In 2005, Leoni starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Fun with Dick and Jane. In 2004, she appeared as the wife of Adam Sandler's character in the financially unsuccessful comedy-drama Spanglish. In 2002, she starred as a film studio executive in Hollywood Ending, directed by Woody Allen and had a supporting role in the box office bomb crime drama People I Know. She later had main roles in two other big budget movies: romantic comedy The Family Man (2000), co-starring alongside Nicolas Cage, and science fiction film Jurassic Park III (2001) as William H. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $349 million worldwide. Īfter leaving television, Leoni had a leading role in Deep Impact (1998), a big-budget disaster film about a comet hurtling towards Earth. Leoni had the female lead role in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys, which was a box office success, grossing over $141 million worldwide. She was also offered to play the role of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends which she then turned down to star in The Naked Truth. Later in that year, she landed the lead role in the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth, playing Nora Wilde, a tabloid news journalist. In February 1995, she appeared in the sitcom Frasier, a spinoff from Cheers, as the fiancée of Sam Malone (played by Ted Danson). In 1991, she made her film debut with a small role in the comedy Switch and later played another small part in A League of Their Own (1992).įrom 1992 to 1993, Leoni starred with Corey Parker in the short-lived Fox sitcom Flying Blind. The following year, she was cast as Lisa DiNapoli in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara. After production delays, the show never aired. In 1988, Leoni was cast as one of the stars of Angels 88, an updated version of the 1970s show Charlie's Angels. Her mother's adoptive parents were Florry Elizabeth (née Roberts) and Virgil Pearson Patterson. In a 2017 episode of Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Leoni discovered that her mother Emily, who was adopted, is the biological daughter of Mavis Abilene Gindratt from Vick, Louisiana, and Sumpter James Daniel, whose ancestors originated in Ireland, settled in Virginia in the early 18th century, and had a plantation in Fairfax County, seven miles from George Washington. She attended but did not complete studies at Sarah Lawrence College. Leoni grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and New York City, and attended two private schools, Brearley School and The Putney School in Vermont. Leoni's mother is a native of Amarillo, Texas, and a niece of actor Hank Patterson. Leoni's paternal grandmother, American silent film actress and humanitarian Helenka Adamowska Pantaleoni, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Polish musicians Józef Adamowski and Antonina Szumowska-Adamowska. Her paternal grandfather was of Italian, English, and Irish descent he was a nephew of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni. Her mother, Emily Ann (née Patterson), was a dietitian and nutritionist, and her father, Anthony Pantaleoni, was a corporate lawyer with the firm Fulbright & Jaworski. Leoni was born on February 25, 1966, in New York City. From 2014 to 2019, she starred as Elizabeth McCord in the CBS political drama series Madam Secretary. In later years, Leoni had lead roles in films such as Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Spanglish (2004), and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). Her breakthrough role was in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys. In her early career, she starred in the television sitcoms Flying Blind (1992–93) and The Naked Truth (1995–1998). ə l eɪ ˈ oʊ n i/ born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni February 25, 1966) is an American actress.
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