Téa Leoni

Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni (/ˈteɪ.ə pɑːntəleɪˈoʊni/; born February 25, 1966),[1]better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress and producer.
In her early career, she starred in the television sitcoms Flying Blind (1992–93) and The Naked Truth (1995–98). Her breakthrough role was in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys. In later years, Leoni had the female lead roles in films including Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Spanglish (2004) and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). In 2014, she returned to television in the leading role in the CBS political drama series Madam Secretary.
== Early life and family ==
Leoni was born in New York City.[1] Her mother, Emily Ann (Patterson),[2][3] was a dietitian and nutritionist, and her father, Anthony Pantaleoni, was a corporate lawyer with the firm Fulbright & Jaworski.[1][4] Her paternal grandfather was of Italian, English and Irish descent; he was a nephew of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni.[5][6][7] Leoni's paternal grandmother, Polish-American Helenka Adamowska Pantaleoni, a film and stage actress, was the daughter of musicians Józef Adamowski and Antonina Szumowska-Adamowska.[5][8] Leoni's mother is a native of Amarillo, Texas, and a niece of actor Hank Patterson.[9] Leoni grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and New York City, and attended two private schools, Brearley School and The Putney Schoolin Vermont.[10] She attended but did not complete studies at Sarah Lawrence College.[10] In Series 4 Episode 8 Professor Louis B. Gates of the PBS program series Finding Your Roots was able to identify her maternal grandparents, previously unknown, to Vick Louisiana, Abilene Gindratt and her grandfather, Sumpter Daniel, whose ancestors originated in Ireland and settled in Virginia in the early 18th century and had a plantation in Fairfax County 7 miles from Geo. Washington.[11]
== Career ==
In 1988, Leoni was cast as one of the stars of Angels 88, an updated version of the 1970s show Charlie's Angels.[12] After production delays, the show never aired. The following year, she was cast as Lisa DiNapoli in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara. 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).
From 1992 to 1993, Leoni starred with Corey Parker in the short-lived Fox sitcom Flying Blind. In February 1995, she appeared in the sitcom Frasier, a spinoff from Cheers, as the fiancée of Sam Malone (played by Ted Danson). Later in that year, she landed the lead role in the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth, playing Nora Wilde, a tabloid news journalist. The show ran through 1998. 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.[13]
After leaving television, in 1998 Leoni had the leading role in Deep Impact, a big-budget disaster film about a comet menacing Earth. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $349 million worldwide.[14] 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. Macy's character's ex-wife. 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. In 2004, she appeared as the wife of Adam Sandler's character in the financially unsuccessful comedy-drama Spanglish. In 2005, Leoni starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie grossed $202 million at the box office worldwide.[15]
Leoni co-starred in a number of small films in the late 2000s, including You Kill Me and The Smell of Success. She co-starred opposite Ricky Gervais in the 2008 supernatural comedy-drama Ghost Town. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the heist comedy film, Tower Heist. In 2011, she was also cast alongside Hope Davis as leads in the HBO comedy pilot, Spring/Fall; however, the pilot was not picked up.[16] In 2014, she returned to broadcast television with the leading role in the CBS political drama series, Madam Secretary.[17]
== Personal life ==
Leoni married Neil Joseph Tardio, Jr., a television commercial producer, on June 8, 1991, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hope, New Jersey.[18] They divorced in 1995.[19]
Leoni married actor David Duchovny on May 13, 1997, after an eight-week courtship.[20][21] They have two children: daughter Madelaine West Duchovny (born April 13, 1999)[22][23] and son Kyd Miller Duchovny (born June 15, 2002).[24][25] On October 15, 2008, Leoni and Duchovny confirmed that they had been separated for "several months". The media attributed the separation to Duchovny's much publicized sex addiction. The couple publicly reconciled and were seen frequently together as a family.[26] On June 29, 2011, CNN reported that Leoni and Duchovny had again split.[27] In 2012, Duchovny stated that he was still married but separated.[28] Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.[29][30]
Until their split, they lived on the Upper East Side. Afterwards, she moved to Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side.[31]
Leoni has been dating her Madam Secretary co-star Tim Daly, another alum of The Putney School, since December 2014.[32][33]
=== Humanitarian work ===
Leoni was named a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in 2001.[34] Helenka Pantaleoni, her paternal grandmother, was the president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for more than 25 years.[8]
=== Asteroid ===
Asteroid 8299 Téaleoni, discovered by Eric Elst at La Silla in 1993, was named after her.[35]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1991	Switch 	Connie the Dream Girl 	
1992	A League of Their Own 	Racine 1st Base 	
1994	Wyatt Earp 	Sally 	
1995	Bad Boys 	Julie Mott 	
1996	Flirting with Disaster 	Tina Kalb 	
1998	Deep Impact 	Jenny Lerner 	
1998	There's No Fish Food in Heaven[36]	Landeene 	Also executive producer
2000	The Family Man 	Kate Reynolds 	
2001	Jurassic Park III 	Amanda Kirby 	
2002	People I Know 	Jilli Hopper 	
2002	Hollywood Ending 	Ellie 	
2004	House of D 	Mrs. Warshaw 	
2004	Spanglish 	Deborah Clasky 	
2005	Fun with Dick and Jane 	Jane Harper 	
2007	You Kill Me 	Laurel Pearson 	Also executive producer
2008	Ghost Town 	Gwen 	
2009	The Smell of Success 	Rosemary Rose 	
2011	Tower Heist 	Special Agent Claire Denham	
2021	Misery, Inc. 	Gabriela Weinstein 	Voice role
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1989 	Santa Barbara 	Lisa DiNapoli 	6 episodes
1992–1993 	Flying Blind 	Alicia 	22 episodes
1994 	The Counterfeit Contessa[37]	Gina Leonarda Nardino	Television film
1995 	Frasier 	Sheila 	Episode: "The Show Where Sam Shows Up"
1995–1998 	The Naked Truth 	Nora Wilde 	55 episodes
2000 	The X-Files 	Herself 	Episode: "Hollywood A.D."
2011 	Spring/Fall 	Margo 	Unsold TV pilot
2014–present	Madam Secretary 	Elizabeth McCord 	94 episodes; also producer
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Nominated work 	Award 	Category 	Result
1998	Deep Impact 	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 	Favorite Actress – Sci-Fi 	Nominated
2000	The Family Man 	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 	Favorite Actress – Sci-Fi 	Nominated
2000	The Family Man 	Saturn Awards 	Best Actress 	Won
2006	Herself 	TV Land Awards 	Little Screen/Big Screen Star – Female 	Nominated
2007	You Kill Me 	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards	EDA Special Mention – Most Egregious Age Difference Between Leading Man and Love Interest (with Ben Kingsley)	Nominated
2014	Madam Secretary	People's Choice Awards 	Favorite Actress in a New TV Series 	Nominated
2016	Madam Secretary	CBS MVP Awards 	Best Motivational Speech 	Nominated