Jennifer Jason Leigh Movies and Career Information

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born February 5, 1962) is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts. She is also the co-writer and co-director of the film The Anniversary Party, made with fellow actor Alan Cumming. Leigh is acclaimed as one of the finest screen actors of her generation, for her emotionally raw and often sexually explicit portrayals of vulnerable and damaged women, and for her intensive method inspired research into her roles. Her career is also notable for not yet having achieved an Academy Award acting nomination, despite extensive critical acclaim for her work. Leigh was born on 5 February 1962 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, and is the daughter of actor Vic Morrow and screenwriter Barbara Turner. From her father, she is of Russian Jewish descent. Leigh's birth name was Jennifer Leigh Morrow. She changed her surname early in her acting career, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of the actor Jason Robards, a family friend. Leigh has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who is credited as "technical advisor" in Georgia and on whom the role of