Mona
2003	The Simpsons	Edwina	(TV series, 1 episode: "The Regina Monologues")
2006	Misconceptions	Amanda Watson	(TV series, 7 episodes)
2006	Twenty Good Years	Mary Frances	(TV series, 1 episode: "Big Love")
2006	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties	Eenie	Voice role
2008	The Starter Wife	Ann Hefton	(TV series, 2 episodes)
2009-2011	The Penguins of Madagascar	Lulu	(TV series, 2 episodes)
2009	Phineas and Ferb	Admiral Acronym	(TV series, 2 episodes)
2009	Endless Bummer	Liv
2010	Desperate Housewives	Dr. Graham	(TV series, 2 episodes)
2010	Notes from the Underbelly	Gracie	(TV series, 1 episode: "Accidental Family Bed")
2010"present	Hot in Cleveland	Joy Scroggs	(TV series, 63 episodes) Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series