Melissa Leo
111 movies · 23 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Sep 14, 1960 (age 66)
- Place of birth
- Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
- Also known as
- Margaret May · Melissa Chessington 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.
Read the full biography
Leo currently resides in Stone Ridge, New York and two sons John Matthew Heard (born 1987), and Adam (adopted - born 1984).
Known for
Melissa Leo: movies and TV shows
Acting (134)
- Upcoming Ron Forever
as Hilda
- Upcoming The Rooster Prince
as Elaine
- Upcoming
- Upcoming
- 2026 Passenger
as Diana Larson
- 2025 The Knife
as Detective Carlsen
- 2025 Guns Up
as Michael Temple
- 2025 King Ivory
as Ginger Greene
- 2024
- 2024 The Clean Up Crew
as Siobhan
- 2024 Long Gone Heroes
as Olivia
- 2023 The Equalizer 3
as Susan Plummer
- 2022 Jane
as Principal Rhodes
- 2022 Alone Together
as Deborah
- 2022 Coast
as Olivia
- 2022 Measure of Revenge
as Lillian
- 2021 Ida Red
as Ida ‘Red’ Walker
- 2021 Thunder Force
as Allie
- 2021 Body Brokers
as Dr. White
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018 Unlovable
as Maddie
- 2018 The Equalizer 2
as Susan Plummer
- 2018 The Parting Glass
as Al
- 2018 Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer
as Narrator
- 2018 Furlough
as Joan Anderson
- 2018 The Ashram
as Chandra
- 2017 The View from Up Here
as Claire
- 2017 Novitiate
as Reverend Mother
- 2017
- 2017 The Most Hated Woman in America
as Madalyn Murray O'Hair
- 2016 Snowden
as Laura Poitras
- 2016 All the Way
as Lady Bird Johnson
- 2016 Burn Country
as Gloria
- 2016 London Has Fallen
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
- 2015 The Big Short
as Georgia Hale
- 2015 Damnation: The Flashback
as Noda Marra
- 2015 After the Spill
as Narrator
- 2015 The Butterfly, The Harp, and The Timepiece
as Papillon
- 2015
- 2015 The Ever After
as Penny
- 2014 The Equalizer
as Susan Plummer
- 2014
- 2014 The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
as Bette Altmann
- 2014 Dwegons and Leprechauns
as Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald
- 2014
- 2013 Prisoners
as Holly Jones
- 2013 Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
as Robin
- 2013 Bottled Up
as Fay
- 2013 Oblivion
as Sally
- 2013 Olympus Has Fallen
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
- 2013 Charlie Countryman
as Kate
- 2012 Why Stop Now?
as Penny
- 2012 Flight
as Ellen Block
- 2012 Francine
as Francine
- 2011 The Space Between
as Montine
- 2011 Seven Days in Utopia
as Lily
- 2011 Red State
as Sara
- 2011 The Sea Is All I Know
as Sara
- 2011
- 2010 The Fighter
as Alice Ward
- 2010 Queen of the Lot
as Aunt Bee
- 2010 Welcome to the Rileys
as Lois Riley
- 2010 Conviction
as Nancy Taylor
- 2010 The Dry Land
as Martha
- 2010
- 2009 Everybody's Fine
as Colleen
- 2009 According to Greta
as Karen
- 2009 Dear Lemon Lima
as Mrs. Howard
- 2009 Veronika Decides to Die
as Mari
- 2009 Don McKay
as Marie
- 2009 True Adolescents
as Sharon Mitchell
- 2009 Stephanie's Image
as Stephanie
- 2008 The Alphabet Killer
as Kathy Walsh
- 2008 Righteous Kill
as Cheryl
- 2008 Frozen River
as Ray Eddy
- 2008 Santa Mesa
as Maggie
- 2008 Lullaby
as Stephanie
- 2007 Black Irish
as Margaret McKay
- 2007 Mr. Woodcock
as Sally Jansen
- 2007 Racing Daylight
as Sadie / Anna
- 2007 I Believe in America
as Soto
- 2007 Hollywood Dreams
as Aunt Bee
- 2007 The Cake Eaters
as Ceci Kimbrough
- 2007 Dear Lemon Lima
as Mrs. Howard
- 2007 Stephanie Daley
as Miri Daley
- 2007 Midnight Son
as Rita
- 2007
- 2007 One Night
as Wendy
- 2006 The House Is Burning
as Mrs. Miller
- 2006
- 2006 The Limbo Room
as KC Collins
- 2005 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
as Rachel
- 2005 Confess
as Agnes Lessor
- 2005
- 2005 American Gun
as Louise
- 2005 Runaway
as Lisa Adler
- 2005 Hide and Seek
as Laura
- 2004 From Other Worlds
as Miriam
- 2004
- 2004
- 2003 21 Grams
as Marianne Jordan
- 2003
- 2001
- 2000
- 2000 Fear of Fiction
as Sigrid Anderssen
- 2000 Homicide: The Movie
as Kay Howard
- 1999 Code of Ethics
as Jo DeAngelo
- 1999 The 24 Hour Woman
as Dr. Suzanne Pincus
- 1998
- 1998 Under the bridge
as Kathy
- 1995 Last Summer in the Hamptons
as Trish Axelrod
- 1995 In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice
as Carol Manning
- 1995 Garden
as Elizabeth
- 1994
- 1993 The Ballad of Little Jo
as Beatrice Grey
- 1993
- 1992 By a Thread
as Helen
- 1992 Immaculate Conception
as Hannah
- 1992 Venice/Venice
as Peggy
- 1991 Carolina Skeletons
as Cassie
- 1990 The Bride in Black
as Mary Margaret
- 1990
- 1989 Nasty Boys
as Katie Morrissey
- 1989
- 1988 A Time of Destiny
as Josie Larraneta
- 1986 Deadtime Stories
as Judith 'MaMa' Baer
- 1985 Silent Witness
as Patti Mullen
- 1985 Always … But Not Forever
as Peggy
- 1985 Streetwalkin'
as Cookie
- 1985
- 1985
- 1984
- 1984 I'm Only There...
as Maggie
Behind the camera (3)
- Upcoming The Mannequin
Executive Producer
- 2018 Furlough
Producer
- 2013 Bottled Up
Producer
Talk shows and appearances (5)
- 2022
- 2015
- 2013 The Arsenio Hall Show
1 episode
- 2013
- 1997