Téa Leoni

Téa Leoni Actress - Born 25 February 1966 · New York City, New York, USA

Birth name Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni

Height 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)

Mini Bio Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni was born on February 25, 1966 in New York City. Her father, Anthony Pantaleoni, was a corporate lawyer, and her mother, Emily Ann (Patterson), worked as a dietitian and nutritionist. She is of Italian (from a paternal great-great-grandfather), Polish, English, Irish, Scottish, and German descent. Téa attended but did not complete studies at Sarah Lawrence College. She started out in acting as Lisa DiNapoli in Santa Barbara (1984) in 1989 and followed up with small roles in Switch (1991) and A League of Their Own (1992).

In 1992 she starred in the short-lived sitcom Flying Blind (1992). In 1994 she appeared in Wyatt Earp (1994) opposite Kevin Costner and The Counterfeit Contessa (1994) opposite D.W. Moffett. In 1995 she starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the popular film Bad Boys (1995). She also had a guest appearance on Frasier (1993) that same year.

She appeared in many successful films after that, such as Flirting with Disaster (1996), Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Spanglish (2004), You Kill Me (2007) and most recently, she starred in the film Ghost Town (2008) opposite Greg Kinnear.

Tea was married to television commercial producer Neil Joseph Tardio Jr. from 1991 to 1995. In 1997 she married actor David Duchovny, with whom she has two children: Daughter West Duchovny (born April 24, 1999) and Son Kyd Miller Duchovny (born June 15, 2002).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: A.G.

Family

Spouses

David Duchovny (May 6, 1997 - June 14, 2014) divorced, 2 children F1. West Duchovny (24 April 1999) M2. Kyd Miller Duchovny (15 June 2002)

Neil Joseph Tardio Jr. (June 8, 1991 - October 1, 1995) divorced

Relationship

Partner Tim Daly (2014-Present)

Children

West Duchovny

Kyd Miller Duchovny

Parents

Anthony Pantaleoni

Emily Ann (Patterson) Pantaleoni

Relatives

Helenka Adamowska (Grandparent)

Tom Pantaleoni (Sibling)

Tim Pantaleoni (Cousin)

Hank Patterson (Aunt or Uncle)

Trademarks Pleasantly deep, husky voice

Trivia

In a relationship with Madam Secretary (2014) co-star Tim Daly since summer 2014.

Her husband David Duchovny called her for his "Phone a Friend" lifeline when he appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999). When she couldn't offer him any help in regards to the question, she simply told him; "You're screwed, honey".

Went to Oahu (HI) to help search for her cousin, Tim Pantaleoni, in the summer of 1995. He mysteriously vanished while hiking and to this day has never been found.

Was considered for the role of "Rachel" on Friends (1994) (1994-2004).

Her grandmother, Helenka Adamowska Pantaleoni, co-founded what would become the US Fund for UNICEF in 1947 and served as its President for 25 years. Téa, herself, has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2001.

Calls her children West and Miller. It is tradition in their family to use the middle names as a first name.

She and husband David Duchovny appeared together on TV only once, when she played herself on the 2000 The X-Files (1993) episode, Hollywood A.D. (2000).

On October 15, 2008, she and David Duchovny confirmed that they had been separated for several months after Duchovny's much publicized sexual addiction. The couple publicly reconciled after his rehab period and were seen frequently together, but on June 29, 2011, it was reported the couple had again separated.

Inherited the stage wardrobe of Sonny Bono. They are a perfect fit, requiring no alterations. She wore a glittered suit once owned by Sony Bono on the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005) broadcast on December 22, 2007. She demonstrated that the suits have Velcro fasteners to make it easier to quickly change outfits.

Planned on majoring in anthropology and/or psychology, but dropped out of college at age 20 to do background modeling.

Was accepted to Sarah Lawrence College but dropped out after her freshman year to travel through Italy and Japan. It was following her travels that she ended up in Boston and, on a friend's dare, entered a local casting call for a new TV series to be called "Angels '88," a campy take on "Charlie's Angels" (1976). With no experience, she won the lead role but the series never materialized.

Asteroid 8299 Téaleoni, discovered by Eric Elst at La Silla in 1993, was named after Leoni.

Is a huge fan of fly fishing, an activity she pursues as often as she can.

Her paternal great-grandfather, Guido Pantaleoni, was an Italian immigrant who was himself of Italian and Irish descent. In the US he married Téa's American-born great-grandmother, Ellen Morton Colladay, who had German and English ancestry. Téa's paternal grandmother was the daughter of Polish parents. Her great-grandfather Guido was the brother of Maffeo Panteloni, a prominent economist in Italy. Her mother, who is from Texas, was adopted and did not know the names of her biological parents until they were located by the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012).

Her paternal grandmother was Helenka Adamowska, who was the daughter of Polish musicians Jozef Adamowski and Antonina Szumanowska. Her grandmother was the niece, by marriage, of composer and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Helena was among those who helped found UNICEF.

Gave birth to her second child at age 36, son Kyd Miller Duchovny (7 lb. 10 oz.), on June 15, 2002, in Los Angeles. He'goes by his middle name Miller because of family tradition. Father was her second husband, David Duchovny.

Grand-niece of Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel of Green Acres (1965)).

Raised on Manhattan's Upper East Side and sent to exclusive all-girls Brearley School and The Putney School, a progressive boarding school in Vermont. She graduated from Putney in 1984 intent on studying anthropology and psychology.

Took a two-year break from Hollywood to give birth and nurture her daughter West.

Gave birth to her first child at age 33, daughter West Duchovny on April 24, 1999. She goes by her middle name West because of her family's custom.

