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Leigh worked in her first film at the age of nine, in a nonspeaking role for the film Death of a Stranger (The Execution). Learn Jennifer Jason Leigh's 50 facts.
1. Leigh was born in Hollywood, California.
2. Her father, Vic Morrow, was an actor.
3. Her mother, Barbara Turner, is a screenwriter.
4. Her parents divorced when she was two.
5. Leigh's birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow.
6. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of actor Jason Robards, a family friend.
7. Leigh's parents were Jewish.
8. Leigh has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who was credited as a "technical advisor" on her 1995 film Georgia.
9. Leigh also has a half-sister, actress Mina Badie, from her mother's marriage.
10. Her half-sister, actress Mina Badie acted alongside Leigh in The Anniversary Party. The director Reza Badiyi was her mother's second husband and was at the time her stepfather.
11. Jennifer Jason Leigh has appeared in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Easy Money, Flesh + Blood, The Hitcher, The Hudsucker Proxy, Single White Female, Dolores Claiborne, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts.
12. She is also the co-writer and co-director of the film The Anniversary Party, made with fellow actor Alan Cumming.
13. Beginning her career in the early 1970s, Leigh has developed a reputation for playing characters on society's bottom rung, often prostitutes or drug users, which have garnered her three Golden Globe nominations and much critical acclaim throughout her career.
14. She is also known for her intensive method-inspired research into her roles.
15. Leigh worked in her first film at the age of nine, in a nonspeaking role for the film Death of a Stranger (The Execution).
16. At 14, she attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, New York summer acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg and landed a role in the movie The Young Runaways.
17. She also appeared in an episode of Baretta. An episode of The Waltons and several TV movies followed, including a portrayal of an anorexic teenager in The Best Little Girl in the World, for which Leigh dropped to 86 pounds (39 kg) under medical supervision.
18. She made her big screen debut playing a blind, deaf, and mute rape victim in the 1981 slasher film Eyes of a Stranger, which she quit school to star in.
19. In 1998, Leigh took on the lead role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes's Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, succeeding Natasha Richardson who originated the role in Mendes's production.
20. She succeeded Mary-Louise Parker in the lead role in Proof on Broadway in 2001.
21. Her other theatrical appearances include The Glass Menagerie, Man of Destiny, The Shadow Box, Picnic, Sunshine, and Abigail's Party.
22. In 2011, she played Bunny in the Broadway revival of House of Blue Leaves in New York City alongside Ben Stiller and Edie Falco.
23. Leigh filmed a role in Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut as a grieving patient of Dr. Bill Harford who declares her love for him after her father's death. Kubrick wanted to reshoot the scenes, but Leigh was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with eXistenZ; instead her scenes were cut.
24. Leigh was originally cast as Vincent Gallo's girlfriend in his self-directed film The Brown Bunny, and was apparently prepared to perform oral sex on Gallo as the script required. Leigh subsequently commented that "it just didn't work out" and the role was eventually played by Chloë Sevigny.
25. In 1997, she was featured in Faith No More's music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow".
26. She was selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar magazine in 1989.
27. Served as a jury member at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in 2000.
28. In 1982, Leigh's father, Vic Morrow, was accidentally killed along with two child actors when a helicopter stunt went wrong while filming Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis and Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court a year later and the terms of the settlement have never been made public.
29. Leigh has described herself as shy, introverted and averse to Hollywood publicity, and scandal.
30. Speaking about her roles in smaller, independent films, she said, "I'd much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can't remember because it's just like all the others."
31. She met independent film writer-director Noah Baumbach in 2001 while starring on Broadway in Proof. The couple married on September 2, 2005.
32. Leight gave birth to a son, Rohmer Emmanuel, on March 17, 2010.
33. Leigh and filed for divorce on November 15, 2010, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences. She sought spousal support as well as primary custody of the couple's son, with visitation for Baumbach. The divorce was finalized in September 2013.
34. In 1990, Leigh made a significant career breakthrough when she was awarded New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.
35. Roger Ebert included Last Exit in his list of Best Movies of 1990, calling Leigh's performance brave, though his review of Miami Blues was much less sympathetic, simultaneously criticizing Leigh's ability to play dumb roles and praising her ability to play smart roles.
36. Entertainment Weekly, in a backhanded compliment, called her "the Meryl Streep of bimbos".
37. Leigh was cast in her first mainstream Hollywood studio film, the firefighter drama Backdraft, in which she played a more conventional role, the girlfriend of lead actor William Baldwin.
38. Leigh found more success in the gritty crime drama Rush, portraying an undercover cop who becomes a junkie and falls in love with her partner, played by Jason Patric.
39. Her next film, Single White Female, was a surprise box-office success, bringing Leigh to her largest mainstream audience yet, portraying a mentally ill woman who terrorizes roommate Bridget Fonda.
40. Leigh was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and nominated for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.
41. Leigh achieved her greatest acclaim in the role of Sadie Flood, an angry, drug-addicted rock singer living in the shadow of her successful older sister (Mare Winningham), in Georgia.
42. For the role of Sadie Flood Leigh dropped to 90 pounds (41 kg) and sang all her songs live, including a rambling 8½-minute version of Van Morrison's "Take Me Back". Georgia was met with critical praise.
43. Leigh won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
44. Throughout the 1990s, Leigh worked with many independent film directors.
45. Leigh has expressed admiration for Altman and called him her mentor.
46. In a change of pace from her "bad girl" roles, Leigh played the fast-talking reporter Amy Archer in the Coen Brothers' comic homage to 1950s comedy, The Hudsucker Proxy.
47. Leigh took her first lead role as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker in Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, as well as Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and Fort Lauderdale Film Critics Best Actress Award.
