WONDER WOMAN

Tea Leoni

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2So6NPYHJnI - Watch a clip from the show!

A beautiful actress with a distinctive, honeyed, husky voice, Leoni developed an interest in acting at an early age encouraged by her grandmother, a Broadway performer. She dropped out of college to tour the world and upon her return to the US, was cast in the busted pilot "Angels '88", a remake of the 1970s "Charlie's Angels". She made her film debut as the "dream girl" in Blake Edwards' gender-bending "Switch" (1991). Leoni garnered rave reviews for her non-stereotypical portrayal of a flamboyant blonde bombshell in the Fox sitcom "Flying Blind" (1992-93). She was criticized for an infamous interview in connection with that show in which she said there wasn't enough sex on TV, at least not enough "all-American, healthy, fun sex." With her great looks and flamboyant style, Leoni landed the title role in the Fox TV-movie "The Counterfeit Contessa" (1994). As Gina, a streetwise Brooklyn woman swept into New York society and romance with an attorney when she is mistaken for an Italian countess, Leoni earned critical kudos. She and producer Chris Thompson developed the idea for "The Naked Truth" (ABC, 1995-96; NBC 1996-98) in which Leoni created the role of Nora Wilde, a formerly rich divorcee forced to become a tabloid newspaper photographer.

Leoni's additional feature film credits include Penny Marshall's "A League of Their Own" (1992), in which Leoni accidentally hit Madonna with a baseball. In Lawrence Kasdan's overlong oater "Wyatt Earp" (1994), she shone as a tough frontier prostitute. Leoni co-starred with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys" (1995) as a sexy crime witness who causes two Miami drug enforcement cops to exchange identities. The following year, she once again showed her sultry appeal in David O Russell's "Flirting With Disaster".

Leoni once again displayed her pluck as a newswoman who discovers that Earth is about to be destroyed by a meteor in "Deep Impact" (1998). By the time of its release, she had married actor David Duchovny, and she took a brief hiatus for motherhood. Returning to the big screen in 2000, Leoni lent her sexy intelligence to the role of Nicolas Cage's wife in the holiday fantasy "The Family Man". The next year, she was among those facing off against dinosaurs in the inevitable sequel "Jurassic Park 3."

In 2002, Leoni starred as Woody Allen's wife in "Hollywood Ending," where Allen played a film director who goes blind, and appeared as a celebrity with troublesome addictions in the well-regarded but little-seen "People I Know" (2002) opposite Al Pacino. The actress snared one of her highest-profile roles when she appeared as Adam Sandler's high-strung, out-of-control wife Deborah Clasky in writer-director James L. Brooks' seriocomic "Spanglish" (2004). Leoni played her character's emotionally frayed existence at a high pitch, and somehow made her lovable at the same time, despite an abundance of tics and neuroses that seem far from the experience of a normal human being--she also delivered the most raucous orgasm sequence on film since Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally."

Why we like her?
Tea Leoni is an underrated comedic actress who's as smart and sexy as she is funny. And she's got the best set of legs on the East Coast.

Why is she famous?
Tea has starred in blockbuster features like Bad Boys and Deep Impact, but she's probably best known as Nora Wilde in the '90s hit sitcom, The Naked Truth

Tea Leoni had originally hoped to get her degree at Harvard, but after winning a starring role on the revamped Angels '88, she dropped her studies and took up the pursuit of full-time acting. Following a few years of low-profile modeling work and television commercials, Leoni made her film debut in 1991, and hasn't looked back since.

Tea's portrayal of a divorced photojournalist working for a sleazy tabloid on The Naked Truth helped make her a near household name and established her as a gifted and agile comic actress. While every indication pointed toward movie stardom, Leoni never quite made it to the levels anticipated by her supporters.

Tea Leoni was born Elizabeth Tea Pantaleoni on February 25, 1966, in New York City. Her father Anthony was a corporate lawyer, while her mother Emily was a professional nutritionist. She went to Brearley, a prominent private all-girls school on New York City's Upper East Side, graduated from a boarding school in Putney, Vermont, and then attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied anthropology and psychology.

Leoni decided to take a break from her collegial studies to experience other parts of the world. Her journey took her to Italy to discover her Italian roots, to Japan, where she worked as an athletic model and taught businessmen how to relate to American women, and finally the isle of St. Croix, where she worked on a commercial sailboat as a crew hand.

It was during her travels that Leoni's interest in acting developed, and while living in Boston, she auditioned for a role in Angels '88, a Charlie's Angels spin-off (apparently she did it on a dare). Tea won the part, and while that show never actually aired due to a writers' strike, she landed a gig as a replacement for the Lisa DiNapoli character on the television series Santa Barbara in 1989.

In 1991, Leoni made her big-screen debut playing Connie -- the "Dream Girl" -- in the Blake Edwards comedy Switch. A small part in the film A League of Their Own followed in 1992, the same year that she landed a role on the short-lived FOX sitcom Flying Blind. Although the series was critically acclaimed, it was canceled during its first season.

Leoni married commercial director Neil Tardio in 1992; the union ended in divorce in October 1995. In 1994, Tea was back on the big screen with a feature part in Wyatt Earp, as well as in the made-for-TV movie The Counterfeit Contessa, where she starred in the title role.

She guest starred on NBC's Frasier in February 1995, in a memorable episode in which she played Sam Malone's fiancée.

tea does bad boys and the naked truth

Leoni's profile was given a big boost when she appeared alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the summer hit Bad Boys, in 1995. Later that same year, she debuted as Nora Wilde on ABC's The Naked Truth. The sitcom was pulled from ABC after one season, and quickly picked up by NBC, where it became a hit and ran for another two seasons on the peacock network.

During her three-year stint on the series, she found time to appear on the big screen in the David O. Russell comedy Flirting with Disaster (1996), in the little-seen indie feature There's No Fish Food In Heaven (a.k.a. Life in the Fast Lane, 1998), and marry actor David Duchovny of The X-Files fame in May 1997.

tea leoni in deep impact

Leoni landed the starring role of reporter Jenny Lerner in the "comet heading toward Earth" blockbuster Deep Impact (1998), and then took some time off to have a child. Daughter Madelaine West Duchovny was born on April 24, 1999.

Leoni returned to the silver screen in 2000, appearing opposite Nicolas Cage in The Family Man. She won a co-starring role in the 2001 sequel Jurassic Park III, and padded her resume with a starring role in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002) and a part in People I Know, with Al Pacino and Kim Basinger. Leoni next gave birth to son Kyd Miller Duchovny in June 2002.

tea in house of d & spanglish

After a two-year hiatus, Leoni returned to acting with House of D (2004), husband Duchovny's first foray into film writing and directing.

Tea also landed a role in 2004's Spanglish, a comedy directed by James L. Brooks and starring Adam Sandler. In Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Leoni recreates the role of Jane Harper, originally played by Jane Fonda in the 1977 version (Jim Carrey takes over the role formerly portrayed by George Segal).

In addition to her love for acting and her family, Tea is a major golf fanatic.

LINKS
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800021189&cf=gen&intl=us
http://www.askmen.com/women/actress_250/271_tea_leoni.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000495/