Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
September 14, 1960
Place of Birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Social Media
Melissa Leo
Biography
Melissa Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in 1985, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in the Drama Series “All My Children”. Her most notable role as was as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on “Homicide: Life on the Street” for the show's first five seasons from 1993–1997.
Following several films, Leo received critical acclaim and national attention in earning several nominations and awards, including an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Leo earned several awards for her role as Alice Ward in the critically acclaimed film, “The Fighter” (2010). For this role Leo won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Leo currently appears on the television series Treme.
Leo currently resides in Stone Ridge, New York and two sons John Matthew Heard (born 1987), and Adam (adopted - born 1984).
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | King Ivory | Ginger Greene |
| 2025 | Guns Up | Michael |
| 2024 | The Clean Up Crew | Siobhan |
| 2024 | The Knife | Detective Carlsen |
| 2024 | Long Gone Heroes | Olivia |
| 2024 | AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence | |
| 2023 | The Equalizer 3 | Susan Plummer |
| 2022 | Bonnie | Self |
| 2022 | Measure of Revenge | Lillian |
| 2022 | Coast | Olivia |
| 2022 | Alone Together | Deborah |
| 2022 | Jane | Principal Rhodes |
| 2021 | Body Brokers | Dr. White |
| 2021 | Thunder Force | Allie |
| 2021 | Ida Red | Ida ‘Red’ Walker |
| 2018 | The Ashram | Chandra |
| 2018 | The Equalizer 2 | Susan Plummer |
| 2018 | Unlovable | Maddie |
| 2018 | Furlough | Joan Anderson |
| 2018 | The Parting Glass | Al |
| 2018 | Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer | Narrator |
| 2017 | The View from Up Here | |
| 2017 | The Most Hated Woman in America | Madalyn Murray O'Hair |
| 2017 | Novitiate | Reverend Mother |
| 2016 | London Has Fallen | Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan |
| 2016 | Burn Country | Gloria |
| 2016 | Snowden | Laura Poitras |
| 2016 | All the Way | Lady Bird Johnson |
| 2015 | The Ever After | Penny |
| 2015 | She's The Best Thing in It | Self |
| 2015 | The Big Short | Georgia Hale |
| 2015 | Damnation: The Flashback | Noda Marra |
| 2015 | After the Spill | Narrator |
| 2015 | The Butterfly, The Harp, and The Timepiece | Papillon |
| 2014 | The Angriest Man in Brooklyn | Bette Altmann |
| 2014 | Dwegons and Leprechauns | Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald |
| 2014 | The Equalizer | Susan Plummer |
| 2013 | Charlie Countryman | Kate |
| 2013 | Oblivion | Sally |
| 2013 | Prisoners | Holly Jones |
| 2013 | Olympus Has Fallen | Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan |
| 2013 | Call Me Crazy: A Five Film | Robin |
| 2013 | Bottled Up | Fay |
| 2013 | Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy | Narrator (voice) |
| 2012 | Francine | Francine |
| 2012 | Why Stop Now? | Penny |
| 2012 | Flight | Ellen Block |
| 2011 | Red State | Sara |
| 2011 | The Space Between | Montine |
| 2011 | Seven Days in Utopia | Lily |
| 2011 | The Sea Is All I Know | Sara |
| 2010 | Welcome to the Rileys | Lois Riley |
| 2010 | Conviction | Nancy Taylor |
| 2010 | The Dry Land | Martha |
| 2010 | The Fighter | Alice Ward |
| 2010 | Queen of the Lot | Aunt Bee |