Her second name "Téa" is pronounced "TAY-uh.".

Her mother, who is from Texas, was adopted by Florry Elizabeth (Roberts) and Virgil Pearson Patterson. On the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012), Téa discovered that her mother's biological parents were Abilene Gindratt and Sumpter Daniel.

Was going to be one of the new Charlie's Angels in the proposed "Angels '88", along with Claire Yarlett, but the series never got off the ground.

Attended Sarah Lawrence College

Has one brother, Thomas "Tom" Pantaleoni.

Considered for the role of Melissa Robinson in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994).

Was originally cast for a role in Scream 3 (2000) before a scheduling conflict forced her to drop out.

Daughter of Emily and Anthony Pantaleoni

Her father suffered from skin cancer.

Appears in A League of Their Own (1992), with Geena Davis. Her husband, David Duchovny, played Davis' ex-husband, Jeff Goldblum, on Saturday Night Live (1975).

Her character in Deep Impact (1998) breaks the story on a comet which is going to hit the Earth and her character on The Naked Truth (1995) works for "The Comet".

Ex-sister-in-law of Laurie Birnbaum and Daniel Ducovny.

Quotes

I don't do T&A very well because I haven't got much of either.

[about David Duchovny] The best thing about marriage is David's sense of humor.

Not to sound like a whore, but I've been with . . . I've worked with . . . some very attractive men. Nicolas Cage . . . Al Pacino . . . Ben Stiller . . . and Woody Allen".

[on the challenge of playing an athlete in Spanglish (2004)] I love tennis. I love very aggressive tennis, and I think I'm quite good. Golf, well, of course you can drink beer when you play that, but I take it pretty seriously, and I'm quite good at that. And I'm a good swimmer, and I used to compete in windsurfing.

We have this incredible cast with Billy Bob Thornton, who is maybe my new favorite person in the world.

[about husband David Duchovny's off-Broadway debut] I think getting over opening night, his first opening night of his life, was a huge milestone. And he did it with such grace and flying colors. I'm very proud of him.

Hollywood means work and getting yourself out there, and for a while I pooh-poohed that idea. My ego still doesn't get stroked by fame. But I've been guided by people who have told me if you aren't out there, then studios and producers are less likely to pull you in to the projects you might want to do.

I am not addicted to, attracted to, or neurotically pursuing stardom.

It was just this interesting, my first, the first time you hear your child in any way criticize you. It's the worst review of your life and it's really relieving to find out that they don't know what they're saying.

If I swim in the ocean, I have a shark thought. Not a bad one, but just a little one.

I don't mean to be presumptuous that men don't feel this, I don't mean this, but I found that when my child was born, my first child, it felt like my heart broke.

I live by a hill. I began walking it and then I began jogging it and then I began sprinting it.

Shopping turns me off.

First of all, returning from motherhood, I was looking for something lighter, and I wasn't as much attracted to Kate as I was to the relationship between the two people.

I was one of the most brilliant liars as a child.

At one point, I had 14 pairs of golf shoes.

I have always loathed working out.

I'm not a huge fan of my work.

Well, I think again, the worst part of it was just leading up to it, before we got on set . . . at least for me . . . dreading this idea that I was just going to suck and I really had strong feelings about that. I just didn't want to be that weak link.

Sometimes I feel that Manhattan in particular has gotten really tame and gentrified or something.

It's kind of fun to be sexy.

The one thing I think you must do is, as painful as it is as a parent, is listen.

People don't know this, but early in your career, you don't just glide on to "The Tonight Show".

Acting doesn't feel good. It's not comfortable to feel all this stuff, it's not.

[James L. Brooks] is a very powerful director and it was a lot of intense work.

And I thought, you know, I have to say that maybe the whacked out mother is my new favorite role, but I don't want to just do it and become Nurse Ratchett.

I don't think, there's no possible way for me, anyway, to play a character that I haven't found some sort of sublime compassion for and I related to Deborah on a way that almost, initially, almost in a way maybe someone in the audience might.

But I can tell you that the New York that I see now is not the New York that we grew up in. It's not 1973.

I've been in a gym probably nine days of my life.

I dress up for awards, but only if somebody else is going to pay for the clothes. And shop for them, too!

But I've never looked at myself as being particularly funny.

I'm not quite ready for a no-makeup movie.

Well, what I will tell you is for this movie, I got into probably the best shape of my life.

Really it was the first time in my life that I recognized that acting is, I'm just going to say it, I am an artist, I have to do this, I have to do this.

I was desperate to go back to New York and when 9/11 happened, I feared moving to the bulls-eye and that was very hard because I have a lot of family there and I really had to question what I didn't like about this community.

Well, I don't find glamour and clothing relevant.

I just mean it's very difficult for me to watch my work, in some ways, because I am critical of what I didn't get across or I thought I was making one point.

Yes, I guess I am bi-coastal.

Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni (/ˈteɪ.ə pɑːntəleɪˈoʊniː/; born February 25, 1966), better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress and producer.

Personal life Leoni married Neil Joseph Tardio Jr., a television commercial producer, on June 8, 1991, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hope, New Jersey. They divorced in 1995.

Leoni married actor David Duchovny on May 13, 1997, after an eight-week courtship. They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny and a son. In 2008, Leoni and Duchovny separated; Duchovny received treatment for sex addiction from August to October. The couple reconciled in 2009 but separated again in June 2011. Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August. After splitting from Duchovny, Leoni moved to Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of New York City.

Leoni began dating her Madam Secretary co-star Tim Daly, another alumnus of The Putney School, in December 2014.