Background:

“Not to sound like a whore, but I’ve been with...I’ve worked with...some very attractive men. Nick Cage...Al Pachino...Ben Stiller...and Woody Allen.” Tea Leoni

American television and movie star Tea Leoni received rave reviews for her roles in the critically acclaimed sitcom “Flying Blind” (1992-93) and the television film The Counterfeit Contessa (1994) before reaching the peak of her prominence in the latter half of the ‘90s. She starred as Nora Wilde in the highly-successful sitcom “The Naked Truth” (1995-1998) and scored major roles in the blockbuster features Bad Boys (1995) and Deep Impact (1998). In 2001, the Blockbuster Entertainment nominee won a Saturn after portraying the wife of Nicolas Cage in the fantasy The Family Man (2000). Other movie credits include Flirting With Disaster (1996, with Ben Stiller), Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending (2002), Spanglish (2004, opposite Adam Sandler) and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005, with Jim Carrey).

Outside the limelight, the vegan actress, whose actress-grandmother co-formed what would become the US Fund for UNICEF in 1947 and was its President for 25 years, has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2001. In 2005, she visited young Vietnamese at a support center for people who are HIV- positive in purpose of rising awareness toward AIDS. On more personal note, 5’ 7” tall Leoni had a short-lived marriage with director Neil Tardio (from 1992 to 1995) before dating Chris Thompson, the executive producer of “The Naked Truth” (together from August 1995 until early 1996). She gained a number of publications for marrying actor David Duchovny of The X-Files fame in May 1997. The couple share two children, daughter Madelaine (born in 1999) and son Kyd (born in 2002).

“David. The best thing about marriage is David.” Tea Leoni on husband David Duchovny


Goodness

Childhood and Family:

Tea Leoni was born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni, on February 25, 1966, in New York, New York. Her father, Anthony Pantleoni, is of Italian and Polish descent who once worked as a corporate attorney and her mother, Emily, is a native Texan and was a professional nutritionist. She has an older brother named Tom (born in 1963). He is an antique store owner.

A New York native, Tea, which means “goodness,” attended Brearly High, a private school in the Upper East Side New York City, and graduated from a boarding school called Putney High School in Putney, Vermont, in 1984. She then went to Sarah Lawrence College to major in Psychology and Anthropology, but dropping out to tour the world. During that occasion, she flew to Italy to find out her Italian pedigree, worked as an athletic model in Japan, and was discovered in the isle of St. Croix, where she took a job as a crew hand of a commercial boat. The granddaughter of Helenka Adamowska, a silent film actress and Broadway performer, Tea returned to the USA to become an actress.

In 1992, Tea married commercial director Neil Tardio, but the union ended in divorce in October, three years later. Two years after the split, she began dating X-Files heartthrob David Duchovny (born on August 7, 1960), and they got married on May 6, that same year, at Manhattan’s Grace Church. The pair met at an audition for “The Tonight Show” in 1992. Tea and David have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny (born on April 24, 1999) and son Kyd Miller Duchovny (born on June 15, 2002).


The Family Man

Career:

Tea Leoni developed a love for performing at a young age supported by her grandmother, actress Helenka Adamowska. Returning to the US after traveling around the world, she started to try her luck by joining an audition and won a part in the busted pilot “Angels ’88” (1988), a remake of the 1970s “Charlie’s Angels” that in fact never aired because of a writers’ strike. A year later, Leoni landed a part as a surrogate for the Lisa DiNapoli character in the 1984 drama series “Santa Barbara” and, in 1991, she progressed to film acting with a small role in the Blake Edwards-helmed gender-bending Switch, as Connie the “Dream Girl.”
She received more notice in the following years with the small role of Racine 1st Base who unintentionally hit Madonna with a baseball in the Tom Hanks vehicle A League of Their Own (1992), the starring turn of flamboyant blonde bombshell Alicia in the critically acclaimed but short-lived sitcom “Flying Blind” (1992-93, earned good reviews for the performance) and the title character of sharp-witted Brooklynite brushed into New York society and romantic relation with a lawyer when she is flawed for an Italian countess in the comedy made-for-TV film The Counterfeit Contessa (1994). Leoni’s fine performance in the latter brought her critical raves.

Also in 1994, Leoni stood out as Sally, a tough frontier hooker, in movie Wyatt Earp, directed by Lawrence Kasdan. The Western starred Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman. But, it was not until the renowned director Michael Bay cast her in a starring role opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the smash box-office hit Bad Boys (1995) that the actress stepped into blockbuster territory. With the success of the film, Leoni, who portrayed sexy crime spectator Julie Mott, also gained popularity. Later that same year, she was launched to TV stardom as Nora Wilde on the sitcom “The Naked Truth” (ABC, 1995-96; NBC 1996-98). Regardless of a network change, the show was a hit.

During her three-year stint as the tabloid newspaper photographer in The Naked Truth, Leoni once again displayed her hot appeal in David O Russell’s comedy Flirting With Disaster (1996), opposite Ben Stiller, and costarred in the little-seen There’s No Fish Food in Heaven (1998), an indie movie which also marked her first foray into producing. She also found huge success by the release of the asteroid blockbuster Deep Impact (1998), where she earned the Favorite Actress Sci-Fi Blockbuster Entertainment nomination for the starring role of TV news reporter Jenny Lerner.

Back to filmmaking after taking some time off for motherhood, Leoni lent her sexy aptitude to the role of Nicolas Cage’s spouse Kate Reynolds in director Brett Ratner’s holiday fantasy The Family Man (2000). For her efforts, she was handed a 2001 Saturn for Best Actress and a second Blockbuster Entertainment nod for Favorite Actress. The following years saw Leoni on such films as the predictable installment Jurassic Park 3 (2001, opposite Sam Neill and William H. Marcy, Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending (2002, as Allen’s wife Amanda) and People I Know (2002), an ill-received drama which cast her along side Al Pacino and Kim Basinger.

Following another hiatus, Leoni starred in her husband’s film, House of D (2004), and delivered one of her best performances as Adam Sandler’s skittish, out-of-control wife Deborah Clasky in the comedy Spanglish (2004), for director-writer James L. Brooks. The next year, she starred as Jane Harper (originally played by Jane Fonda) in the impressive remake of Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), opposite Jim Carrey. Two years later, she is set to play Lauren Pearson in the John Dahl-helmed comedy You Kill Me (2007). The upcoming film will also star Ben Kingsley, Luke Wilson, Jayne Eastwood, Aaron Hughes, Dennis Farina and Lorraine James.


Awards:

• Saturn: Best Actress, The Family Man, 2001