| 2009 | Veronika Decides to Die | Mari |
| 2009 | According to Greta | Karen |
| 2009 | Everybody's Fine | Colleen |
| 2009 | Don McKay | Marie |
| 2009 | Dear Lemon Lima | Mrs. Howard |
| 2009 | Stephanie's Image | Stephanie |
| 2009 | True Adolescents | Sharon Mitchell |
| 2008 | Frozen River | Ray Eddy |
| 2008 | Lullaby | Stephanie |
| 2008 | Righteous Kill | Cheryl |
| 2008 | Santa Mesa | Maggie |
| 2008 | The Alphabet Killer | Kathy Walsh |
| 2007 | Black Irish | Margaret McKay |
| 2007 | Racing Daylight | Sadie / Anna |
| 2007 | One Night | Wendy |
| 2007 | Stephanie Daley | Miri Daley |
| 2007 | Midnight Son | Rita |
| 2007 | Hollywood Dreams | Aunt Bee |
| 2007 | The Cake Eaters | Ceci Kimbrough |
| 2007 | I Believe in America | Soto |
| 2007 | Dear Lemon Lima | Mrs. Howard |
| 2007 | Mr. Woodcock | Sally Jansen |
| 2007 | Bomb | |
| 2006 | The House Is Burning | Mrs. Miller |
| 2006 | The Limbo Room | KC Collins |
| 2005 | Hide and Seek | Laura |
| 2005 | The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Rachel |
| 2005 | Runaway | Lisa Adler |
| 2005 | American Gun | Louise |
| 2005 | Confess | Agnes Lessor |
| 2004 | From Other Worlds | Miriam |
| 2003 | 21 Grams | Marianne Jordan |
| 2000 | Homicide: The Movie | Kay Howard |
| 2000 | Fear of Fiction | Sigrid Anderssen |
| 1999 | The 24 Hour Woman | Dr. Suzanne Pincus |
| 1999 | Code of Ethics | Jo DeAngelo |
| 1997 | Who Is Henry Jaglom? | Self |
| 1995 | Last Summer in the Hamptons | Trish Axelrod |
| 1995 | In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice | Carol Manning |
| 1993 | The Ballad of Little Jo | Beatrice Grey |
| 1992 | By a Thread | Helen |
| 1992 | Immaculate Conception | Hannah |
| 1992 | Venice/Venice | Peggy |
| 1991 | Carolina Skeletons | Cassie |
| 1990 | The Bride in Black | Mary Margaret |
| 1989 | Nasty Boys | Katie Morrissey |
| 1988 | A Time of Destiny | Josie Larraneta |
| 1986 | Deadtime Stories | Judith 'MaMa' Baer |
| 1985 | Streetwalkin' | Cookie |
| 1985 | Always … But Not Forever | Peggy |
| 1985 | Silent Witness | Patti Mullen |
| 1984 | I'm Only There... | Maggie |
| Passenger | ||
| Ron Forever | Hilda |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | I Know This Much Is True | Concettina Ipolita Tempesta 'Ma' Birdsey |
| 2019 | Dolly Parton's Heartstrings | Amelia Meegers |
| 2017 | I'm Dying Up Here | Goldie |
| 2015 | Wayward Pines | Nurse Pam |
| 2014 | Broad City | Lori |
| 2014 | BoJack Horseman | Ma Nguyen (voice) |
| 2013 | The Arsenio Hall Show | Self |
| 2011 | Mildred Pierce | Lucy Gessler |
| 2010 | Treme | |
| 2010 | Treme | Toni Bernette |
| 2006 | Shark | |
| 2005 | Criminal Minds | Sheriff Georgia Davis |
| 2004 | Veronica Mars | Julia Smith |
| 2004 | The L Word | Winnie Mann |
| 2003 | Cold Case | Tayna Raymes (1994 & 2007) |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Maureen Curtis |
| 2000 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sybil Perez |
| 1998 | Legacy | |
| 1994 | Scarlett | |
| 1993 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Kay Howard |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Donna Cheponis |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Defense Attorney Alice Sutton |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Sherri Quinn |
| 1989 | The Young Riders | Emma Shannon |
| 1989 | Nasty Boys | Katie Morrissey |
| 1985 | Spenser: For Hire | |
| 1985 | The Equalizer | Irina Dzershinsky |
| 1984 | Miami Vice |