Melissa Leo

Melissa Leo
Leo at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
Born	Melissa Chessington Leo (1960-09-14) September 14, 1960 (age 56) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Children	1
Relatives	Christine Leo Roussel (paternal aunt)

Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the 1980s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons (1993–97). She had also previously been a regular on the television shows All My Children and The Young Riders.

Leo received critical acclaim for her performance as Ray Eddy in the film Frozen River (2008), earning several nominations and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. In 2010, Leo won several awards for her performance as Alice Eklund-Ward in the film The Fighter, including the Golden Globe, SAG, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1985 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance on All My Children. In 2013 she won the Emmy Award for her guest-role on the television series Louie. She recently starred in the 2015 Fox event series Wayward Pines as Nurse Pam.

Leo was born in Manhattan, New York City, and spent her early life on the Lower East Side. She is the daughter of Margaret (née Chessington), a California-born teacher, and Arnold Leo III, an editor at Grove Press, fisherman, and former spokesman for the East Hampton Baymen's Association. She has one brother, Erik Leo. Her parents divorced, and her mother moved them to Red Clover Commune, in Putney, Vermont. Her maternal grandparents were Frances (née Stone; 1917–2008) and James Chessington, a colonel in the United States Air Force. Her paternal grandparents were Elinore (née Wellington; 1914–2008) and Arnold Leo II. Her uncle was journalist Roger Leo (1947–2011), and her aunt is art historian Christine Leo Roussel.