Monday, May 24, 2010

Leah Remini's early life, acting career, personal life, filmography, wallpapers:

Leah Marie Remini (born June 15, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens.
Early life:
Leah Remini was born in
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Vicki Marshall, a private school teacher, and George Remini, who owned an asbestos removal company. Her mother was of Austrian-Jewish background and her father was Sicilian. Remini has an older sister, Nicole Remini (born 1969), who was her assistant on The King of Queens. She also has four half-sisters: Christina (born 1969), Elizabeth (born 1976), Stephanie (born 1977), and Shannon (born 1984).
Remini moved to
Los Angeles at the age of 13 with her mother. When Remini was 14, she left school and worked as a hostess at a restaurant while auditioning for acting jobs.
Acting career:
Remini's entrance into television came in the mid-'80s, when she got her first speaking line as an actress on an episode of
Head of the Class. In 1989, she played the lead on Living Dolls, a short-lived spin-off from Who's the Boss?. In 1991, Remini appeared as Carla Tortelli's daughter, Serafina on Cheers (she later reprised the role in a 1993 episode). That same year, she had a recurring role as Stacey Carosi, a love interest of Zack Morris, on Saved by the Bell, and starred in the short-lived sitcom The Man in the Family.
Remini also appeared in an episode of
Friends (The One with the Birth, original air date 11 May 1995, Season 1, Episode 23) as Lydia, the single (or not) mother that Joey befriends while the gang is at the hospital for the birth of Ross and Carol's baby.
After appearing in two more short-lived series,
First Time Out and Fired Up, Remini landed the role of Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. During her time on the show, she had a supporting role in the comedy film, Old School (2003). The King of Queens ran for nine seasons, from September 21, 1998 to May 14, 2007. Since The King of Queens ended, Remini has starred in nine-episode webisodes of In the Motherhood, along with Chelsea Handler and Jenny McCarthy. On December 15, 2009 Leah Remini appeared as Carrie Heffernan on Lopez Tonight with George Lopez as Doug Heffernan as "The Finale" to The George Lopez Show.
Personal life:
On July 19, 2003, Remini married actor Angelo Pagán who also appeared on The King of Queens as Rico and other various characters. On June 16, 2004, she gave birth to a daughter, Sofia Bella a day after her 34th birthday. Remini's pregnancy was chronicled on the
VH1 documentary Inside Out: Leah Remini the Baby Special. Remini was also showcased on The Rachael Ray Show during a period of time she was trying to wean her child off pacifiers and drinking from a bottle.
Remini is a member of
The Church of Scientology. In December 2005, she helped promote the gala opening of Church of Scientology's "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" Museum. Responding to criticism of Scientology during an interview on CNN, Remini stated:
“If somebody is going to get turned off about something because of what they read or heard, then that person's not smart enough to even enter a church. If you're really against something, then know what you're against.”
Filmography
Film:

1995
Glory Daze
1997
Critics and Other Freaks
1998
Follow Your Heart
2003
Old School
Television:
1988
Head of the Class
1989
Who's The Boss?
Living Dolls
1990
Normal Life
1991
Paradise
The Hogan Family
The Man In the Family
Saved By the Bell
1991-1993
Cheers
1992
Blossom
Getting Up and Going Home
1993
Evening Shade
Harlan & Merleen
1994
The Commish
Renegade
1994-1995
Phantom 2040
1995
Star Witness
Diagnosis Murder
Friends
First Time Out
1996
Biker Mice from Mars
NYPD Blue
1997-1998
Fired Up
1998-2007
The King of Queens
2002
Legend of the Lost Tribe
2005
Fat Actress
2007-2008
In the Motherhood
2009
Married Not Dead
2009
Lopez Tonight