Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress known for her intense portrayals in independent cinema and collaborations with directors including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Altman. Leigh debuted on television in the 1970s before transitioning to film with roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Easy Money (1983), establishing her as a versatile supporting player. Her breakthrough came in edgier projects like Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), where she played a prostitute amid labor strife, earning critical acclaim for her raw performance. Leigh received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the chained fugitive Daisy Domergue in Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015), along with a Golden Globe nomination, highlighting her ability to embody complex antagonists. She also garnered wins from the National Society of Film Critics and Chicago Film Critics for her depiction of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). Early in life, Leigh's father, actor Vic Morrow, died in a helicopter accident during filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), prompting her and her sister to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the production's key figures, which settled out of court.

Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Lee Morrow on February 5, 1962, in Los Angeles, California, to actor Vic Morrow and screenwriter Barbara Turner. Her parents, married from 1957 until their divorce in 1964, separated when she was two years old. Morrow, born to Russian Jewish immigrants, and Turner, of Austrian Jewish ancestry, both worked extensively in the entertainment industry, exposing Leigh to film sets from infancy.

Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Leigh Morrow on February 5, 1962, in Los Angeles, California, to actor Vic Morrow and screenwriter and actress Barbara Turner. Her parents, both of Jewish descent—her father's family from Russia and her mother's from Austria—divorced when she was two years old, after which she was raised primarily by her mother. She has an older sister, Carrie Ann Morrow, who worked as a technical advisor on films and died in 2002 at age 41. Her father died tragically on July 23, 1982, at age 53, when a helicopter crashed during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie, severing him in half and killing two child actors as well.

During her first visit to Israel in July 2024 as guest of honor at the Jerusalem Film Festival, Leigh toured massacre sites including the Nova music festival grounds, Kibbutz Be’eri, and Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. She described the events as "incomprehensible" and stressed the ongoing trauma for survivors. Wearing a dog-tag necklace symbolizing the hostages, she advocated for their daily prominence in media, stating, "I just think [the hostages] should be the headline on every single paper, every single day. I don’t understand why it’s not." At the festival, she delivered a message in Hebrew urging strength and the hostages' immediate return.