Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Carol, a singer, and William Warren, a real estate agent. Her family, by both sides, was of Russian Jewish descent, and her father's original surname was "Warrenoff".
The 5-foot-8 inch Lesley began her career as a ballet dancer, training at the School of American Ballet. She entered the Actors Studio at the age of 17 — reputedly the youngest applicant ever to be accepted. Her Broadway debut came in 1963 in the musical, 110 in the Shade. She won the Theatre World Award for her performance in the 1965 flop musical Drat! The Cat!. In 1973, she portrayed Scarlett O'Hara in the Los Angeles production of the musical Scarlett; however the play was poorly reviewed and did not continue to Broadway as planned.
Having failed to obtain the role of Liesl in the film version of The Sound of Music, Lesley's first major television success was in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's television special, Cinderella, in 1965. She later played the part of Dana Lambert, the leading female on the Mission: Impossible team during the 1970-1971 television season. According to The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier by Patrick White, she was considered too inexperienced for the part and left after only one year. Despite her departure, throughout the 1970s, Lesley became a leading lady of TV movies, TV series and TV miniseries. She even hosted her own episode of The Muppet Show and made an occasional feature film. Lesley also played Lois Lane in the 1975 TV special It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name.
For her portrayal of a dim-witted gangster's moll in the 1982 musical-comedy Victor Victoria, Lesley was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She is also a five-time Golden Globes nominee and won for the 1977 miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue. She was Emmy-nominated for the TV movie Family of Spies.
In addition to these and many other movie roles, Lesley has had recurring roles on Will & Grace and Desperate Housewives. Other television roles have included Lily Lebowski's mother on Crossing Jordan and Kip Stedman's mother in Less than Perfect. Presently Lesley plays the role of Mary Shannon's mother in the USA Network original television series, In Plain Sight.
Lesley's 1967 marriage to producer Jon Peters ended in divorce in 1977. They have one son, Christopher Peters. She married Ronald Taft, a former ice president at Columbia and sometime actor, in 2000.
In a 2006 interview with Lesley surrounding the movie, When Do We Eat?, Lesley makes this comment: "I'm Jewish but I left . . . not left, but moved into my own spiritual belief system, which isn't a religious one, per se . . ." What she moved on to is unclear, but unless it was into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it was a move in the wrong direction! Please pray with me this week that God will draw Lesley into a relationship with His Son.
--Heidi
