Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one.
She is known for her roles in films such as
The Happiest MillionaireThe Happiest Millionaire is a 1967 musical film starring Fred MacMurray and based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Costume Design by Bill Thomas. The musical song score is by Robert and Richard Sherman...
, Victor Victoria,
ClueClue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
,
BurglarBurglar is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson and distributed by Warner Bros. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg and Bobcat Goldthwait.-Plot:...
, Cop,
Color of NightColor of Night is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Hollywood Pictures. Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Willis, Jane March, Ruben Blades, Lesley Ann Warren, and Scott Bakula...
and
SecretarySecretary is a 2002 independent film directed by Steven Shainberg and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as E. Edward Grey...
. She has also had roles in popular TV shows such as
Mission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
,
Desperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
,
Crossing JordanCrossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
,
Will & GraceWill & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, and
In Plain SightIn Plain Sight is an American dramatic television series on USA Network. The series revolves around Mary Shannon , a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico office of the Federal Witness Security Program , more commonly known as the Federal Witness Protection Program...
.
Personal life
Warren was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Carol (née Verblow), a singer, and William Warren, a real estate agent. Her family, by both sides, was of
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Jewish descent, and her father's original surname was "Warrenoff". Her 1967 marriage to producer
Jon PetersJon Peters is an American movie producer.-Early life:Peters was born John H. Peters in Van Nuys, California, the son of Helen , a receptionist, and Jack Peters, a cook...
ended in divorce in 1977. They have one son,
Christopher PetersChristopher Peters is an American movie producer and writer.Part of the Peters Entertainment family, his father is movie producer Jon Peters, and his mother is Lesley Ann Warren. He is married to Daniella Peters. He has 2 half sisters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters...
(born 1968, now an actor). She married Ronald Taft in 2000.
Career
The 5-foot-8-inch Warren began her career as a
balletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
dancer, training at the
School of American BalletThe School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
. She entered the
Actors StudioThe Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
at the age of 17—reputedly the youngest applicant ever to be accepted. Her
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut came in 1963 in the musical
110 in the Shade110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.Based on Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker, it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
. She won the
Theatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance in the 1965 flop musical
Drat! The Cat!Drat! The Cat! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Ira Levin and music by Milton Schafer.Originally called Cat and Mouse, this spoof of late-Victorian melodrama has at its core Alice Van Guilder, who wants to be a career girl at a time when nice young ladies marry well instead of having careers...
. In 1973, she portrayed
Scarlett O'HaraScarlett O' Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
in the Los Angeles production of the musical
ScarlettScarlett is a musical with a score by Harold Rome. The original Japanese book is by Kazuo Kikuta. The Tokyo production was directed by American director/choreographer Joe Layton, with musical direction by Lehman Engel....
; however, the play was poorly reviewed and did not continue to Broadway as planned.
Having failed to obtain the role of Liesl in the film version of
The Sound of MusicRodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
, Warren's first major television success was in the title role of
Rodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's television special
CinderellaRodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is a musical written for television, with music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based upon the fairy tale Cinderella, particularly the French version Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Vair, by Charles Perrault...
in 1965. She later played the part of Dana Lambert, the leading female on the
Mission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
team, during the 1970-71 television season. According to The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier by Patrick White, she was considered too inexperienced for the part and left after only one year. Despite her departure, throughout the 1970s Warren became a leading lady of TV movies, TV series, and TV miniseries. She appeared as a guest star in the third season of
The Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
and made an occasional feature film. Warren also played
Lois LaneLois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
in the 1975 TV special
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's SupermanIt's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name. Warren went on to screen-test for the role of Lois Lane in the 1978 Superman film, a role that was ultimately won by
Margot KidderMargaret Ruth "Margot" Kidder is a Canadian-born American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Lois Lane in the four Superman movies opposite Christopher Reeve, a role that brought her to widespread recognition....
(footage of Warren's screen test has been included as a supplemental feature on VHS and DVD releases of the film).
For her portrayal of a dim-witted gangster's moll in the 1982 musical-comedy Victor Victoria, Warren was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Warren is also a five-time Golden Globe nominee and won for the 1977 miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue. She was Emmy-nominated for the TV movie
Family of SpiesFamily of Spies, also known as Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring is a 1990 direct to TV movie based on the espionage of John A. Walker Jr.. The film was directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starred Powers Boothe as John Walker....
