In a 2017 episode of Finding Your Roots, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Leoni discovered that her mother Emily, who was adopted, is the biological daughter of Mavis Abilene Gindratt from Vick, Louisiana, and Sumpter James Daniel, whose ancestors originated in Ireland. They immigrated to Virginia in the early 18th century, and founded a farm in Fairfax County, seven miles from that of George Washington.[11] Her mother's adoptive parents were Florry Elizabeth (née Roberts) and Virgil Pearson Patterson.[12][13][14]
Career
In 1988, Leoni was cast as one of the stars of Angels 88, an updated version of the 1970s show Charlie's Angels.[15] After production delays, the show never aired. The following year, she was cast as Lisa DiNapoli in the NBC daytime soap operaSanta Barbara. In 1991, she made her film debut with a small role in the comedy Switch and later played another small part in A League of Their Own (1992).
Later in that year, she landed the lead role in the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth, playing Nora Wilde, a tabloid newsjournalist. The show ran through 1998. She was also offered the role of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends, which she had turned down in favor of The Naked Truth. Leoni had the female lead role in the 1995 action comedy film Bad Boys, which was a box office success, grossing over $141 million worldwide.[16]
After leaving television, Leoni had a leading role in Deep Impact (1998), a big-budget disaster film featuring projected effects of a comet hurtling towards Earth. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $349 million worldwide.[17] She later had main roles in two other big budget movies: romantic comedy The Family Man (2000), co-starring alongside Nicolas Cage, and science fiction film Jurassic Park III (2001) as William H. Macy's character's ex-wife. In 2002, she starred as a film studio executive in Hollywood Ending, directed by Woody Allen and had a supporting role in the box office bomb crime dramaPeople I Know. In 2004, she appeared as the wife of Adam Sandler's character in the financially unsuccessful comedy-drama Spanglish. In 2005, Leoni starred alongside Jim Carrey in the comedy film Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie grossed $202 million at the box office worldwide.[18]
Leoni co-starred in a number of small films in the late 2000s, including You Kill Me and The Smell of Success. She co-starred opposite Ricky Gervais in the 2008 supernatural comedy-drama Ghost Town. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the heist comedy film, Tower Heist. In 2011, she was also cast alongside Hope Davis as leads in the HBO comedy pilot, Spring/Fall; however, the pilot was not picked up.[19]
Leoni married actor David Duchovny on May 13, 1997, after an eight-week courtship.[23][24] They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny[25][26] and a son Kyd Miller Duchovny.[27][28] In 2008, Leoni and Duchovny separated.[29] Duchovny received treatment for sex addiction from August to October.[30][31][32] The couple reconciled in 2009 but separated again in June 2011.[33][34] Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.[35][36]
After splitting from Duchovny, Leoni moved to Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of New York City.[37] Leoni began dating Tim Daly, her Madam Secretary co-star, in December 2014. They are both alumni of the Putney School.[38][39]
^ abLoSchiavo, LindAnn (June 2005). "Take Téa". L'idea Magazine. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
^Matheou, Demetrios (July 17, 2001). "It's Téa time for T-Rex". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
^"Duchovnys: Baby Makes 3". People. March 16, 1999. ISSN0093-7673. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Actors David Duchovny of 'The X-Files' and Tea Pantaleoni of 'Deep Impact' have welcomed their first child, a girl.... The baby was born Saturday [March 13, 1999] at an undisclosed Southern California hospital, said the couple's publicist, Annett Wolf.
^Silverman, Stephen M. (June 18, 2002). "Leoni, Duchovny: And Baby Makes Four". People. ISSN0093-7673. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017. Tea Leoni and David Duchovny welcomed their second child Saturday [June 15, 2002], a baby boy weighing 7 lbs., 10 oz. [3.5 kg], according to a statement issued to Reuters on Monday by the actors' publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details, including the newborn's name, were released
