Jennifer Jason Leigh was directed by Noah Baumbach in Margot at the Wedding, for which she was an Independent Spirit Award nominee and was cited as Best Supporting Actress by the Chicago Film Critics Association.
Prior to producing and costarring in Greenberg, she produced and starred in Georgia, written by Barbara Turner and directed by Ulu Grosbard. Ms. Leigh was cited as Best Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle and at the Montréal World Film Festival for her performance in the film; Mare Winningham was nominated for an Academy Award, and won an Independent Spirit Award, for her performance in the film.
With Alan Cumming, Ms. Leigh wrote, directed, and starred in The Anniversary Party, the ensemble cast of which also featured Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline, and Gwyneth Paltrow, among many others. Mr. Cumming and Ms. Leigh received Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
As an actor, she first came to prominence in Sam O'Steen's telefilm The Best Little Girl in the World, starring in the title role opposite Charles Durning and Eva Marie Saint. Her feature film breakout role was in Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High, alongside Sean Penn, Phoebe Cates, and Judge Reinhold.
In 1990, Ms. Leigh was named Best Supporting Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics for her performances in Uli Edel's Last Exit to Brooklyn and George Armitage's Miami Blues.
She starred in two films for director Robert Altman, Short Cuts and Kansas City. She reteamed with Mr. Altman when he produced Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, directed by Alan Rudolph. For her portrayal of the legendary writer Dorothy Parker, Ms. Leigh was named Best Actress by the National Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association, and received Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations.
Her many other feature credits include Richard Brooks' Wrong is Right; Christopher Guest's The Big Picture; Lili Fini Zanuck's Rush; Barbet Schroeder's Single White Female; Joel & Ethan Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy; Taylor Hackford's Dolores Claiborne; Anjelica Huston's Bastard Out of Carolina; Agnieszka Holland's Washington Square; David Cronenberg's eXistenZ; Tamra Davis' Skipped Parts, which she co-produced; Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition; Jane Campion's In the Cut; Todd Solondz' Palindromes; and Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York. She was named Best Actress at the Tokyo International Film Festival for her performance in the Dogme film The King is Alive.
Ms. Leigh's Broadway stage appearances include Cabaret, opposite Alan Cumming and directed by Sam Mendes, and David Auburn's Proof, directed by Daniel Sullivan. In 2005, she starred off-Broadway in the American premiere of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party, staged by Scott Elliott for The New Group; her performance earned her Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Best Actress. She also recently starred in the radio play, Anomalisa, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles.
She has been honored with career retrospectives at the American Cinematheque, the Telluride Film Festival, and the American Museum of the Moving Image. In 2002, the Film Society of Lincoln Center presented Ms. Leigh with its Young Friends of Film Honor.
Focus Features