(1991).
In 1975, Warren played a disturbed mental patient opposite
Peter FalkPeter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
and
George HamiltonGeorge Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
in the Columbo episode A Deadly State of Mind. Warren played Princess Jeanetta in Shelly Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre's The Dancing Princesses. In the comedy film version of the popular board game
ClueClue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
(1985), she starred as one of the prime murder suspects, Miss Scarlet. In 1986, Lesley was prominently featured in
Bob SegerRobert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
's popular music video for his hit song "
American Storm"American Storm" is the title of a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger. It was recorded with The Silver Bullet Band and released in March 1986 as the lead single from their album Like a Rock. The single peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number 2 on the...
." In 1989, she appeared in the
AerosmithAerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
video "
Janie's Got a Gun"Janie's Got a Gun" is a song performed by American hard rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton. It was originally titled "Danny's Got a Gun" after a close friend of Steven Tyler, but was later changed. It was released as the second single from Pump in 1989...
," wherein she played Janie's mother.She was also featured in a video for the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane." In 1994, Warren had a major supporting role in the 1994 erotic thriller
Color of NightColor of Night is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Hollywood Pictures. Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Willis, Jane March, Ruben Blades, Lesley Ann Warren, and Scott Bakula...
, in which she played a nymphomaniac; however, the film was poorly received, and she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. However, the film was a success on the home video market.
Warren had recurring roles on
Will & GraceWill & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
as
Will TrumanWilliam Pierce "Will" Truman is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Eric McCormack. He is a gay lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler.-Fictional character history:...
's father's mistress and on
Desperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
as
Susan MayerSusan Delfino is a fictional character played by Teri Hatcher on the American Broadcasting Company television series Desperate Housewives. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and first appeared in the pilot episode of the series on October 3, 2004...
's mother. Other television roles have included Lily Lebowski's mother on
Crossing JordanCrossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
and Kip Stedman's mother in
Less than PerfectLess Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers...
.
Warren plays the role of Mary Shannon's mother in the
USA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
original television series
In Plain SightIn Plain Sight is an American dramatic television series on USA Network. The series revolves around Mary Shannon , a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico office of the Federal Witness Security Program , more commonly known as the Federal Witness Protection Program...
.
Filmography
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965)
- Gunsmoke, (TV), Harvest, 3/26/1966, Season 11, Episode 27
- The Happiest Millionaire
The Happiest Millionaire is a 1967 musical film starring Fred MacMurray and based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Costume Design by Bill Thomas. The musical song score is by Robert and Richard Sherman...
(1967)
- The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is a 1968 musical film based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael O'Herlihy, with original music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers...
(1968)
- Seven in Darkness (1969) (First ABC-TV "Movie of the Week" to be broadcast)
- Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
(TV) (1970–1971)
- It's A Bird!... It's a Plane!... It's Superman! (TV) (1975)
- Columbo: A Deadly State of Mind (TV) (1975)
- 79 Park Avenue
79 Park Avenue was an American television miniseries broadcast in 1977. It was based on the Harold Robbins' novel by the same name.It starred Lesley Ann Warren and Marc Singer as a prostitute and a mobster struggling to survive in the 1930s...
(1977)
- Betrayal (TV) (1978)
- Race for the Yankee Zephyr
Race for the Yankee Zephyr is a 1981 New Zealand supense-action-thriller film directed by David Hemmings and starring Ken Wahl, Lesley Ann Warren, George Peppard and Donald Pleasence.-Plot:...
(1981)
- Victor Victoria (1982) (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
)
- A Night in Heaven
A Night in Heaven is a 1983 romance film directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Christopher Atkins as a college student and Lesley Ann Warren as his professor. The screenplay is written by Joan Tewkesbury. Film critics widely panned the movie....
(1983)
- Choose Me
Choose Me is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Alan Rudolph. It was rated R by the MPAA. The film's tagline is In the middle of the night, when there's no one else...-Synopsis:...
(1984)
- Songwriter
Songwriter is a 1984 film, directed by Alan Rudolph.The film concerns Doc Jenkins, , a country and western composer and the devious tricks he employs to extricate himself from his legal entanglement with a Nashville gangster entrepreneur who takes all the profits from his songs...
