LEA THOMPSON has established a career that encompasses film, television and theater, moving easily between dramatic and comedic roles. However, she is best known for her role in the successful trilogy of the Back to the Future films.
The youngest of five children, Lea few up outside Minneapolis with what she calls a "Midwestern common-sense approach to life: to be sensible, to do all things in moderation". She began studing dance at the age of 9, and her career began at the age of 14 as a professional ballet dancer. She performed in more than 45 ballets and won scholarships with both the American Ballet Theatre and the San Francisco Ballet, as well as performed with The Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet Company and The Ballet Repertory. Realizing she would never become a prima ballerina, Thompson moved to New York at the age of 19 to pursue a career in acting.
Initially cast in a series of commercials for Burger King and Twix, the actress's motion picture debut came in Jaws 3-D. Her next role was that of Lisa Lietske, Tom Cruise's girfriend in All the Right Moves, which brought her to the attention of critics and audiences alike. That part led to a challenging role in the film Red Dawn, in which she played a teenage guerilla fighter helping to fend off a Russian invasion of the United States. It was her appearance in Universal's The Wild Life which brought the actress to the attention of Robert Zemeckis, who cast her as Lorraine in Back to the Future.
As most young actors progress through their career, one of the most difficult stages they face is the transition from their portrayal of teens to being accepted by audiences in adult roles. Lea Thompson made that transition in the course of a single film, as she played high school teenager Lorraine Baines and the 47-year-old housewife Lorraine McFly in Back to the Future.
"What makes the Back to the Future films so wonderful for me as an actress, and I think for audiences as well," says Thompson, "is that the filmmakers didn't try to cast someone who just looked like us in the older versions of our characters. It's essential to the story that the audience knows that it's the same actor playing the role, and hopefully they will accept us in our older characterizations. When I read the script to the first film, I thought the story was terrific and very interesting. When they told me I would be playing both young and old Lorraine, I knew it would be a tremendous challenge, so of course I wanted it immediately."
She went on to star in feature films such as Some Kind of Wonderful, Space Camp, Howard the Duck, Casual Sex? and Dennis the Menace. She starred in the Turner Network production of NightBreaker, for which she received an Ace® Award nomination, and in an episode of the HBO series, Tales From the Crypt. Other recent television movies include The Unspoken Truth and The Substitute Wife.
Thompson's theater work includes "Bus Stop" at the Pasadena Playhouse and "The Illusion" at the Los Angeles Theater Company. She has also appeared in the Powerhouse Theatre's production of "Long Time Coming, Charlie Bacon's Family" at the John Drew Theatre in East Hampton and "The Trip Down Back" at the Actor's Repertory Theatre.
Lea Thompson can be currently seen weekly in the new NBC smash sitcom Caroline in the City. She is married to film director Howard Deutch, who has directed her in the films Some Kind of Wonderful, Article 99, and the "Only Sin Deep" episode of Tales From the Crypt.
The couple lives in San Fernando Valley with their two daughters, Madeline and Zoey.