Melissa Leo

Personal Info

Birthday

September 14, 1960

(64 years old)

Place of Birth

New York City, New York, USA

Also Known As

Margaret May

Melissa Chessington Leo

멜리사 레오

ملیسا لیو

Melissa Leo

Biography

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.

Known For

Guns Up

Criminal Minds

Law & Order

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

King Ivory

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

BoJack Horseman

Cold Case

Filmography

2025
The Knife
as Detective Carlsen
Guns Up
as Michael Temple
King Ivory
as Ginger Greene
2024
Long Gone Heroes
as Olivia
The Clean Up Crew
as Siobhan
2023
The Equalizer 3
as Susan Plummer
2022
Bonnie
as Self
Jane
as Principal Rhodes
Alone Together
as Deborah
Coast
as Olivia
Measure of Revenge
as Lillian
2021
Ida Red
as Ida ‘Red’ Walker
Thunder Force
as Allie
Body Brokers
as Dr. White
2018
Unlovable
as Maddie
The Equalizer 2
as Susan Plummer
The Parting Glass
as Al
Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer
as Narrator
Furlough
as Joan Anderson
The Ashram
as Chandra
2017
Novitiate
as Reverend Mother
The Most Hated Woman in America
as Madalyn Murray O'Hair
2016
Snowden
as Laura Poitras
All the Way
as Lady Bird Johnson
Burn Country
as Gloria
London Has Fallen
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
2015
The Big Short
as Georgia Hale
Damnation: The Flashback
as Noda Marra
After the Spill
as Narrator
The Butterfly, The Harp, and The Timepiece
as Papillon
She's The Best Thing in It
as Self
The Ever After
as Penny
2014
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
as Bette Altmann
Dwegons and Leprechauns
as Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald
2013
Prisoners
as Holly Jones
Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy
as Narrator (voice)
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
as Robin
Bottled Up
as Fay
Oblivion
as Sally
Olympus Has Fallen
as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
Charlie Countryman
as Kate
2012
Flight
as Ellen Block
Francine
as Francine
Why Stop Now?
as Penny
2011
The Space Between
as Montine
Seven Days in Utopia
as Lily
Red State
as Sara
The Sea Is All I Know
as Sara
2010
The Fighter
as Alice Ward
Queen of the Lot
as Aunt Bee
Welcome to the Rileys
as Lois Riley
Conviction
as Nancy Taylor
The Dry Land
as Martha
2009
Everybody's Fine
as Colleen
According to Greta
as Karen
Dear Lemon Lima
as Mrs. Howard
Veronika Decides to Die
as Mari
Don McKay
as Marie
True Adolescents
as Sharon Mitchell
Stephanie's Image
as Stephanie
2008
The Alphabet Killer
as Kathy Walsh
Righteous Kill
as Cheryl
Frozen River
as Ray Eddy
Santa Mesa
as Maggie
Lullaby
as Stephanie
2007
Black Irish
as Margaret McKay
Mr. Woodcock
as Sally Jansen
Racing Daylight
as Sadie / Anna
I Believe in America
as Soto
Hollywood Dreams
as Aunt Bee
The Cake Eaters
as Ceci Kimbrough
Stephanie Daley
as Miri Daley
Midnight Son
as Rita
One Night
as Wendy
2006
The House Is Burning
as Mrs. Miller
The Limbo Room
as KC Collins
2005
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
as Rachel
American Gun
as Louise
Runaway
as Lisa Adler
Hide and Seek
as Laura
Confess
as Agnes Lessor
2004
From Other Worlds
as Miriam
2003
21 Grams
as Marianne Jordan
2000
Fear of Fiction
as Sigrid Anderssen
Homicide: The Movie
as Kay Howard
1999
Code of Ethics
as Jo DeAngelo
The 24 Hour Woman
as Dr. Suzanne Pincus
1997
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
as Self
1995
Last Summer in the Hamptons
as Trish Axelrod
In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice
as Carol Manning
1993
The Ballad of Little Jo
as Beatrice Grey
1992
By a Thread
as Helen
Immaculate Conception
as Hannah
Venice/Venice
as Peggy
1991
Carolina Skeletons
as Cassie
1990
The Bride in Black
as Mary Margaret
1988
A Time of Destiny
as Josie Larraneta
1986
Deadtime Stories
as Judith 'MaMa' Baer
1985
Silent Witness
as Patti Mullen
Always … But Not Forever
as Peggy
Streetwalkin'
as Cookie
1984
I'm Only There...
as Maggie