Leisha Hailey

Leisha Hailey
Leisha Hailey
Born	(1971-07-11) July 11, 1971 Okinawa, Japan
Occupation	Actress, musician
Years active	1991–present
Partner(s)	Camila Grey

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.

Early life

Born in Okinawa, Japan to American parents, Hailey grew up in Bellevue, Nebraska and attended Bellevue West High School.^{[citation needed]} At 17, she came out as a lesbian before moving to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^[1]

Career

Music

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.^{[citation needed]} 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 2005 hit album Oral Fixation Vol. 2.

Leisha Hailey performing at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, April 2012

Acting

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.^{[citation needed]} From 2003 to 2009, she 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.^{[citation needed]} 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]

Acclaim

In 2007, Hailey was named the sexiest woman in the AfterEllen Hot 100 list compiled by AfterEllen.com.^[9]

Personal life

Openly a lesbian, Hailey dated k.d. lang for nearly five years until the relationship ended in 2001.^[1] 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.^[10]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leisha Hailey.

• Leisha Hailey at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile at AfterEllen.com