| Lea Thompson | ||||||
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| Birth name | Lea Katherine Thompson | |||||
| Born | May 31 1961 Rochester, Minnesota |
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| Spouse(s) | Howard Deutch (1989-present) | |||||
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Lea Katherine Thompson (born May 31, 1961, in Rochester, Minnesota) is an American actress.
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Early life
Thompson studied dance as a girl, and would practice three to four hours every day. She was dancing professionally by the age of 14. Lea then won scholarships to several ballet schools, including The American Ballet Theatre and The San Francisco Ballet. She danced with the The Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet Company, and The Ballet Repertory. She was informed by Baryshnikov that she was "too stocky". Due to this (as well as some small nagging injuries) she decided to give up dancing in favor of an acting career. She moved to New York at the age of 20, and performed in a number of Burger King ads in the 1980s along with Elisabeth Shue, her eventual co-star in the Back to the Future movies.
Career
Thompson's first significant movie role was in All the Right Moves (1983) with Tom Cruise. That was followed by Red Dawn (1984) and The Wild Life (1984). Her most famous role was that of Lorraine Baines McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy; her character is mother of the main character played by Michael J. Fox. She also starred in the movies SpaceCamp (1986) and Howard the Duck (1986), both considered commercial flops. She is also known for playing Alice Mitchell in the film version of Dennis the Menace (1993). Lea was also seen in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).
Lea was nominated for a Cable ACE Award for her outstanding work in Nightbreaker, and she has been a winner of the People's Choice Award. Lea also received critical acclaim for her work with Farrah Fawcett in The Substitute Wife. Thompson found critical and popular success as the star of the NBC sitcom Caroline in the City from 1995-1999.
In 2005, Thompson starred in a series of made-for-TV movies for the Hallmark Channel in which she plays "Jane Doe," an ex-secret agent turned housewife who helps the government solve mysteries. She also played a guest role in a 2004 episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing a woman who had her embryos stolen. Thompson was a featured celebrity singer on Celebrity Duets and was the 2nd contestant eliminated (Friday, Sept. 8, 2006).
Personal life
- Thompson is married to film director Howard Deutch. She first met Howard on the set of Some Kind of Wonderful. They have two daughters, Madeline and Zoey. Thompson had previously been engaged to Dennis Quaid, her Jaws 3-D co-star.
- Has a brother, Andrew Thompson, who made a successful career with the Colorado Ballet. They both took ballet classes in their youth and he even helped her pay for classes.
- Danced in more than 45 ballets with the American Ballet Theatre.
- Won scholarships to the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.
