Téa Leoni

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Téa Leoni (Template:IPAc-en; born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni; February 25, 1966)<ref name="Biography.com"/> is an American actress. Early in her career, she starred on the television sitcoms Flying Blind (1992–1993) and The Naked Truth (1995–1998). Her breakthrough role was in the 1995 film Bad Boys, which led to leading parts in Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Spanglish (2004), and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). From 2014 to 2019, Leoni starred as Elizabeth McCord on the CBS drama series Madam Secretary.

Early life and family

Leoni was born on February 25, 1966, in New York City. Her mother, Emily Ann (née Patterson),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="fldr1">Stated on Finding Your Roots, November 21, 2017</ref> was a dietitian and nutritionist, and her father, Anthony Pantaleoni, was a corporate lawyer with the firm Fulbright & Jaworski.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her paternal grandfather was of Italian, English, and Irish descent; he was a nephew of Italian economist and politician Maffeo Pantaleoni.<ref name="eni">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="nytimes2002">Template:Cite news</ref>

Leoni's paternal grandmother, American silent film actress and humanitarian Helenka Adamowska Pantaleoni, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Polish musicians Józef Adamowski and Antonina Szumowska-Adamowska.<ref name=eni/><ref name="helenka">Template:Cite news</ref> Leoni's mother is a native of Amarillo, Texas. She is a niece of actor Hank Patterson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leoni grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and New York City, and attended two private schools, Brearley School and The Putney School in Vermont.<ref name="Diamond">Template:Cite web</ref> She attended but did not complete studies at Sarah Lawrence College.<ref name="Diamond" />

In a 2017 episode of Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Leoni discovered that her mother Emily, who was adopted, is the biological daughter of Mavis Abilene Gindratt from Vick, Louisiana, and Sumpter James Daniel, whose ancestors originated in Ireland. The Daniels immigrated to Virginia in the early 18th century, and founded a farm in Fairfax County, seven miles from that of George Washington.<ref>Finding Your Roots Series 4 Episode 8</ref> Her mother's adoptive parents were Florry Elizabeth (née Roberts) and Virgil Pearson Patterson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

In 1988, Leoni was cast as one of the stars of Angels 88, an updated version of the 1970s show Charlie's Angels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After production delays, the show never aired. The following year, she was cast as Lisa DiNapoli in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara. In 1991, she made her film debut with a small role in the comedy Switch and later played another small part in A League of Their Own (1992).

From 1992 to 1993, Leoni starred with Corey Parker in the short-lived Fox sitcom Flying Blind. In February 1995, she appeared in the sitcom Frasier, a spinoff from Cheers, as the fiancée of Sam Malone (played by Ted Danson).

Later in that year, she landed the lead role in the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth, playing Nora Wilde, a tabloid news journalist. The show ran through 1998. She was also offered the role of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends, which she had turned down in favor of The Naked Truth. Leoni had the female lead role in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys, which was a box office success, grossing over $141 million worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After leaving television, Leoni had a leading role in Deep Impact (1998), a big-budget disaster film featuring projected effects of a comet hurtling towards Earth. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $349 million worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She later had main roles in two other big budget movies: romantic comedy The Family Man (2000), co-starring alongside Nicolas Cage, and science fiction film Jurassic Park III (2001) as William H. Macy's character's ex-wife. In 2002, she starred as a film studio executive in Hollywood Ending, directed by Woody Allen and had a supporting role in the box office bomb crime drama People I Know. In 2004, she appeared as the wife of Adam Sandler's character in the financially unsuccessful comedy-drama Spanglish. In 2005, Leoni starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie grossed $202 million at the box office worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leoni co-starred in a number of small films in the late 2000s, including You Kill Me and The Smell of Success. She co-starred opposite Ricky Gervais in the 2008 supernatural comedy-drama Ghost Town. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the heist comedy film, Tower Heist. In 2011, she was also cast alongside Hope Davis as leads in the HBO comedy pilot, Spring/Fall; however, the pilot was not picked up.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leoni starred as Elizabeth McCord in the CBS political drama Madam Secretary, which ran from September 21, 2014, to December 8, 2019.<ref name="playbill1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Leoni married Neil Joseph Tardio Jr., a television commercial producer, on June 8, 1991, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hope Township, New Jersey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They divorced in 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leoni married actor David Duchovny on May 13, 1997, after an eight-week courtship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="parade2014">Template:Cite news</ref> and a son Kyd Miller Duchovny.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="miller">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2008, Leoni and Duchovny separated.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The couple reconciled in 2009 but separated again in June 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>"Tea Leoni and David Duchovny split" Template:Webarchive. June 29, 2011, CNN</ref> Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Leoni began dating Tim Daly, her Madam Secretary co-star, in December 2014. They are both alumni of The Putney School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Leoni and Daly were married on July 12, 2025 in New York during an intimate family wedding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=USAtoday-married>Template:Cite news</ref>

Humanitarian work

Leoni was named a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in 2001.<ref name="unicef">Template:Cite web</ref> She has been a member of UNICEF's national board since 2004.<ref name="unicef"/> Helenka Pantaleoni, her paternal grandmother, was the president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for more than 25 years.<ref name=helenka />

Asteroid

Asteroid 8299 Téaleoni, discovered by Eric Elst at La Silla in 1993, was named after Leoni.<ref name="Asteroid-Tealeoni" />

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Switch	Connie the Dream Girl
1992	Template:Sortname	Racine 1st Base
1994	Wyatt Earp	Sally
1995	Bad Boys	Julie Mott
1996	Flirting with Disaster	Tina Kalb
1998	Deep Impact	Jenny Lerner
	There's No Fish Food in Heaven<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Landeene	Also executive producer; Also known as Life In the Fast Lane
2000	The Family Man	Kate Reynolds
2001	Jurassic Park III	Amanda Kirby
2002	People I Know	Jilli Hopper
	Hollywood Ending	Ellie
2004	House of D	Mrs. Warshaw
	Spanglish	Deborah Clasky
2005	Fun with Dick and Jane	Jane Harper
2007	You Kill Me	Laurel Pearson	Also executive producer
2008	Ghost Town	Gwen
2009	The Smell of Success	Rosemary Rose
2011	Tower Heist	Special Agent Claire Denham
2025	Death of a Unicorn	Belinda Leopold

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Santa Barbara	Lisa DiNapoli	Temporary replacement for Tawny Kitaen
1992–1993	Flying Blind	Alicia	Main cast
1994	The Counterfeit Contessa<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	Gina Leonarda Nardino	Television film
1995	Frasier	Sheila	Episode: "The Show Where Sam Shows Up"
1995–1998	The Naked Truth	Nora Wilde	Main cast
2000	The X-Files	Herself	Episode: "Hollywood A.D."
2011	Spring/Fall	Margo	Television film
2014–2019	Madam Secretary	Elizabeth McCord	Main cast; also producer
2024–2025	Only Murders in the Building	Sofia Caccimelio	Recurring cast

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
1998	Deep Impact	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Actress – Sci-Fi	rowspan=2 Template:Nom
2000	The Family Man
		Saturn Awards	Best Actress	Template:Won
2006	Herself	TV Land Awards	Little Screen/Big Screen Star – Female	rowspan=3 Template:Nom
2014	Madam Secretary	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Actress in a New TV Series
2016		CBS MVP Awards	Best Motivational Speech

External links

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