Jane Leeves

Biography: This British comic actress initially studied ballet until an injury forced her to change careers. In the mid-1980s, the leggy Leeves did a stint in her homeland on The Benny Hill Show, but it was on American sitcoms that she came to prominence. A recurring role opposite her then real-life boyfriend Grant Shaud on Murphy Brown raised her profile, as did a stint as a nubile virgin on Seinfeld. Then Leeves made her name and earned an Emmy nod as the delightfully loopy home attendant Daphne Moon on 11 seasons of Frasier. When TV Land began developing original programming, Leeves signed on to costar alongside some fellow sitcom vets (including Frasier alum Wendy Malick) on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland in 2010. However, the multi-talented Leeves does not allow herself to be typecast as just a sitcom actress. This busy mom has branched out and done voice-over work in children's programming (James and the Giant Peach; The Penguins of Madagascar TV series), guest starred on dramas suchThis British comic actress initially studied ballet until an injury forced her to change careers. In the mid-1980s, the leggy Leeves did a stint in her homeland on The Benny Hill Show, but it was on American sitcoms that she came to prominence. A recurring role opposite her then real-life boyfriend Grant Shaud on Murphy Brown raised her profile, as did a stint as a nubile virgin on Seinfeld. Then Leeves made her name and earned an Emmy nod as the delightfully loopy home attendant Daphne Moon on 11 seasons of Frasier. When TV Land began developing original programming, Leeves signed on to costar alongside some fellow sitcom vets (including Frasier alum Wendy Malick) on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland in 2010. However, the multi-talented Leeves does not allow herself to be typecast as just a sitcom actress. This busy mom has branched out and done voice-over work in children's programming (James and the Giant Peach; The Penguins of Madagascar TV series), guest starred on dramas such as Desperate Housewives (in a switch from her role on Frasier, this time she played a therapist), and tackled singing and dancing on Broadway (she was in the revival of Cabaret in 2002). In addition, Leeves stepped behind the camera as she cofounded the production company Bristol Cities with her Frasier costar Peri Gilpin.… Expand