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Laura Leighton extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Laura Leighton
Born	Laura Miller July 24, 1968 (1968-07-24) (age 40) Iowa City, Iowa
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993 - present
Spouse(s)	Doug Savant (1998 - present)

Laura Leighton (born July 24, 1968) is an American actress. She is best-known for the role of Sydney Andrews, introduced in the '90s television series Melrose Place, and reprised in the 2009 series of the same name.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Accolades 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Award nomination 6 References 7 External links

Early life and career

Born Laura Miller in Iowa City, Iowa, Leighton is a 1986 graduate of West High School in Iowa City. In 1988, she assumed her grandfather's surname. In the early 1990s, she took her first acting role as Sydney Andrews in the prime time series Melrose Place (1992-97). The role was originally intended for only two episodes yet the following year she was invited back for a full time role.¹

During breaks on filming of Melrose Place, Leighton starred in television films, including In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy as Laurette Wilder, a woman from the wrong side of the tracks who falls for a rich boy, much to the disgust of his grandparents.

Leighton left Melrose Place in 1997 at the end of her contract, and later appeared on Beverly Hills, 90210. Aaron Spelling created the role of wannabe actress Sophie Burns for her, and she received a six-figure salary per episode.¹

In the 2000s, she has guest-starred in shows such as Cupid and The Outer Limits, and lent her voice to the animated series Duckman. She has also starred in indie films, such as Seven Girlfriends, The Sky Is Falling, and Angels, Baby! before taking a long break to have children. In 2003, Laura returned to the small screen in the much-hyped, but little-watched SKIN, which lasted three episodes, and in the short-lived 2005 ABC series Eyes. In 2006–2007, Laura has made numerous prime-time guest appearances, on shows such as the ABC drama/comedy Boston Legal, Law & Order: SVU, CSI: Miami, and Shark. In 2004 she starred in Deadly Encounter as Joanne Sanders, a single mother who is the victim of a stalker. Leighton was seen in the made-for-TV movie Love Notes on Lifetime the western/horror/thriller The Burrowers directed by J.T Petty and the movie Daniel's Daughter for Hallmark Channel and appeared in the 2009 Hallmark production Prosperos Last Stand opposite Angie Dickinson.

On April 5, 2009, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Leighton would appear in the 2009 series Melrose Place, reprising her role as the presumed-dead Sydney, who will serve as landlord at Melrose Place.²

Accolades

Following her performance in the second season of Melrose Place, Leighton was featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's 1994 Fall TV Preview issue.³ In 1995, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her work on the series.⁴ Also in '95, Leighton was named one of the most beautiful people in the world by People magazine.⁵ The role of Sydney Andrews, which she signed on to reprise in the 2009 Melrose Place spin-off, has been recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as "one of the most popular characters" from the original series.²

Personal life

In 1998, she married her Melrose Place co-star Doug Savant. They have two children together: Jack (born October 2000) and Lucy (born June 2005). She also raises Savant's two children from a previous marriage.⁶

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1999	Angels, Baby!	Jessica
	Clean and Narrow	Marie
	Seven Girlfriends	Anabeth
2000	The Sky Is Falling	Amber Lee
2008	The Burrowers	Gertrude
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story	Travel Agent	Television movie Uncredited
1993-1997	Melrose Place	Sydney Andrews	126 episodes
1994	Life with Louie: A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman	Voice role	Television movie
1995	The Other Woman	Carolyn	Television movie
	In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy	Laurette Wilder	Television movie
1997	Duckman	Ditzi	1 episode
	The Larry Sanders Show	Herself	1 episode
1998	Cupid	Kristy Holbrook	1 episode, unaired
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Sophie Burns	6 episodes
	Naked City: A Killer Christmas	Gerry Millar	Television movie
2000	The Outer Limits	Anne Marie Reynolds	1 episode
	Early Edition	Ginger	1 episode
2002	We'll Meet Again	Fran Simmons	Television movie
2003	Skin	Cynthia Peterson	3 episodes
2004	Tru Calling	Jordan Davies	1 episode
	A Deadly Encounter	Joanne Sanders	Television movie
2005-2007	Eyes	Leslie Town	12 episodes
2006	CSI: Miami	Alyssa Prince	1 episode
	Boston Legal	Erica Dolenz	2 episodes
2007	Shark	Angela Corbin	1 episode
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Lillian Rice	1 episode
	Love Notes	Nora Flannery	Television movie
2008	Daniel's Daughter	Cate Madighan	Television movie
2009	Melrose Place	Sydney Andrews
	Mending Fences	Kelly Fariday	Television movie

Award nomination

Year	Award	Result	Category	Series
1995	Golden Globe Award	Nominated	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV	Melrose Place

References

External links

• Laura Leighton at the Internet Movie Database
• Laura Leighton at TV.com

Persondata
NAME	Leighton, Laura
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Miller, Laura
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	July 24, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH