Melissa Leo: Movies, Awards & Box Office

Melissa Chessington Leo, an American actress, was born on September 14, 1960. She has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice Awards. After making several TV appearances and films in the 1980s, Leo started as regular on All My Children, earning her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination, and on The Young Riders. Her breakthrough role was in 1993, playing detective Kay Howard on Homicide: Life on the Street from 1993-1997. She was widely praised for her performance as Ray Eddy in Frozen River in 2008, earning multiple nominations and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This film was pivotal in her career, showing her remarkable prowess in character embodiment and earning her a resounding reputation in the industry. In 2010, Leo won several awards for her excellent performance as Alice Eklund-Ward in the film The Fighter, bagging the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2013, she appeared on Louie as a guest star, for which she bagged a Primetime Emmy Award. She subsequently had major roles in the Fox series Wayward Pines as Nurse Pam and the Netflix film The Most Hated Woman in America. She established herself as a versatile actress capable of significant range, and her dedication to each part has been noted by many industry critics. Additionally, Leo had a series of successful films throughout 2009 and 2010, including Stephanie's Image, True Adolescents, and Veronika Decides to Die. She earned fame for her role in David O. Russell's The Fighter alongside Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. For her performance, Leo bagged numerous awards, including the Golden Globe, New York Film Critics Circle, Screen Actors Guild, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.