Melissa Leo

Melissa Leo

Leo at the 2009 premiere of Whatever Works
Born	September 14, 1960 (age 50)

Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Other names	Margaret May II

Margaret May
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present

 Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960), also known as Margaret May II or Margaret May, is an American actress.

Leo is known for playing Det. Sgt. Kay Howard as a series regular on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993–1997. As of 2011, she is on the television series Treme, having previously been a regular on All My Children and The Young Riders. Her feature films include A Time of Destiny, Last Summer in the Hamptons, 21 Grams, Confess, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. In 2009, she received an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role in Frozen River. She received her first Oscar in 2011, for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Fighter. Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer hailed her as "one of America's most underrated character actresses".

Personal life

Leo was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the daughter of Peggy (née Chessington), a California-born teacher, and Arnold Leo, an editor at Grove Press, fisherman, and spokesman for the East Hampton Baymen's Association. Leo was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and spent summers at her father's house in Springs, a section of East Hampton, N.Y. She is a former resident of Putney, Vermont and now lives in Stone Ridge, New York. She has a son with actor and former boyfriend John Heard named John Matthew Heard (born 1987).

Awards and nominations

Leo in January 2006

In 1985, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy at the Daytime Emmy Awards/12th Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in a Drama Series for All My Children. In 2004 she shared the "Best Ensemble Acting" award from the Phoenix Film Critics Society for 21 Grams (2003) alongside Kevin Chapman, Benicio del Toro, Teresa Delgado, Clea DuVall, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Danny Huston, Eddie Marsan, Marc Musso, Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. She was also the runner-up for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress for 21 Grams.

In 2006, she won the Bronze Wrangler at the Western Heritage Awards for Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) shared with Tommy Lee Jones (Film producer/actor), Michael Fitzgerald (Film producer), Luc Besson (Film producer), Pierre-Ange Le Pogam (Film producer), Guillermo Arriaga (screenwriter), Barry Pepper (actor), Dwight Yoakam (actor), Julio Cedillo (actor), Levon Helm (actor), January Jones (actress) and Vanessa Bauche (actress).

In 2008, she won the Maverick Actor Award and also the Best Actress award at the Method Fest for Lullaby (2008). Her performance in the film Frozen River earned her the Best Actress award from the Independent Spirit Awards and nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards, and the Academy Awards. Roger Ebert backed her for a win stating,"Best Actress: Melissa Leo. What a complete performance, evoking a woman's life in a time of economic hardship. The most timely of films, but that isn't reason enough. I was struck by how intensely determined she was to make the payments, support her two children, carry on after her abandonment by a gambling husband, and still maintain rules and goals around the house. This was a heroic woman."

She also received the Spotlight award from the National Board of Review.

The Fighter

She received praise for her role in the movie The Fighter. Rick Bentley from charlotteobserver.com said "Both actors (Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale) are very good, but they get blown off the screen by Melissa Leo, who plays their mother, Alice Ward. She's a passive-aggressive minion of hell who makes every past bad film mom look like June Cleaver. Leo's Oscar-worthy portrayal of Alice as a master manipulator goes beyond acting to a total transformation."

During the movie award season honoring films from 2010, Leo won a string of awards for her role in The Fighter including the Golden Globe, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and culminating in her winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Leo caused some controversy when she launched her own campaign in the Hollywood trades prior to her Oscar win for best supporting actress. The ads feature a glammed-up Leo asking the Academy to "consider" her decidedly dressed-down performance as the hardscrabble mom of a Boston boxing underdog. Leo, 50, was quoted as saying: "I took matters into my own hands," she said. "I knew what I was doing and told my representation how earnest I was about this idea. I had never heard of any actor taking out an ad as themselves and I wanted to give it a shot." Academy members reacted with criticism to the campaign, and which resulted in Leo changing her story--that she just went along with Paramount's agenda. "I've been busting my ass, trying to get the movie sold and seen, and now I show up where they ask, get put into hair and makeup that they pay for, so I can promote this thing and campaign. So I'm a little confused. I thought this is what we're doing. This is what all the girls are doing."

While accepting her Oscar, Leo, appearing overwhelmed, began her speech by stating, "I'm shaking in my boots here", and then spontaneously said, "When I watched Kate [Winslet] two years ago, it looked so fucking easy!" which was reportedly the first time in the history of the Academy Awards that a winner has used the word "fuck" in an acceptance speech. It was censored from the broadcast, as the show had a five-second delay, with the exception of international audiences, including Australia, where the curseword was left uncensored.

