| Leisha Hailey | |
|---|---|
Leisha Hailey |
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| Born | July 11, 1971 Okinawa, Japan |
| Occupation | Actress, musician |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Leisha Hailey (born July 11, 1971) is an American actress and musician most widely known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the Showtime Networks production The L Word. Hailey first came to the public's attention as a musician in the pop duo The Murmurs and has continued a music career as part of the band Uh Huh Her.
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Born in Okinawa, Japan to American parents, Hailey grew up in Bellevue, Nebraska and attended Bellevue West High School. At 17, she came out as a lesbian before moving to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[1]
With her Academy classmate Heather Grody, she formed the pop duo The Murmurs in 1991. In the 1990s, they released several albums and toured on the Lilith Fair. In 2001, Hailey and Grody changed their name to Gush. The band split when Hailey began working for The L Word. In 2005, Hailey founded Marfa Records.[2]
In July 2007, Uh Huh Her, an electropop duo consisting of Hailey and Camila Grey, released an EP entitled I See Red; over a year later they released their first album Common Reaction.
Hailey also co-wrote the Shakira hit song "Don't Bother" for her 2007 hit album Oral Fixation Vol. 2.
Hailey's first major role was in the 1997 movie All Over Me, and around this time, she played a struggling musician on an episode of Boy Meets World. Since 2003, she has starred as Alice Pieszecki, a bisexual journalist, on The L Word.
In September 2008, Showtime announced Hailey would star in a "pilot presentation spinoff" The Farm[3] of The L Word, to be written and produced by Ilene Chaiken, creator and executive producer of The L Word.[4] It was announced in April 2009 that the show would not be picked up by Showtime. Hailey's award winning indie film La Cucina premiered on Showtime in December 2009, where she plays a straight pregnant newlywed.
Hailey has appeared in several Yoplait yogurt commercials[5] as well as a BMW commercial[6]. In April 2008, Hailey was named spokesperson for Olivia Cruises, a travel company which sells cruises and resort vacations marketed towards lesbian customers.[7] She also stars in the psychological thriller Fertile Ground.[8]
In 2007, Hailey was named the sexiest woman in the AfterEllen Hot 100 list compiled by AfterEllen.com.[9]
Openly a lesbian, Hailey dated k.d. lang for nearly five years, in a relationship that ended in 2001.[1] In 2006 she began dating fashion designer Nina Garduno;[10] in 2011, news of her relationship with Uh Huh Her bandmate Camila Grey became public after the two were ejected from a Southwest Airlines flight for arguing with a flight attendant who asked them to stop kissing.[11] Leisha actively tweeted her displeasure regarding the injustice surrounding this incident and Southwest Airlines offered a standard apology that did not address the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
| 1996 | All Over Me | Lucy | ||
| 1998 | Some Girl | The Murmurs | ||
| 1999 | Sleeping Beauties | Sno Blo Band | ||
| 2002 | The Snowflake Crusade | Marigold | ||
| 2007 | La Cucina | Shelly | ||
| 2009 | Make Up | Shelley Cabot | ||
| 2010 | "Fertile Ground" | Emily Weaver | ||
| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1996 | Boy Meets World | Corinna | 1 episode | |
| 1997 | Ellen | Woman in Gay Bar | 1 episode | |
| 2004–2009 | The L Word | Alice Pieszecki | 70 episodes | |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Allison Bradford | 1 episode | |
| Grey's Anatomy | Claire Solomon | 1 episode | ||
| 2007–2010 | American Dad! | Lily (Voice) | 3 episodes | |
| 2009 | Maneater | Harriet | 1 episode | |
| 2010 | "Drop Dead Diva" | Hope Prentiss | 1 Episode | |
| 2010 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dana Carlston | 1 episode | |