Melissa Leo

Melissa Leo is single, though, in 1986, she had an affair with John Heard, an American actor with whom she had a son, John Matthew Leo, in 1987. The couple split after a three-year relationship; the parting was bitter with a court battle for the son’s custody, which was ultimately given to Melissa in 1994. She adopted another child, Adam Leo. She now lives in Stone Ridge, New York with both her sons.

Despite having played the roles of countless strong women, she is known for having denounced the concepts of feminism as she feels that categorizing and labeling women is counterproductive.

Melissa Chessington Leo was born on September 14, 1960, in Manhattan, New York City, USA, to Arnold Leo III and Margaret (née Chessington).

Her father was employed at the Grove Press as an editor and was an ardent fisherman as well as a spokesman for the East Hampton Baymen's Association. Her mother was a teacher who hailed from California. Melissa has one brother, Erik.

While her early days were spent in the Lower East Side, where she performed with the ‘Bread and Puppet Theater Company’, she, along with her mother and brother moved to the Putney, Vermont to take up residence in the Red Clover Commune following her parent’s divorce. She spent her summers with her father in Springs, a neighborhood in East Hampton, New York.

She attended Bellows Falls High School in Bellows Falls, Vermont and also pursued her passion for acting at the Brattleboro Center for the Performing Arts. At the age of 15, she went to London to study acting at the Mountview Theater School, a leading drama school.

In 1978, Melissa returned to the USA to study theater at the State University of New York, Purchase. Even though she spent two years there, she did not complete the course and instead moved to New York City where she gained admission to the Actors Studio and looked to pursue a career in acting

Her first career break came in 1984, when she bagged the lead role in a soap opera, ‘All My Children’. She did justice to her casting by winning the ‘Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Ingénue/Woman in a Drama Series’ at the 12th ‘Daytime Emmy Awards’.

Following the award, she appeared in a number of films, including ‘Streetwalkin’, in which she played the lead role of a prudish girl who gets drawn into prostitution. Other notable films during this period included, ‘Last Summer in the Hamptons’, ‘A Time of Destiny’, and ‘Venice/Venice’.

Melissa also acted in a number of television shows; her role of Detective Sgt. Kay Howard in the first five seasons (1993-97) of ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ was extremely well received.

After a short break from acting, in 2003, Melissa put in a superb performance in ‘21 Grams’, an Alejandro González Iñárritu film. She received the award for the best actress from the ‘Los Angeles Film Critics Association’ and shared the Phoenix Film Critics Society’s ‘Best Ensemble Cast’ award.

In 2005, Melissa appeared in the films, ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘American Gun’. She also had a minor role in Mr. Woodcock, a comedy film.

‘Frozen River’; released on August 1, 2008, was Melissa Leo’s first major hit that also earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film’s budget was $1 million and it grossed more than $5 million.

‘The Fighter’; released on December 10, 2010, is Melissa’s biggest hit to date. The $25 million film grossed more than $129 million and earned Melissa an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.