Madeline Rose Zima (born September 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV Series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen on Heroes. In 2009, Madeline placed #5 on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World list.
Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and Dennis Zima. She has two younger sisters, Vanessa and Yvonne, both of whom are also actresses. Her surname means "winter" in Polish and comes from her paternal grandfather who was from Poland. (via Wikipedia)
Biography
Madeline Zima at twenty three is
one of the most seasoned and diverse young actresses today.
Equally skilled at comedy, improv and drama, she's worked
continuously for the last decade in critically acclaimed
projects. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, grew up in
Pennsylvania and early on had a New York agent that kept her
busy modeling and doing commercials.
She and her sister, Vanessa were discovered by Woody Allen for his movie Alice. She actually quit show business, the week when she was urged to come in for her sixth call back for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. She came back for one more audition and booked the role of Emma. She booked the movie and has never stopped working since that time. It was both Madeline and Juliane Moore's first film moreover was directed by Academy award-winning director and writer Curtis Hanson. Madeline was getting good critical notice for her first film role.
Madeline followed that dramatic thriller a short film that Daryl Hannah directed that was a favorite at Sundance called the last Supper, where Madeline as a tiny wily child scared away her mother's abusive boyfriend by convincing him that she and her mother were cannibals. She followed that with the comedies, Mr. Nanny, Our Song,a pilot with George Hamilton, and finally The Nanny. On the Nanny, where writing changed daily, Madeline honed her comic timing on the six year CBS comic hit that is now a linchpin of the Lifetime daily programming. By this time the pilot, the Nanny was picked up and Madeline moved from the East Coast to LA, when the Nanny became a hit show.
She has starred in TV films: The Secret Path (1999) (TV). Her sister, Yvonne played the seven year old counterpart to her characters. She played the daughter of the late John Ritter and Marg Helgenburg on Lethal Vows. The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000) (TV) was a starring role where she learned virtuoso violin pieces, which were so impressively played, even the music consultant on the movie, thought Madeline was a professional violinist.
After a worldwide search in all English speaking countries, Madeline was the choice to play Lucille Ball as a teenager, in the CBS mini-series, Redhead. She followed that up playing the wicked stepsister of Hilary Duff in a Cinderella Story. Madeline took up improv and sketch and comedy writing with hopes of one day being on SNL.
Currently, Madeline has a string of independent films to be released or is in preparation for. She stars in Dimples, a horror film. In Looking for Sunday, a coming of age drama, she plays the like able yoga instructor girlfriend of Michael Weston. She recently wrapped the black comedy Legacy about three sorority sister murder suspects, where Madeline is one of the suspects. In the pilot, Three Lbs produced by Peter Ocko, she plays a violinist again, this time with a brain tumor. Reviews in Entertainment weekly said her performance was the only reason to watch the show. Currently, she is in preparation to play the mysterious and interesting character Mia on the new Showtime series, Californication.
When not working on movies, Madeline sings and plays guitar, loves horseback riding, writes songs, screenplays, is rehabbing her house and is working on a novel. She loves to snowboard, paint, dance and swim and spends lots of time with her sisters who are also actresses and writers, Vanessa (Cavedweller Ulee's Gold) and Yvonne Zima (ER and Long Kiss Goodnight).
Career
Zima began her career
at the age of 24 months when she was chosen as a toddler to
appear in a television commercial for Downy fabric softener. She
played the role of Grace Sheffield on the television show The
Nanny for six years. Zima has become known for her work in films
such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and having most recently
appeared in the Hilary Duff film A Cinderella Story and the soon
to be released films: Dimples, Looking for Sunday, Once in a Very
Blue Moon and Legacy.
In 2007, Zima played Mia Cross, a sexually
precocious and worldly 16-year old, on the series
Californication. Zima returned for a second season of
Californication in 2008 reprising her role as bratty 17-year-old
Mia. In promotion of Mia's book, Fucking and Punching, Zima
starred in several Californication webisodes that are featured on
YouTube. In 2009, Zima joined the cast of Heroes as Gretchen,
Claire Bennet's quirky bisexual roommate and tentative love
interest.
She stars as Jill in the 2009 release The Collector.
Awards and
nominations
She was nominated three times for a YoungStar Award at the
YoungStar Awards, in 1995, 1997 and 1999 all of them for Best
Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series for The
Nanny (1993).
She was also nominated
thirteen times for a Young Artist Award at the Young Artist
Awards:
• 1993 - Best Young Actress Under Ten in a Motion Picture for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
• 1994 - Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy and for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series shared with Benjamin Salisbury and Nicholle Tom both for The Nanny (1993)
• 1995 - Best Performance by a Youth Actress as a TV Guest Star for Law & Order (1990), and Best Performance by a Youth Ensemble in a Television Series shared with Nicholle Tom and Benjamin Salisbury, Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten in a Motion Picture and Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten in a TV Series, all of them for The Nanny (1993)
• 1996 - Best Performance by a Young Actress in a TV Comedy Series for The Nanny (1993)
• 1998 - Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series by a Supporting Young Actress for The Nanny (1993)
• 2001 - Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama) by a Leading Young Actress for The Sandy Bot
| Birth Name | Madeline Rose Zima |
| Birthday | 9/16/1985 |
| Nickname | Mad, Maddie, Madsters |
| Hometown | New Haven, CT |
| Country of Origin | United States |
| Sign | Virgo |
| Height | 5'8 |
| Job | Actress |
| Hobbies | Singing,Horseback Riding, Guitar |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Awards | young Artist Award, Youngster Award |
| Parents | Dennis and Maria |
| sisters | Vanessa Zima , Yvonne Zima |
