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Jennifer Jason Leigh (born 5 February 1962) is a Golden Globe-nominated and two-time NYFCC Award-winning American actress.
Her work has drawn high critical praise. Salon has praised her as "one of America's best actors". Paul Verhoeven, who directed her in Flesh & Blood, similarly claimed, "There is no greater actress working in America", and in 1994, Vogue claimed, "Leigh sets a standard that all future film actresses must attempt to match … (She has) an extraordinary range and power. The proof is in her diverse, courageous and mesmerizing body of work." She has already received three separate career tributes – at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993, a special award for her contribution to independent cinema from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2002, and a week-long retrospective showing of her film work held by the American Cinematheque at Los Angeles’ Egyptian Theatre in June 2001. In addition to these achievements, Leigh was selected as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar in 1989.
Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer L. Morrow in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Combat! actor Vic Morrow and Pollock screenwriter Barbara Turner. Both of Leigh's parents were Jewish, although Leigh was raised mostly without religion. Leigh changed her last name, taking the middle name "Jason" in honor of a family friend, Academy Award-winning actor Jason Robards.