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IMDbPro

Lesley Ann Warren

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000347
Lesley Ann Warren
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:30
It Snows All the Time (2022)
24 Videos
99+ Photos
Entrancing, gorgeous Lesley Ann Warren started gearing towards a life in show business right off the bat as a young ballerina who trained at the School of American Ballet at the age of 14. Little did she know that Hollywood stardom would arrive on her doorstep in the form of a "Cinderella" story.

The New York-born actress (August 16, 1946) is the daughter of a night club singer, Margot Warren (née Verblow), and real estate agent, William Warren. Her mother had earlier given up her own entertainment career for marriage and family. Growing up, Lesley attended the Professional Children's School at the age of 6 and High School of Music & Art as a young teenager. At age 17, she studied under Lee Strasberg at his Actors Studio, the youngest student to ever be accepted at the time.

Looking for on-camera work, the teenager appeared unbilled as Shelley Winters's young daughter in the melodrama The Chapman Report (1962) and was given a bit in the daytime TV show "The Doctors." The slender, young hopeful gathered early musical stage experience in such shows as "Bye Bye Birdie" (as swooning teen Kim McAfee), then made an auspicious Broadway debut in "110 in the Shade", the 1963 musical version of "The Rainmaker," and won Broadway's "Most Promising Newcomer" Award. She subsequently received the Theatre World Award for her lead work as a "cat burglar" opposite Elliott Gould in the very short-lived (8 performances) musical "Drat! The Cat!" in 1965.

The attention Lesley received from this brief stage venture, however, led to her capturing the beguiling title role in the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II TV musical production of Cinderella (1965) with Stuart Damon as her Prince and a glittering, all-star cast in support. The Walt Disney people immediate signed the exquisite "Cinderella" to a fresh-faced ingénue contract. Co-starring in the moderately-received musical showcases The Happiest Millionaire (1967) and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Lesley became convinced that she needed to quickly nip the saccharine stereotype in the bud if she was to grow and sustain as an adult actress.

Rebelling against her studio-imposed image, Lesley left Disney determined to pursue roles with more depth, drama and character. Changing her name temporarily to "Lesley Warren" to reinforce her more mature goal, she was hired in 1970 to replace Barbara Bain in the long-running espionage series Mission: Impossible (1966) when Bain left over contractual issues. Audiences were quite cool in their reception to the "new and improved" Lesley and didn't buy her as a femme-fatale replacement for the cool and aloof Ms. Bain.

After only one season, Lesley realized her mission to grow was impossible (in spite of an encouraging Golden Globe nomination) and left the show, seeking greener pastures in the TV mini-movie market. She displayed a wide range of vulnerable neurotics as well as sexier ladies that began to alter her pristine image. Such 1970s material included the plane crash adventure Seven in Darkness (1969) as one of several blind survivors; the love drama Love Hate Love (1971) co-starring Ryan O'Neal; a failed pilot in the title role of Cat Ballou (1971); a mild western as one of The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972); the exotic "silent star" biopic The Legend of Valentino (1975); the rags-to-riches story Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977), for which she won a Golden Globe award; the epic WWII story Pearl (1978); and the social melodramas Betrayal (1978) and Portrait of a Stripper (1979). Lesley also impressed with her starring roles in the Civil War miniseries Beulah Land (1980) and as a Polish-Jewish immigrant in Evergreen (1985). On stage, she ambitiously attempted to recreate Scarlett O'Hara opposite Pernell Roberts's Rhett Butler in a 1973 Broadway-bound musical version of "Gone with the Wind: The Musical." The show quickly died on the West Coast before ever reaching New York.

In the early 1980s, Lesley's movie career resurrected itself with a priceless performance as kingpin James Garner's whiny-voiced, peroxide-blonde spitfire Norma Cassidy in the slapstick musical Victor/Victoria (1982). Earning both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, this delightful, scene-stealing turn was followed by a couple of other quality offbeat films that were directed by Alan Rudolph -- Choose Me (1984) and Songwriter (1984). Warren went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination supporting Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in the former, and a People's Choice Award for the latter. She continued to attempt to spread her wings as a worldly "cougar" type opposite young blond and boyish Christopher Atkins in the critically-panned drama A Night in Heaven (1983). She also played Miss Scarlet in the movie version of the board game Clue (1985).

