Jane Leeves

Jane Elizabeth Leeves (born 18 April 1961) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daphne Moon on the NBC sitcom Frasier (1993–2004), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards. She also played Joy Scroggs on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in 1983 on the British television comedy programme The Benny Hill Show, and appeared as a dancer in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. She moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles. From 1986 to 1988, she played her first leading character in the sitcom Throb, then secured brief recurring parts in the sitcoms Seinfeld and Murphy Brown. She was cast in films such as Miracle on 34th Street (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Music of the Heart (1999) and The Event (2003). In 2018, she began appearing in the Fox medical drama The Resident.

Career

The daughter of an engineer and a nurse, Jane Leeves was born in Ilford, Essex, (present-day London) England. She was raised in East Grinstead, Sussex, along with two sisters and a brother. She was a regular on The Benny Hill Show, in the dance troupe Hill's Angels. She made use of her experience as a dancer in a scene in the 1983 film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. In the US, she appeared as a tourist with a baby in the video for David Lee Roth's song "California Girls", but struggled for several years to establish an acting career.

She had a recurring role in the television series Murphy Brown as Audrey Cohen, the smart but awkward girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). She also appeared as the troublesome virgin Marla Penny in four episodes of Seinfeld: "The Virgin", "The Contest", "The Pilot" and "The Finale – Part 2". During this period, Leeves was cast as Holly for the pilot of the American version of the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf.

In 1993, Leeves joined the cast of the television series Frasier as the eccentric, forthright and psychic Mancunian Daphne Moon. By the start of the eighth season, Leeves was pregnant, and the writers incorporated her pregnancy into shows as weight gain due to her character's stress from her relationship with Niles Crane (portrayed by David Hyde Pierce). By the conclusion of Frasier, Leeves had been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1998, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards in 1995.

Appearing less frequently in cinema, Leeves lent her speaking and singing voices to the animated film James and the Giant Peach (1996) as Mrs. Ladybug, and appeared in Music of the Heart (1999). In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway musical Cabaret. In 2004, she hosted an episode of the television comedy quiz show Have I Got News for You. Her 2006 show, The WB's sitcom Misconceptions, went unaired.

Leeves provided guest vocals in The Penguins of Madagascar as Lulu, a female chimp with whom Phil fell in love. With her Frasier costar Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company Bristol Cities (cockney rhyming slang for 'titties'). Their last project was in 2007, a pilot for a US remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley titled The Minister of Divine with Kirstie Alley in the title role. In 2010, Leeves guest starred in two episodes in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman)'s and Tom Scavo (Doug Savant)'s therapist Dr. Graham.

From 2010 until 2015, Leeves played the 40-something ex-"eyebrow artist to the stars" Joy Scroggs in the TV Land comedy Hot in Cleveland, with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick (also her co-star in the final season of Frasier) and Betty White. In 2011, she was nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the rest of the cast at the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards. The series ended in 2015 after six seasons and 128 episodes. She returned to television in 2018 with her first regular role in a dramatic series, orthopaedic surgeon Kit Voss, in the Fox medical drama The Resident.

Personal life Leeves is married to Marshall Coben, a CBS Studios executive, with whom she has two children, a daughter and a son. Peri Gilpin, Leeves's co-star on Frasier, is her neighbour and close friend and was in the delivery room when Leeves's first child was born.

In season 8 episode 17 of Frasier, "It Takes Two to Tangle", Niles Crane – Frasier's brother – tells Gilpin's character that Leeves's character has lost at the health spa, which is a reference to the actual weight of Leeves's baby girl.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1981 Nice to See You Performer Television film 1983 Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Dancer Uncredited The HungerNone 1985 To Live and Die in L.A. Serena Credited as Jane Leaves 1992 Just Deserts Amy Phillips 1994 Mr. Write Wylie Miracle on 34th Street Alberta Leonard 1996 James and the Giant Peach Mrs. Ladybug Voice Pandora's Clock Rachel Sherwood Television film The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century Caroline Webb Voice 1999 Don't Go Breaking My Heart Juliet Gosling Music of the Heart Dorothea von Haeften2002The Adventures of Tom Thumb and ThumbelinaMargaret BeetleVoice role 2003 The Event Mona Rothschild 2006 Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties Eenie Voice 2009 National Lampoon's Endless Bummer Liv 2012 Eric Idle's What About Dick Emma Schlegel

Television Year Title Role Notes 1983–1985 The Benny Hill Show Hill's Angel 4 episodes 1986–1988 Throb Prudence Anne "Blue" Bartlett Main role 1987 Murder, She Wrote Gwen Petrie Episode "It Runs in the Family" 1989 It's a Living Terry Tedaldo Episode "I Never Sang for My Father" Mr. Belvedere Professor Ann Burns Episode "The Professor" Hooperman Annie Episode "Stakeout" 1989–1993 Murphy Brown Audrey Cohen Nine episodes 1990 My Two Dads Harriet Episode "See You in September?" Room for Romance Episode "A Midsummer Night's Reality" Who's the Boss? Ms. Adams Episode "Parental Guidance Suggested" 1991 Blossom Sheila Episode "Love Stinks" 1992 Red Dwarf USA Holly Unsold 1992–1998 Seinfeld Marla Penny Four episodes 1993–2004 Frasier Daphne Moon Main role; 264 episodes 1995 Caroline in the City Daphne Moon Episode "Caroline and the Bad Back" 1998 Hercules Athena Six episodes 2003 The Simpsons Edwina Voice, episode "The Regina Monologues" 2004 Have I Got News For You Guest Presenter One episode 2006 Misconceptions Amanda Watson Seven episodes Twenty Good Years Mary Frances Episode "Big Love" 2008 The Starter Wife Ann Hefton Two episodes 2009–2011 The Penguins of Madagascar Lulu Voice, two episodes 2009–2013 Phineas and Ferb Various characters Four episodes 2010 Desperate Housewives Dr. Graham Two episodes Notes from the Underbelly Gracie Episode "Accidental Family Bed" 2010–2015 Hot in Cleveland Joy Scroggs Main role 2016 Crowded Gwen Episode "The Fixer" Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Lt. Estoc Voice, two episodes2017 The Great Indoors Cheryl Episode "Roland's Secret"2017–2019Mickey and the Roadster Racers Queen of England, Babette Beagle Voice, four episodes2018 We Bare Bears Ari Curd Voice, episode "Googs"2018–2023 The Resident Dr. Kitt Voss Series regular

Awards and nominations