Melissa Leo
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. Leo currently resides in Stone Ridge, New York and two sons John Matthew Heard (born 1987), and Adam (adopted - born 1984).
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · The Knife as Detective Carlsen
- 2025 · Guns Up as Michael Temple
- 2025 · King Ivory as Ginger Greene
- 2024 · Long Gone Heroes as Olivia
- 2022 · Bonnie as Self
- 2022 · Jane as Principal Rhodes
- 2022 · Alone Together as Deborah
- 2021 · Ida Red as Ida ‘Red’ Walker
- 2021 · Thunder Force as Allie
- 2021 · Body Brokers as Dr. White
- 2018 · Unlovable as Maddie
- 2018 · Furlough as Joan Anderson
- 2017 · Novitiate as Reverend Mother
- 2016 · Burn Country as Gloria
- 2015 · The Ever After as Penny
- 2014 · Dwegons and Leprechauns as Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald
- 2013 · Call Me Crazy: A Five Film as Robin
- 2013 · Bottled Up as Fay
- 2011 · Red State as Sara
- 2009 · Everybody's Fine as Colleen
- 2009 · Don McKay as Marie
- 2008 · Santa Mesa as Maggie
- 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 · Midnight Son as Rita
- 2006 · The Limbo Room as KC Collins
- 2005 · The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada as Rachel
- 2005 · American Gun as Louise
- 2005 · Runaway as Lisa Adler
- 2000 · Fear of Fiction as Sigrid Anderssen
- 1998 · Legacy as
- 1992 · Immaculate Conception as Hannah
- 1986 · Deadtime Stories as Judith 'MaMa' Baer
- 1985 · Silent Witness as Patti Mullen
- 1985 · Always … But Not Forever as Peggy
- Future · Ron Forever as Hilda
- 2024 · AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence as
- 2024 · The Clean Up Crew as Siobhan
- 2023 · The Equalizer 3 as Susan Plummer
- 2022 · Coast as Olivia
- 2022 · Measure of Revenge as Lillian
- 2020 · I Know This Much Is True as Concettina Ipolita Tempesta 'Ma' Birdsey
- 2019 · Dolly Parton's Heartstrings as Amelia Meegers
- 2018 · The Equalizer 2 as Susan Plummer
- 2018 · The Parting Glass as Al
- 2018 · Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer as Narrator
- 2018 · The Ashram as Chandra
- 2017 · The View from Up Here as
- 2017 · I'm Dying Up Here as Goldie
- 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 · 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 · Wayward Pines as Nurse Pam
- 2015 · She's The Best Thing in It as Self
- 2014 · The Equalizer as Susan Plummer
- 2014 · BoJack Horseman as Ma Nguyen (voice)
- 2014 · The Angriest Man in Brooklyn as Bette Altmann
- 2014 · Broad City as Lori
- 2013 · Prisoners as Holly Jones
- 2013 · The Arsenio Hall Show as Self
- 2013 · Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · Oblivion as Sally
- 2013 · Olympus Has Fallen as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
- 2013 · Charlie Countryman as Kate
- 2012 · Francine as Francine
- 2012 · Why Stop Now? as Penny
- 2012 · Flight as Ellen Block
- 2011 · The Space Between as Montine
- 2011 · Seven Days in Utopia as Lily
- 2011 · The Sea Is All I Know as Sara
- 2011 · Mildred Pierce as Lucy Gessler
- 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 · Treme as
- 2010 · Treme as Toni Bernette
- 2009 · According to Greta as Karen
- 2009 · Dear Lemon Lima as Mrs. Howard
- 2009 · Veronika Decides to Die as Mari
- 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 · Lullaby as Stephanie
- 2007 · Black Irish as Margaret McKay
- 2007 · The Cake Eaters as Ceci Kimbrough
- 2007 · Dear Lemon Lima as Mrs. Howard
- 2007 · Stephanie Daley as Miri Daley
- 2007 · Bomb as
- 2007 · One Night as Wendy
- 2006 · The House Is Burning as Mrs. Miller
- 2006 · Shark as
- 2005 · Criminal Minds as Sheriff Georgia Davis
- 2005 · Hide and Seek as Laura
- 2005 · Confess as Agnes Lessor
- 2004 · From Other Worlds as Miriam
- 2004 · Veronica Mars as Julia Smith
- 2004 · The L Word as Winnie Mann
- 2003 · Cold Case as Tayna Raymes (1994 & 2007)
- 2003 · 21 Grams as Marianne Jordan
- 2001 · Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Maureen Curtis
- 2000 · CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Sybil Perez
- 2000 · Homicide: The Movie as Kay Howard
- 1999 · Code of Ethics as Jo DeAngelo
- 1999 · The 24 Hour Woman as Dr. Suzanne Pincus
- 1997 · Who Is Henry Jaglom? as Self
- 1995 · Last Summer in the Hamptons as Trish Axelrod
- 1995 · In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice as Carol Manning
- 1994 · Scarlett as
- 1993 · The Ballad of Little Jo as Beatrice Grey
- 1993 · Homicide: Life on the Street as Kay Howard
- 1992 · By a Thread as Helen
- 1992 · Venice/Venice as Peggy
- 1991 · Carolina Skeletons as Cassie
- 1990 · The Bride in Black as Mary Margaret
- 1990 · Law & Order as Donna Cheponis
- 1990 · Law & Order as Defense Attorney Alice Sutton
- 1990 · Law & Order as Sherri Quinn
- 1989 · Nasty Boys as Katie Morrissey
- 1989 · Nasty Boys as Katie Morrissey
- 1989 · The Young Riders as Emma Shannon
- 1988 · A Time of Destiny as Josie Larraneta
- 1985 · Spenser: For Hire as
- 1985 · Streetwalkin' as Cookie
- 1985 · The Equalizer as Irina Dzershinsky
- 1984 · Miami Vice as
- Future · Passenger as
- 1984 · I'm Only There... as Maggie