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Jennifer Jason Leigh
Actress
(Born 1962)
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Jennifer Lee Morrow
She is the daughter of actor Vic Morrow
(1932-82), from Blackboard Jungle (55,
Richard Brooks) and Men in War (57,
Anthony Mann), and of actress-writer, Barbara Turner, who acted in Robert Altman's
Nightmare in Chicago (64) and wrote Petulia
(68, Richard Lester) for Altman. Patrick
McGilligan's biography of Altman, Jumping
Off the Cliff, suggests that the relationship
between Altman and Turner hastened the end
of her marriage to Morrow.
And then, nearly
thirty years later, Jennifer Jason Leigh appears, brilliant (if a
little too close to an audition set piece), as the
dour phone-sex provider in Short Cuts (93,
Altman).
It's natural to think that Leigh's grim pout
comes from Vic Morrow, one of the most
steadily blocked Method actors. But to judge
from photographs, she resembles her mother,
too. Hers has been a tough career, working in
many poor films, sometimes close to exploitation. As if from necessity, she has a long-suffering, wistful air that comes close to
depravity or sainthness. She was a blind-mute
in Eyes of a Stranger (81, Ken Wiederhorn);
catching the eye in Fast Times at Ridgemont
High (82, Amy Heckerling); Wrong Is Right
(82, Richard Brooks); Easy Money (83, James
Signorelli); Grandview, U.S.A. (84, Randal
Kleiser); Flesh + Blood (85, Paul Verhoeven);
The Hitcher (86, Robert Harmon); a dead-eyed call girl in The Men's Club (86, Peter Medak); Sister, Sister (87, Bill Condon);
Under Cover (87, John Stockwell); and Heart
of Midnight (88, Matthew Chapman).
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b. Los Angeles, 1962
Though her usually listed date of birth is 1962, there seems to be some confusion as to whether it is correct, with varying dates being given going as far back as 1958