Award-worthy TV roles for Lesley with a Golden Globe performance as a successful madam in the miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977). She also received Emmy and Golden Globe noms as the conflicted wife of a naval officer turned Russian double agent (Powers Boothe) in Family of Spies (1990), as well as for her Cable Ace nom for her work as a barmaid who aspires to be a country-western singer in Baja Oklahoma (1988). In 1997, she returned to Broadway with the musical revue "Dream" co-starring Margaret Whiting, which focused on classic "Golden Age" standards.

Entering her sixth decade of acting, Lesley remains highly active well into the millennium with often high-maintenance roles in such films as the Losing Grace (2001), Secretary (2002), My Tiny Universe (2004), When Do We Eat? (2005), The Shore (2006), Stiffs (2010), I Am Michael (2015), The Sphere and the Labyrinth (2015) and 3 Days with Dad (2019). Among her later TV credits are "Touched by an Angel," "The Practice," "Less Than Perfect," "American Princess," and a recurring role as an overly dependent mom named Jinx in the mystery crime series In Plain Sight (2008). Her dim, riotous Norma Cassady role had TV often pitching her as a scatter-brained comedienne, as in her recurring TV guest parts on Will & Grace (1998) and Desperate Housewives (2004).

Lesley has a son, actor/producer Christopher Peters, from her 1967-'73 marriage to makeup artist/hair stylist-cum-film producer Jon Peters. Since 2000, she has been married to advertising exec and sometime actor Ron Taft, a former vice-president at Columbia.
BornAugust 16, 1946
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornAugust 16, 1946
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000347
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 1 win & 14 nominations total

Photos160

Lesley Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria (1982)
Mel Brooks and Lesley Ann Warren in Life Stinks (1991)
Desperate Housewives 1x19 - "Live Alone and Like It" with James Denton
Lesley Ann Warren in Clue (1985)
Community 6x2 - "Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care" with Martin Mull
The Limey (1999) with Terrence Stamp
Leonard Nimoy, Lesley Ann Warren, and Peter Graves in Mission: Impossible (1966)
Lesley Ann Warren, Johnny Bench, and Peter Graves in The Catafalque (1971)
Lesley Ann Warren and Loretta Swit in It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)
Lesley Ann Warren in It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)
Lesley Ann Warren in It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)
Lesley Ann Warren in It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)

Known for:

Victor/Victoria (1982)
Victor/Victoria
7.6
  • Norma Cassady
  • 1982
Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Eva Longoria in Desperate Housewives (2004)
Desperate Housewives
7.6
TV Series
  • Sophie Bremmer
Clue (1985)
Clue
7.2
  • Miss Scarlet
  • 1985
Lesley Ann Warren in Cinderella (1965)
Cinderella
7.7
TV Movie
  • Cinderella
  • 1965

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Home Delivery
    • Linda Templeton
    • Completed
  • The Bay House
    • Joan Brooks
    • Completed
  • Blind Psychosis
    • Tabatha Burks
    • Post-production
    • TV Movie
  • Luke Kirby and Tiana Okoye in Panhandle (2022)
    Panhandle
    • Millicent Prescott
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • It Snows All the Time (2022)
    It Snows All the Time
    • Anne
    • 2022
  • Marg Helgenberger in All Rise (2019)
    All Rise
    • Samara Strong
    • TV Series
    • 2021
  • Michael Shannon, Alex Pettyfer, and Patrick Schwarzenegger in Echo Boomers (2020)
    Echo Boomers
    • Author
    • 2020
  • Pauley Perrette in Broke (2020)
    Broke
    • Alex McBride
    • TV Series
    • 2020
  • Sarah Drew and Ryan McPartlin in Twinkle All the Way (2019)
    Twinkle All the Way
    • Twinkle Harrison
    • TV Movie
    • 2019
  • Tom Arnold, Brian Dennehy, Larry Clarke, Mo Gaffney, J.K. Simmons, and Julie Ann Emery in 3 Days with Dad (2019)
    3 Days with Dad
    • Dawn
    • 2019
  • Georgia Flood in American Princess (2019)
    American Princess
    • Joanntha Klein
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • David Alan Grier, Leslie Jordan, Vicki Lawrence, and Martin Mull in The Cool Kids (2018)
    The Cool Kids
    • Kathleen
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Charlie Cox in Daredevil (2015)
    Daredevil
    • Esther Falb
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • The Grand Son (2018)
    The Grand Son
    • Judy
    • 2018
  • Paul Adelstein and Lisa Edelstein in Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (2014)
    Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce
    • Dina
    • TV Series
    • 2016–2017
  • Patrick Stewart, Adrian Scarborough, Timm Sharp, Jacki Weaver, Dolly Wells, Karan Soni, and Mary Holland in Blunt Talk (2015)
    Blunt Talk
    • Cornelia
    • TV Series
    • 2016
  • Between Us (2016)
    Between Us
    • Elsa
    • 2016
  • The Sphere and the Labyrinth (2015)
    The Sphere and the Labyrinth
    • Wendy
    • 2015

