Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American actress, well known for her role as Stacy Hamilton in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She has since appeared in such films as Backdraft and The Machinist.

She recently starred in the (2007) film, Margot at the Wedding with Nicole Kidman and directed by her husband, Noah Baumbach.

Known for her detailed preparation and diverse choice of roles, some of Leigh's more memorable films are The Hudsucker Proxy, Rush, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.

Her father, actor Vic Morrow, was killed by a helicopter stunt while filming the 1983 movie, Twilight Zone: The Movie. Leigh was twenty years old at the time.

She has been close friends with actress, Phoebe Cates for over 25 years.

1. "I could never play the ingenue, the girl next door or the very successful young doctor. That would be a bore."
2. "But in mainstream movies the woman's role is mostly just to prove that the leading man is heterosexual. I'm not good at that, and I'm not interested in that."
3. "I'd much rather be in a movie that people have really strong feelings about than one that makes a hundred million dollars but you can't remember because it's just like all the others."
4. On her best friend, Phoebe Cates: "Your best friend is the only one who would tell you the person you are in love with is a sexually ambivalent man-child."

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• February 5, 1962: Born

• 1982: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

• 1983: Easy Money

• 1986: The Hitcher

• 1990: Miami Blues

• 1991: Backdraft

• 1992: Single White Female

• 1995: Dolores Claiborne

• 2002: Road to Perdition

• 2004: The Machinist

• 2008: America