Filmography

Film and television (regular cast)

Year Title Role Notes

1984 All My Children Linda Warner Contract cast member (1984–1985)

1985 Always Peggy

1985 Streetwalkin' Cookie

1985 Silent Witness Patti Mullen TV movie

1986 Deadtime Stories Judith 'MaMa' Baer

1988 A Time of Destiny Josie Larraneta

1989 The Young Riders Emma Shannon Main cast member season 1: 24 episodes

1989 Nasty Boys Katie Morrisey TV

1990 The Bride in Black Mary Margaret TV

1991 Carolina Skeletons Cassie TV

1992 Immaculate Conception Hannah

1992 Venice/Venice Peggy

1993 The Ballad of Little Jo Beatrice Grey

1993 Homicide: Life on the Street Det. Sgt. Kay Howard Television series, main cast member seasons 1–5 (1993–1997): 77 episodes

1994 Garden Elizabeth

1995 Last Summer in the Hamptons Trish

1995 In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice Carol Manning TV

1997 Under the Bridge Kathy

1999 The 24 Hour Woman Dr. Suzanne Pincus

1999 Code of Ethics Jo DeAngelo

2000 Homicide: The Movie Det. Sgt. Kay Howard TV

2000 Fear of Fiction Sigrid Anderssen

2003 21 Grams Marianne Jordan Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

2004 First Breath Detective Waxman

2004 From Other Worlds Miriam

2005 Hide and Seek Laura

2005 Runaway Lisa Adler

2005 No Shoulder Ruth

2005 Patch Maelynn

2005 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Rachel

2005 American Gun Louise

2005 Confess Agnes Lessor

2006 Stephanie Daley Miri

2006 The Limbo Room KC Collins

2006 Hollywood Dreams Aunt Bee

2006 The House is Burning Mrs. Miller

2006 Falling Objects Helga

2007 Bomb Sharon

2007 Midnight Son Rita

2007 Black Irish Margaret McKay

2007 The Cake Eaters Ceci

2007 Racing Daylight Sadie Stokes/Anna Stokes

2007 I Believe in America' Soto

2007 Mr. Woodcock Sally Jansen

2007 One Night Wendy

2008 Frozen River Ray Eddy Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Breakthrough Film Artist

Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead

San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actress

Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

2008 The Alphabet Killer Kathy Walsh

2008 Lullaby Stephanie Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Actress

2008 Santa Mesa Maggie

2008 Ball Don't Lie Georgia

2008 This is a Story About Ted and Alice Alice

2008 Righteous Kill Cheryl Brooks

2008 Predisposed Penny

2009 According to Greta Karen

2009 Stephanie's Image Stephanie

2009 True Adolescents Sharon

2009 Veronika Decides to Die Mari

2009 Dear Lemon Lima Mrs. Howard

2009 Don McKay Marie

2009 Everybody's Fine Colleen

2010 Treme Toni Bernette Main cast member: season 1 - present

2010 Welcome to the Rileys Mrs. Riley

2010 The Dry Land Martha

2010 The Space Between Montine

2010 The Fighter Alice Ward Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress

New York Film Critics Online for Best Supporting Actress

North Texas Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Central Ohio film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Ensemble

2010 Conviction Nancy Taylor

2011 Red State Sarah

Television mini-series and guest appearances

The Equalizer (1 episode, "The Defector", 1985) .... Irina Dzershinsky

Spenser: For Hire (1 episode, "Mary Hamilton", 1987) .... Mary Hamilton

Miami Vice (1 episode, "Bad Timing", 1988) .... Kathleen Gilfords

Gideon Oliver (1 episode, "Kennonite", 1989) .... Rebecca Hecht

Law & Order (3 episodes, "Sweeps", "Who Let the Dogs Out?", and "Personae Non Grata", 1993–2008) .... Alice Sutton / Sherri Quinn / Donna Cheponis

Scarlett (1994) TV mini-series .... Suellen O'Hara Benteen

Legacy (2 episodes, "Emma" and "The Search Party", 1998) .... Emma Bradford

Veronica Mars (1 episode, "Meet John Smith", 2004) .... Julia Smith

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (1 episode, "Harvest", 2004) .... Sybil Perez

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (1 episode, "The Good Child", 2005) .... Maureen Curtis

The L Word (3 episodes, "Luminous", "Loyal", and "Lacuna", 2005) .... Winnie Mann

Shark (1 episode, "Pilot", 2006) .... Elizabeth Rourke

Criminal Minds (1 episode, "No Way Out", 2007) .... Georgia Davis

Cold Case (1 episode, "Thrill Kill", 2007) .... Tayna Raymes '94–'07

Mildred Pierce (2011) .... Lucy Gessler

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