Profile Text
LOS ANGELES – MAR 16: Thompson arrives at the 19th Annual “A Night at Sardi’s” Fundraiser & Awards on March 16, 2011 in Beverly Hills, CA, DFree /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Lea Kathleen Thompson
Place of Birth: Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, United States
Date of Birth: May 31, 1961
Ethnicity: Irish, as well as English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Swiss-German, distant Dutch
Lea Thompson is an American actress, singer, dancer, director, and television producer. Her roles include the films All the Right Moves , Red Dawn , The Wild Life (1984), Back to the Future , and its sequels; SpaceCamp , Howard the Duck , Some Kind of Wonderful , Casual Sex? , The Wizard of Loneliness , Article 99 , Dennis the Menace , The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), The Little Rascals (1994), Spy School , Exit Speed , Rock Slyde , Splinterheads , Adventures of a Teenage Dragon Slayer , Thin Ice , The Trouble with the Truth , J. Edgar , Ping Pong Summer , Left Behind (2014), Literally, Right Before Aaron ; Who We Are Now , The Year of Spectacular Men , which she also directed; Sierra Burgess Is a Loser , Little Women (2018), Dinner in America , Mark, Mary & Some Other People ; and Unplugging ; the made-for-tv movies Nightbreaker , Montana (1990), The Substitute Wife , Stealing Christmas , Jane Doe: Vanishing Act , and its sequels; A Life Interrupted , Final Approach , and Call Me Crazy: A Five Film ; the shows Tales from the Crypt , Caroline in the City , For the People , Ed , Switched at Birth , which she directed episodes of; Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero , Scorpion , The Spencer Sisters , Invincible , and The Chicken Sisters ; and the short film Haunted Lighthouse . She has also directed episodes of The Goldbergs , Schooled , Stargirl , Star Trek: Picard , Resident Alien , and Will Trent .
Lea is the daughter of Babah Hanson (born Barbara Anne Barry), an artist and musician, and Clifford Elwin Thompson. Her uncle, maternal grandmother’s brother, was actor P.J. Barry. Her cousins are actor and casting director Matthew Barry and actor and screenwriter Neill Barry. She trained at the American Ballet Theatre.
Lea is married to director Howard Deutch , with whom she has two children, actresses Madelyn Deutch and Zoey Deutch .
Lea’s paternal grandfather was Eldon Luverne Thompson (the son of John Robert Thompson and Charlotte Amanda Manz). Eldon was born in Iowa. John was born in Dubuque, Iowa, the son of George Thompson and Jane Curtis. Charlotte was born in Merrill, Iowa, the daughter of Henry Manz and Margaret Carothers.
Lea’s paternal grandmother was Reva Clara Gilder (the daughter of Andrew L./T. Gilder and Mary Margaret Bollard). Reva was born in Wisconsin. Andrew was the son of Levi J. Gilder and Jane Atkins. Mary Margaret was the daughter of John H. Bollard and Anne Tennant.
Lea’s maternal grandfather was Thomas F. Barry (the son of James P. Barry and Mary E. Lemis). Thomas was born in Rhode Island, of Irish ancestry. James was the son of Thomas Barry and Mary Mackie. Mary was the daughter of Philip Lemis and Bridget.
Lea’s maternal grandmother was Agnes Irene Duffy (the daughter of Philip A. Duffy and Margaret Anastasia Coogan). Agnes was born in Rhode Island, of Irish descent. Philip was the son of Francis Duffy and Jane Daly.
Sources: Genealogy of Lea Thompson (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Birth record of Lea Thompson – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Lea’s paternal great-grandmother, Charlotta Amanda (Manz) Thompson – https://www.familysearch.org
Lea’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org