Madeline Zima (born September 16, 1985) is an American actress. She portrayed

Grace Sheffield ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a fashion queen from Flushing, New York who becomes the nanny of three children from the New York/British high soc ...

on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'' (1993–1999), Mia Lewis on the Showtime comedy drama series ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

'' (2007–2011), and Gretchen Berg on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series '' Heroes'' (2009–2010).

Early life

Zima was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, the daughter of Marie and Dennis. Her surname means "winter" in Polish and comes from her maternal grandfather, who was of Polish descent. Zima has two younger sisters, Vanessa and

Yvonne Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupati ...

, both of whom are also actresses.

Career

Zima began her career when she was two years old with an appearance in a

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Downy Downy, also known as Lenor in Europe, Russia and Japan, is a brand of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble that was introduced in 1960. Lenor is a brand name of fabric softener and dryer sheets, also produced by P&G, sold in Europe, Rus ...

fabric softener A fabric softener (American English) or fabric conditioner (British English) is a conditioner that is applied to laundry during the rinse cycle in a washing machine to reduce harshness in clothes that are dried in air after machine washing. In con ...

. From 1993 to 1999 she played the role of

on the

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

'' throughout its six seasons. Zima, then aged 22, played Mia Lewis on the first two seasons of the series ''

'' and overall appeared in the series from 2007 to 2011. In promotion of the fictional book her character wrote, ''Fucking & Punching'', Zima starred in several ''Californication'' webisodes featured on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. Zima has also become known for her work in films such as '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'', ''

A Cinderella Story ''A Cinderella Story'' is a 2004 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Mark Rosman, written by Leigh Dunlap and starring Hilary Duff, Chad Michael Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, and Regina King. A modernization of the classic Cinderella ...

'', ''Dimples'', ''Looking for Sunday'', ''Once in a Very Blue Moon'', ''

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

'' and ''

The Collector ''The Collector'' is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely, psychotic young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhous ...

''. From 2009 to 2010, Zima joined the cast of ''Heroes'' as Gretchen Berg,

Claire Bennet Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis", on September 25, ...

's quirky bisexual roommate and tentative love interest. Zima appeared as a guest star on several television shows, including ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'', '' JAG'', and ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

''. She also guest starred in an episode of ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, ...

'', and in two episodes of the 2017 '' Twin Peaks The Return''. In 2012, she was cast in a co-starring role in the ABC drama pilot ''Gilded Lilys'', but the series was not picked up by ABC. Zima starred in ''

The Blondes ''The Blondes'' is a 2019 scripted podcast based on the novel of the same name by Emily Schultz. It was released on July 8, 2019, starring Madeline Zima, Robert Belushi, Helen Hong, Dana Berger, and Cecilia Corrigan. Background The first seas ...

'' (2019), a scripted podcast series, with her sister

. In 2020, she appeared in HBO's ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

''. In 2021, Zima appeared in '' NCIS: Hawaiʻi''s fifth episode "Gaijin" as suspect Abby Nelson.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Zima was nominated three times for a YoungStar Award, in 1995, 1997 and 1999, all for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series for ''The Nanny''. She was also nominated 13 times for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

: * 1993 – Best Young Actress Under Ten in a Motion Picture for ''The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' * 1994 – Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy and for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series, shared with

Benjamin Salisbury Benjamin David Salisbury (born October 19, 1980) is an American actor and dancer best known for playing the role of Brighton Sheffield on the CBS television sitcom ''The Nanny'' from 1993 to 1999. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 19 ...

and

Nicholle Tom Nicholle Marie Tom is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Ryce Newton in ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Beethoven's 2nd'' (1993), ''Beethoven'' (1994–1995), and as Maggie Sheffield on '' The Nanny''. She is also known for voicing ...

, both for ''The Nanny'' * 1995 – Best Performance by a Youth Actress as a TV Guest Star for ''

'', and Best Performance by a Youth Ensemble in a Television Series shared with

and

, 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'' * 1996 – Best Performance by a Young Actress in a TV Comedy Series for ''The Nanny'' * 1998 – Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series by a Supporting Young Actress for ''The Nanny'' * 2001 – Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama) by a Leading Young Actress for ''The Sandy Bottom Orchestra''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zima, Madeline 1985 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Living people American people of Polish descent Actresses from New Haven, Connecticut