Producer

  • Keith Carradine and Sondra Locke in Ray Meets Helen (2017)
    Ray Meets Helen
    • executive producer
    • 2017

Soundtrack

  • Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    The Boys
    • performer: "Detroit", "Are We Dancing", "'Bout Time"
    • 2009
  • Trixie (2000)
    Trixie
    • performer: "All Over You"
    • 2000
  • Baja Oklahoma (1988)
    Baja Oklahoma
    • performer: "Baja Oklahoma"
    • TV Movie
    • 1988
  • Clue (1985)
    Clue
    • performer: "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" (uncredited)
    • 1985
  • Victor/Victoria (1982)
    Victor/Victoria
    • performer: "Chicago, Illinois" (uncredited)
    • 1982
  • The Great Gonzo, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show (1976)
    The Muppet Show
    • performer: "Just the Way You Are", "Last Dance" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1979
  • It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)
    It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!
    • performer: "It's Superman", "What I've Always Wanted", "I'm Not Finished Yet"
    • TV Movie
    • 1975
  • Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)
    The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
    • performer: "The Happiest Girl Alive", "'Bout Time"
    • 1968
  • Carol Burnett in The Carol Burnett Show (1967)
    The Carol Burnett Show
    • performer: "The Best Is Yet To Come"
    • TV Series
    • 1967
  • Lesley Ann Warren, Greer Garson, Hermione Baddeley, Gladys Cooper, John Davidson, Fred MacMurray, Geraldine Page, and Tommy Steele in The Happiest Millionaire (1967)
    The Happiest Millionaire
    • performer: "What's Wrong With That?", "Valentine Candy", "I'll Always Be Irish", "Bye-Yum Pum Pum", "Are We Dancing?", "Detroit" (uncredited)
    • 1967
  • Lesley Ann Warren in Cinderella (1965)
    Cinderella
    • performer: "In My Own Little Corner", "In My Own Little Corner" (reprise), "It's Possible", "Waltz for a Ball", "Ten Minutes Ago", "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful? (Or Are You Beautiful Because I Love You)?", "When You're Driving Through the Moonlight", "A Lovely Night", "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (reprise)
    • TV Movie
    • 1965
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos24

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: 50th Anniversary Edition
Clip 2:17
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: 50th Anniversary Edition
Teaser Trailer
Trailer 1:36
Teaser Trailer
Original Trailer
Trailer 2:07
Original Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:05
Official Trailer
A Little Help
Trailer 2:17
A Little Help
Echo Boomers
Trailer 2:04
Echo Boomers
Echo Boomers
Trailer 2:05
Echo Boomers
Life Stinks
Trailer 2:00
Life Stinks
Victor Victoria
Trailer 2:22
Victor Victoria
Secretary
Trailer 0:59
Secretary
My Tiny Universe
Trailer 1:45
My Tiny Universe
When Do We Eat?
Trailer 2:03
When Do We Eat?

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
  • Alternative names
    • Lesley Warren
  • Height
    • 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
  • Born
    • August 16, 1946
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Spouses
      Ron TaftJanuary 16, 2000 - present
  • Children
    • Christopher Peters
  • Parents
      Margot Warren
  • Relatives
    • Richard Lewis Warren(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Music video: Appeared in Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun".
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 2 Interviews
    • 1 Article
    • 3 Pictorials
    • 20 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Youngest actor ever to have attended NY's Actors Studio, when she was 17.
  • Quotes
    [reflecting on her career] I have come far, but not far enough. It is still a man's world.

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