Melissa Leo

ActorProducer Sep 14 (age 65) Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA 1984–2026 (42 year career)

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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. Following several films, Leo received critical acclaim and national attention in earning several nominations and awards, including an Oscar nom…

Known For

Film

Prisoners

Holly Jones

Film

The Big Short

Georgia Hale

Film

The Equalizer

Susan Plummer

Film

The Fighter

Alice Ward

Film

Oblivion

Sally

Film

Flight

Ellen Block

Film

Snowden

Laura Poitras

Film

The Equalizer 3

Susan Plummer

Filmography

Acting (137)

Movies (110)

Passenger

2026 Upcoming

May 21

King Ivory

as Ginger Greene

Guns Up

as Michael Temple

The Knife

as Detective Carlsen

The Clean Up Crew

as Siobhan

Long Gone Heroes

as Olivia

AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence

The Equalizer 3

as Susan Plummer

Measure of Revenge

as Lillian

Bonnie

as Self

Jane

as Principal Rhodes

Alone Together

as Deborah

Coast

as Olivia

Thunder Force

as Allie

Body Brokers

as Dr. White

Ida Red

as Ida ‘Red’ Walker

The Equalizer 2

as Susan Plummer

Unlovable

as Maddie

The Ashram

as Chandra

Furlough

as Joan Anderson

The Parting Glass

as Al

Mabel, Mabel Tiger Trainer

2018

as Narrator

Novitiate

2017

as Reverend Mother

6.4

The Most Hated Woman in America

2017

as Madalyn Murray O'Hair

6.2

The View from Up Here

2017

as Claire

6.0

London Has Fallen

2016

as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan

Snowden

as Laura Poitras

All the Way

as Lady Bird Johnson

Burn Country

as Gloria

The Big Short

as Georgia Hale

The Butterfly, The Harp, and The Timepiece

2015

as Papillon

After the Spill

as Narrator

The Ever After

as Penny

Damnation: The Flashback

2015

as Noda Marra

1.0

She's The Best Thing in It

as Self

The Equalizer

as Susan Plummer

Dwegons and Leprechauns

2014

as Grandma Fitz / Butterfly McDweg / Mrs. Fitzgerald

1.4

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn

as Bette Altmann

Prisoners

as Holly Jones

Oblivion

as Sally

Olympus Has Fallen

as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan

Bottled Up

as Fay

Charlie Countryman

as Kate

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

2013

as Robin

6.9

Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy

2013

as Self - Narrator (voice)

Flight

as Ellen Block

Francine

as Francine

Why Stop Now?

as Penny

The Space Between

as Montine

The Sea Is All I Know

2011

as Sara

Red State

as Sara

Seven Days in Utopia

as Lily

The Fighter

as Alice Ward

Welcome to the Rileys

as Lois Riley

Conviction

as Nancy Taylor

Queen of the Lot

as Aunt Bee

The Dry Land

as Martha

Everybody's Fine

as Colleen

Don McKay

as Marie

Veronika Decides to Die

as Mari

According to Greta

as Karen

Dear Lemon Lima

as Mrs. Howard

Stephanie's Image

as Stephanie

True Adolescents

as Sharon Mitchell

Righteous Kill

as Cheryl

Lullaby

as Stephanie

Frozen River

as Ray Eddy

The Alphabet Killer

as Kathy Walsh

Santa Mesa

as Maggie

Dear Lemon Lima

as Mrs. Howard

Mr. Woodcock

as Sally Jansen

Black Irish

as Margaret McKay

One Night

as Wendy

Racing Daylight

as Sadie / Anna

Midnight Son

as Rita

Bomb

Stephanie Daley

as Miri Daley

The Cake Eaters

as Ceci Kimbrough

Hollywood Dreams

as Aunt Bee

I Believe in America

as Soto

The Limbo Room

2006

as KC Collins

The House Is Burning

as Mrs. Miller

Hide and Seek

as Laura

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

as Rachel

Confess

as Agnes Lessor

American Gun

as Louise

Runaway

as Lisa Adler

From Other Worlds

as Miriam

21 Grams

as Marianne Jordan

Fear of Fiction

as Sigrid Anderssen

Homicide: The Movie

2000

as Kay Howard

6.8

The 24 Hour Woman

1999

as Dr. Suzanne Pincus

5.3

Code of Ethics

1999

as Jo DeAngelo

Who Is Henry Jaglom?

1997

as Self

6.6

Last Summer in the Hamptons

1995

as Trish Axelrod

5.5

In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice

1995

as Carol Manning

4.0

The Ballad of Little Jo

1993

as Beatrice Grey

5.8

By a Thread

1992

as Helen

Venice/Venice

1992

as Peggy

6.5

Immaculate Conception

as Hannah

Carolina Skeletons

as Cassie

The Bride in Black

as Mary Margaret

Nasty Boys

as Katie Morrissey

A Time of Destiny

as Josie Larraneta

Deadtime Stories

as Judith 'MaMa' Baer

4.9

Streetwalkin'

1985

as Cookie

4.8

Always … But Not Forever

as Peggy

Silent Witness

as Patti Mullen

I'm Only There...

as Maggie

Ron Forever

as Hilda

Television (27)

I Know This Much Is True

2020

as Concettina Ipolita Tempesta 'Ma' Birdsey

7.6

Dolly Parton's Heartstrings

as Amelia Meegers

I'm Dying Up Here

as Goldie

Wayward Pines

as Nurse Pam

Wayward Pines

as Nurse Pam

BoJack Horseman

as Ma Nguyen (voice)

Broad City

as Lori

The Arsenio Hall Show

as Self

Mildred Pierce

as Lucy Gessler

Treme

as Toni Bernette

Treme

Shark

as Elizabeth Rourke

Criminal Minds

as Sheriff Georgia Davis

Veronica Mars

as Julia Smith

The L Word

as Winnie Mann

Cold Case

as Tayna Raymes (1994 & 2007)

7.8

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

2001

as Maureen Curtis

7.6

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

as Sybil Perez

Legacy

Scarlett

as Suellen O'Hara Benteen

6.5

Homicide: Life on the Street

1993

as Kay Howard

8.1

Law & Order

1990

as Defense Attorney Alice Sutton

The Young Riders

as Emma Shannon

Nasty Boys

as Katie Morrissey

The Equalizer

as Irina Dzershinsky

Spenser: For Hire

Miami Vice

as Kathleen Gilfords

Crew (2)

Movies (2)

Furlough

Producer

Bottled Up

Producer