Lea Thompson

Infobox actor
name = Lea Thompson

---

birthname = Lea Katherine Thompson
birthdate = birth date and age|mf=yes|1961|5|31
birthplace = Rochester, Minnesota
youngartistawards =Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
spouse =Howard Deutch (1989-present)
awards = Best Supporting Actress
1988 "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1987 film)
Favorite Movie Actress
1990 "Back to the Future Part II" (1989 film)

Lea Katherine Thompson (born May 31, 1961) is a People's Choice Award winning American actress and director. She is best known for her lead character in the hit 1990's series hit Caroline in the City

Early life

Thompson was born in Rochester, Minnesota, the daughter of Barbara, a singer and musician, and Cliff Thompson. [http://www.filmreference.com/film/12/Lea-Thompson.html Lea Thompson Biography (1961-) ] ] She studied ballet as a girl and would practice three to four hours every day. She was dancing professionally by the age of 14. [http://movies.nytimes.com/person/70717/Lea-Thompson Lea Thompson - Trailer - Showtimes - Cast - Movies - The New York Times ] ] She won scholarships to several ballet schools, including the American Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet. Thompson danced in more than 45 ballets with the American Ballet Theatre. She also danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Minnesota Dance Theatre and the Ballet Repertory.

Thompson was told by ballet legend and then ABT artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov that she was "a beautiful dancer, but too stocky." Due to this (as well as some small nagging past injuries), she decided to give up dancing in favor of an acting career. She moved to New York at age 20 and performed in a number of Burger King advertisements in the 1980s along with Elisabeth Shue, her eventual co-star in "Back to the Future Part II" and "Back to the Future Part III".

Career

Film and television

Thompson's first significant film roles came in 1983, with "Jaws 3-D" and "All the Right Moves". That was followed by "Red Dawn" (1984) and "The Wild Life" (1984). Her most famous role was that of Lorraine Baines McFly in the "Back to the Future" trilogy, the first of the three films being released in 1985. Thompson's character is the mother of Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox.

In 1986, Thompson starred in "SpaceCamp" and "Howard the Duck". For the latter film, she sang several songs on the soundtrack, in character, as musician Beverley Switzer, a.k.a. "Cherry Bomb." The recordings appeared on both the soundtrack album and on singles. Rounding out film appearances in the late 1980s, Thompson starred in "Some Kind of Wonderful", "Casual Sex?", "Going Undercover" and "The Wizard of Loneliness". She also had a prominent role in the 1989 TV movie "Nightbreaker", for which she was nominated for a CableACE Award. In the early 1990s, Thompson starred in "Dennis the Menace" (1993), "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1993) and "The Little Rascals" (1994). She also appeared in several TV movies throughout the 90s, such as "The Substitute Wife" (1994), "The Unspoken Truth" (1995) and "The Right To Remain Silent" (1996).

Thompson found moderate critical and popular success as the star of the NBC sitcom "Caroline in the City", from 1995-1999. In 1996, Thompson received a People's Choice Award for "Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Series." [ [http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Lea_Thompson/191053 Lea Thompson at Hollywood.com ] ]

After a break from acting, Thompson went on to star in several Broadway plays. She later appeared in a TV series called "For The People", which only lasted one season. Then came a TV movie, "Stealing Christmas" (2003), starring Tony Danza and Betty White. Thompson also appeared in several episodes of the dramedy series "Ed" and in a guest role for one episode in 2004 on NBC's ""; she played a woman whose embryos were stolen. In 2005, Thompson began a series of made-for-TV movies for the Hallmark Channel, in which she plays "Jane Doe," an ex-secret agent turned housewife, who helps the government solve mysteries. Thompson directed two films from the "Jane Doe" series - ' and '. She is currently attached to direct the feature film "The Swingin' Sounds of Jack Amsterdam", which is set to be released in 2009.

Thompson was a featured singer on "Celebrity Duets" and the second contestant eliminated in 2006. Over the next two years, more of her "Jane Doe" films were released, two of which Thompson directed - "The Harder they Fall" and "Eye of the Beholder".

In April 2007, another TV movie, "A Life Interrupted", premiered on Lifetime Television. It concerns a rape survivor, who overcomes her debilitating fear by working to get funding to process the terrible backlog of rape kits processed, so that other women will not have to suffer for years as she did. Thompson guest-starred on the show "Head Case" in January 2008. She appeared in the TV movie "Final Approach", which debuted in the U.S. on May 24, 2008. [ [http://www.tvguide.com/news/lea-thompson-approach/080523-02 Lea Thompson Dishes on Hallmark's Final Approach - Celebrity and Entertainment News | TVGuide.com ] ] She also stars in the upcoming films "Exit Speed", "Doubting Thomas" and "Balancing the Books".She is also making her directorial debut in to the silver screen, directing the movie The Swingin' Sounds of Jack Amsterdam (2008) She also just finished filming the comedy Rock Slyde

tage work

*Bus Stop, Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, CA, c. 1990
*Sally Bowles, Cabaret (musical), Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 Theatre, New York City, 2000
*The Vagina Monologues, Canon Theatre, Beverly Hills, CA, 2001
*"They're Playing Our Song" (musical; staged reading), L.A. Reprise!, Los Angeles, 2002
*Appeared in Charlie Bacon's Family, John Drew Theater, East Hampton, NY; The Illusion, Los Angeles *Theatre Center, Los Angeles; LongTime Coming, Powerhouse Theatre; and The Trip Back Down, Actors Repertory Theatre.

