Leigh Zimmerman Biography

Leigh Zimmerman (born March 28, 1969) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She has appeared on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies, Crazy for You and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Nathan Lane and in London's West End in The Seven Year Itch, Chicago, The Producers and A Chorus Line , for which she won an Olivier Award in 2013.

In 1992, she had a minor but memorable role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as a woman who has a run-in with burglars Harry & Marv.

In April 2001 Leigh made a huge splash in the West End starring as Velma Kelly, opposite Denise Van Outen in Chicago for an unprecedented one-year contract.

In 2002, she was asked to work for the second time with director Susan Stroman to create for the West End the role of The Girl in the Yellow Dress in Contact, once again at the Queens Theatre. During that time, Leigh completed feature film work on Proof with Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins, Red Light Runners with Harvey Keitel, The Defender with Dolph Lundgren, and Submerged with Steven Seagal.

In 2004, Leigh was asked to play the role of Miriam in the controversial play, Three on A Couch, by the Nobel Prize winning scientist, Carl Djerrassi and worked closely with him to shape the play for the legendary London fringe theatre, The Kings Head. Leigh then starred as Leslie Peters in the television docudrama Small Pox: Silent Weapon for the FX Channel and as Tamsin Reed on BBC's Doctors. Leigh was thrilled when she was asked to create the role of Ulla in London's West End Production of The Producers, and her portrayal earned her an Olivier Award Nomination for Best Leading Actress in 2004.

During her run as Ulla in London from 2004"2006, Leigh accepted leading roles in several more highly acclaimed film and television projects. She played the English double agent, Helen Harlow, alongside Brian Cox, in ITV's The Outsiders. She starred as the Scottish police sergeant, Sergeant Beasley, in the BBC hit comedy Feel the Force. She also had a leading role as the American desperate housewife, Megan, in Ben Elton's comedy series Blessed for the BBC.

In 2006, Leigh appeared in several high profile feature films. She portrayed Christine Snyder in United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass for Universal and Working Title Films. She spoke fluent Spanish as the gothic siren, Irene, in the soon to be released Spanish Film, La Luna en Botella (Moon In A Bottle) for Ikiru Films in Madrid and Barcelona. Leigh also stars as the California love guru, Candy Connor, in the upcoming British independent film, Are You Ready For Love for Carnaby Films.

In early 2007, Leigh returned to the US when she was asked to open the Las Vegas company of The Producers, reprising her role as Ulla.

In early 2009 Leigh returned to the musical Chicago in London's West End to play Velma Kelly at the Cambridge Theatre. She performed alongside Aoife Mulholland as Roxie Hart and Jerry Springer as Billy Flynn.

Leigh guested on CBS's Numbers.

In early 2013, Zimmerman played Sheila in the West End revival of A Chorus Line. For this role she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

Filmography

• Luna en botella, La (2007) as Irene
• Numb3rs as Leslie Dennis (1 episode, 2007)
• The Outsiders (2006) (TV) as Helen Harlow
• Feel the Force as Sergeant Beesley (6 episodes, 2006)
• Are You Ready for Love? (2006) as Candy
• United 93 (2006) as Christine Snyder
• Land of the Blind (2006) as Anchorwoman
• Blessed (3 episodes, 2005)
• Proof as Friend at Party
• Valley of Kings as Pharaoh
• Submerged (2005) (V) as U.S. Ambassador
• Doctors as Tamsin Read (1 episode, 2005)
• The Defender (2004) as Reporter
• Second Nature (2003) (TV) as Dr. Shepherd
• Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon (2002) (TV) as Lesley Peters
• Another World (1964) TV series as Cherie (unknown episodes, 1998)
• Rear Window (1998) (TV) as Business Woman
• Mr. Jealousy (1997) as Lois
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) as Fashion Model