Jane Leeves

One of my favorite sitcom stars ever is Jane Leeves. She is a Screen Actors Guild Award winning English actress. After a regular stint on The Benny Hill Show as one of "Hill's Angels", Leeves gained fame as Daphne Moon on the popular U. S. sitcom Frasier. Jane currently stars in TV Land's popular sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Creative Commons photo courtesy Flickr/Alan Light

Creative Commons photo courtesy Flickr/Alan Light

Born in 1961, in Ilford, East London, England and growing up in East Grinstead, Leeves trained as a ballet dancer and worked as a model. An ankle injury made Jane give up her dancing career, and focus on modelling and acting. Leeves made her first film appearance as a topless angel in 1983's Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.

Jane was a "Hill's Angel" regular on The Benny Hill Show, and appeared as a tourist in the David Lee Roth music video for the song "California Girls", but she remained largely anonymous. She became somewhat visible as a record company employee on the syndicated comedy Throb!.

Leeves tasted some success with the recurring role in the television series Murphy Brown which she portrayed "Audrey", the awkward and overbearing girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). Leeves also appeared as "Marla the Virgin" in four risqué episodes of Seinfeld: "The Virgin", "The Contest", "The Pilot" and "The Finale - Part 2".

In 1993, she joined the cast of the television series Frasier. Leeves played the eccentric English healthcare worker Daphne Moon, and she became quite popular in this role. 1996 was a big year for Jane, both professionally and personally. As well as excelling on Frasier, she also provided voice talent on Disney's animated James And The Giant Peach. Jane also got married that year to Paramount TV executive Marshall Coben in Kent, England. By the start of 2001-2002 season, Leeves was pregnant with her first of two children, and the writers incorporated her pregnancy into show. By the end of Frasier in 2004, Leeves had been granted an Emmy Award nomination for her long-time portrayal of Daphne and had become the highest-paid British actress in Hollywood.

Today, Leeves lives with her husband two children in California, occasionally acting in supporting roles in film and television. Also keeping Jane busy is her production company that she founded with her sister Kathryn and former Frasier actress Peri Gilpin.

Public domain photo courtesy Flickr/Alan Light

Daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben born on Tuesday, Jan. 9th, 2001. The baby was 9lbs. 12oz. "Frasier" (1993) co-star Peri Gilpin was in the delivery room and is the child's godmother.

Although born in Ilford Essex and brought up in East Grinstead in Sussex, she used a completely different accent (Mancunian) from 250 miles away for "Frasier" (1993).

Former roommate of actress Faith Ford.

During the "Frasier" (1993) episode "It Takes Two to Tangle" (2001), "Niles" (David Hyde Pierce) tells "Ros" (Peri Gilpin) that "Daphne" (Leeves) lost 9 lbs and 12 ounces at the spa. Jane Leeves' pregnancy had fed the storyline that Daphne had lost control of her weight, and Pierce was referring to the birth of Leeves' daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben, who was 9lbs. 12oz.

Along with Leeves, Hot in Cleveland's Cast Includes:

Valerie Bertinelli was born in 1960 in Wilmington, Delaware. After moving to Los Angeles, Valerie began her acting studies at the Tami Lynn School of Artists. She soon scored a part in an episode of Apple's Way, and was then invited to try out for the part as the daughter of Barbara Cooper in a new situation comedy named One Day at a Time, debuting in 1975. In the show's initial season, Valerie was 15 and her character was largely that of a tomboy. The next year, in the show's first full season, Bertinelli's role.... (read more at Wikipedia)

Public domain photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Born in 1950 in Buffalo, New York, Wendie Malick's road to stardom was a long journey. After working in the modeling world and even in the political arena for several years, Wendie decided to try her luck in the acting game. She began her Hollywood career in 1982 in the film A Little Sex and has worked almost non-stop ever since. Malick was recently honored with an award from the Screen Actors Guild for her career in television and film. She has worked in at least five television programs or movies each year for the past....(read more at Wikipedia)

Creative Commons photo courtesy Wikimedia/David Shankbone

Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress, comedian, and former game-show host. She is best known for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Her career has spanned over 70 years.

Betty has won seven Emmy Awards and has garnered 20 Emmy nominations over the span of her career, including being the first female.....(read more at Wikipedia)

Creative Commons photo courtesy Flickr/David Shankbone

Photos courtesy: Wikimedia, Wikipedia, and Creative Commons.