Directing

*The Swingin' Sounds of Jack Amsterdam (2008)
*Jane Doe: Eye of the Beholder (2008) (TV)
*Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall (2006) (TV)

Personal life

Thompson has been married to film director Howard Deutch since 1989, who she first met on the set of "Some Kind of Wonderful". Thompson had previously been engaged to Dennis Quaid, her "Jaws 3-D" co-star.

Thompson and Deutch have two daughters, Madeline (born 1991) and Zoey (born 1995), with whom she sang on stage in the "Bye Bye Birdie" production for the 16th annual Alzheimer's Association "A Night at Sardi's" in March 2008 [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-03-06-sardis_N.htm] . Thompson has stated that her Career Break to raise her children has helped with her subsequent potrayal of Soccer Mom Kathy Davis/Jane Doe.

Thompson has a brother, Andrew Thompson, who made a successful career with the Colorado Ballet. They both took ballet classes in their youth and he even helped her pay for classes. Oddly enough, in Colorado ballet circles, she's known as "Andrew Thompson's sister."

She also has a sister, Colleen Thompson, who is a writer. [http://www.colleen-thompson.com/ Colleen Thompson official site] ]

Filmography

Film

*"Rock Sylde" (Post-production) - Master Bartologist
*"Balancing the Books" (Post-production) - Rebecca
*"Exit Speed" (Awaiting release) - Maudie McMinn
*"Doubting Thomas" (Awaiting release) - Claire Miller
*"Senior Skip Day" (2008) - Cathleen Harris
*"California Dreaming" (2007) - Ginger Gainor
*"10 Tricks" (2006) - Grace
*"Come Away Home" (2005) - Carol
*"Haunted Lighthouse" (2003) - Peg Van Legge
*"Fish Don't Blink" (2002) - Clara
*"The Unknown Cyclist" (1998) - Melissa Cavatelli
*"The Little Rascals" (1994) - Ms. Roberts
*"The Beverly Hillbillies" (1993) - Laura Jackson
*"Dennis the Menace" (1993) - Alice Mitchell
*"Article 99" (1992) - Dr. Robin Van Dorn
*"Back to the Future Part III" (1990) - Maggie McFly/Lorraine McFly
*"Back to the Future Part II" (1989) - Lorraine Baines/McFly/Tannen
*"The Wizard of Loneliness" (1988) - Sybil
*"Going Undercover" (1988) - Marigold De La Hunt
*"Casual Sex?" (1988) - Stacey
*"Some Kind of Wonderful" (1987) - Amanda Jones
*"Howard the Duck" (1986) - Beverly Switzler
*"SpaceCamp" (1986) - Kathryn Fairly
*"Back to the Future" (1985) - Lorraine Baines McFly
*"The Wild Life" (1984) - Anita
*"Red Dawn" (1984) - Erica Mason
*"All the Right Moves" (1983) - Lisa Litski
*"Jaws 3-D" (1983) - Kelly Ann Bukowski

Television

*"Final Approach" (TV movie, 2008) - Alicia Bender
*"" (TV movie, 2008) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"A Life Interrupted" (TV movie, 2007) - Debbie Smith
*"" (TV movie, 2007) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2007) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2006) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2006) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2005) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2005) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2005) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV movie, 2005) - Cathy Davis/Jane Doe
*"" (TV series, one episode, 2004) "Birthright" - Michelle Osborne
*"Ed" (TV series, three episodes, 2004) - "Pressure Points," "Hidden Agendas," "Back in the Saddle" - Liz Stevens
*"Stealing Christmas" (TV movie, 2003) - Sarah Gibson
*"For The People" (TV series, 2002-03) - Chief Dep. Dist. Atty. Camille Paris
*"Caroline in the City" (TV series, 97 episodes, 1995-99) - Caroline Duffy
*"A Will of Their Own" (TV mini-series, 1998) - Amanda Steward
*"The Right To Remain Silent" (TV movie, 1996) - Christine Paley
*"Friends" (TV series, one episode, 1995) "The One with the Baby on the Bus" - Caroline Duffy
*"The Unspoken Truth" (TV movie, 1995) - Brianne Hawkins
*"The Substitute Wife" (TV movie, 1994) - Amy Hightower
*"Stolen Babies" (TV movie, 1993) - Annie Beales
*"Montana" (TV movie, 1990) - Peg Guthrie
*"Tales from the Crypt" (TV series, one episode, 1989) "Only Sin Deep" - Sylvia Vane
*"Nightbreaker" (TV movie, 1989) - Sally Matthews

Further reading

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References

External links

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Persondata
NAME= Thompson, Lea
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Thompson, Lea Katherine
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American actress of film and theatre, and director of several television series and made-for-TV movies.
DATE OF BIRTH= May 31, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH= Rochester, Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=