(1984)
- The Dancing Princesses, Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre (1984)
- Evergreen (1985)
- Clue
Clue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...
(1985)
- A Fight for Jenny (1986)
- Apology
Apology is a made for HBO original film that premiered on July 27, 1986. The movie is based on the artwork of Allan Bridge and the novel he inspired, Mr. Apology. The film was eventually released on video and syndicated to cable & network television outlets. It stars Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Weller...
(1986)
- Burglar
Burglar is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson and distributed by Warner Bros. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg and Bobcat Goldthwait.-Plot:...
(1987)
- Cop (1987)
- Worth Winning
Worth Winning is a 1989 film starring Mark Harmon and Madeleine Stowe, directed by Will Mackenzie. It was written by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, based on the novel by Dan Lewandowski.- Plot :...
(1989)
- Family of Spies
Family of Spies, also known as Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring is a 1990 direct to TV movie based on the espionage of John A. Walker Jr.. The film was directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starred Powers Boothe as John Walker....
(1990)
- Life Stinks
Life Stinks is a 1991 comedy-drama directed by and starring Mel Brooks. It is known as one of the few Mel Brooks comedies that is not a parody, nor at any time does the film break the fourth wall. It co-stars Lesley Ann Warren, Howard Morris and Jeffrey Tambor...
(1991)
- Pure Country
Pure Country is a 1992 American dramatic musical western film directed by Christopher Cain. The film stars George Strait in his acting debut with Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser and Kyle Chandler. The film was considered a box office bomb, however the soundtrack was a critical success and to date...
(1992)
- Desperate Justice
Desperate Justice is a 1993 film starring Lesley Ann Warren, Bruce Davison, and Shirley Knight. It was based on the novel of the same name by Richard Speight, who also co-wrote the screenplay.-Plot:...
(AKA A Mother's Revenge) (1993)
- Color of Night
Color of Night is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Hollywood Pictures. Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Willis, Jane March, Ruben Blades, Lesley Ann Warren, and Scott Bakula...
(1994)
- Joseph
The Bible: Joseph is a German/Italian/American television movie from 1995, which tells the story of Joseph from the Old Testament.- Plot :Joseph, a Canaanite Hebrew, is an Egyptian slave to Potiphar, chief of Pharoah's palace guard. When Joseph is placed under the charge of Ednan, Potiphar's...
(1995)
- Going All the Way
Going All the Way is a 1997 film directed by Mark Pellington. The film was written by Dan Wakefield, based on his 1970 novel. It won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1997)
- All of It (1998)
- The Limey
The Limey is a 1999 American crime film, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Peter Fonda and Barry Newman.Filming locations included Big Sur and L.A.-Plot:...
(1999)
- Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs...
(1999) (uncredited cameo)
- Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
(2000-2006, 5 episodes)
- Secretary
Secretary is a 2002 independent film directed by Steven Shainberg and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as E. Edward Grey...
(2002)
- Deepwater
Deepwater is a 2005 neo-noir film directed and written by David S. Marfield. It is based on a novel of the same name written by Matthew F. Jones. It was screened at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 9, 2005 and the München Fantasy Filmfest in Germany on June 28, 2005...
(2006)
- 10th and Wolf (2006)
- When Do We Eat?
When Do We Eat? is a 2006 American comedy film. It is rated R for drugs, sex, and suggestive content.-Plot:When Do We Eat? is the story of a dysfunctional Jewish family's Passover Seder. This is the family's first Seder in three years and the tension is high. Before the Seder, Zeke slips his...
(2006)
- Constellation
Constellation is a film that was released by Codeblack Entertainment and 20th Century Fox in 2007. Prior to theatrical release the film won several Audience and Jury Awards at Festivals. It had its French Premiere in Cannes,...
(2007)
- In Plain Sight
In Plain Sight is an American dramatic television series on USA Network. The series revolves around Mary Shannon , a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico office of the Federal Witness Security Program , more commonly known as the Federal Witness Protection Program...
(2008–present) as Jinx Shannon.
- Bound by a Secret (2009)
- Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
as Sophie Bremmer-Flickman (2005; role reprised in 2011 episode)
- Working Class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
(2011 in "Medieval Woman") as Barbra Garrett.
External links