- Born
- Birth nameMadeline Rose Zima
- Nicknames
- Mad
- Madsters
- Maddie
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Madeline Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to parents Dennis and Marie, and is the sister of actresses Vanessa Zima and Yvonne Zima. "Zima," a Polish surname, is her mother's maiden name; Madeline's maternal grandfather was of Polish descent, while her other ancestry is Italian, German, and Irish.
She and her sister Vanessa were discovered by Woody Allen for his movie, Alice (1990). 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 (1992). She came back for one more audition and booked the role of 'Emma.' She booked the movie and has never stopped working since. It was both Madeline and Julianne Moore's first film and was directed by Academy Award-winning director and writer, Curtis Hanson. Madeline won critical notice for her first film role.
Madeline followed that dramatic thriller with a short film that Daryl Hannah directed. It was a Sundance favorite called The Last Supper (1995), 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 (1993), Our Song, a pilot with George Hamilton, and finally The Nanny (1993). By this time, the pilot of The Nanny (1993) was picked up and Madeline moved from New York to L.A., when The Nanny (1993) became a hit show.
She has starred in TV films: The Secret Path (1999). Her sister, Yvonne Zima played the seven-year-old counterpart to her characters. She played the daughter of the late John Ritter and Marg Helgenberger on Lethal Vows (1999).
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, Lucy (2003) (aka "Redhead"). She followed that up playing the wicked stepsister of Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story (2004).
In a return to television, she agreed to play the mysterious and destructive character "Mia" on the hit Showtime series, Californication (2007).- IMDb Mini Biography By: J. Stark
- ParentsDennis ZimaMarie Zima
- RelativesVanessa Zima(Sibling)Yvonne Zima(Sibling)
- Gender / Gender identityFemale
- Describes herself as very shy and says her sisters usually have to talk to guys for her.
- Madeline sings, plays guitar, horseback rides, writes songs, and she writes screenplays.
- Was cast to play a teen-aged Lucille Ball in a movie/mini-series for CBS for 2003. This was a period piece were Madeline would play the I Love Lucy (1951) star from ages 13 to 18 and was scripted to film a scene with a teen-aged Bette Davis, with whom Ball attended drama school. For the role, Madeline would have to cut her long hair in a bob. The movie was tentatively-titled the "I Love Lucy" movie or "Redhead". The movie's final title was Lucy (2003).
- Madeline learned to play a violin for her role in the made-for television movie "The Sandy Bottom Orchestra".
- It would be nice to not have to prove myself and for people to know that I'm good and can play a role. Whatever role that is that lets people know that I can play the next role is what I want to do.
- I took Latin and Spanish. I can speak a very small amount of Spanish, but Latin has sort of gone away! Unless I was joining the Catholic Church, there would be no need to learn Latin.
- Strike the right balance between your outfit and makeup. Make a statement with one, not both.
- I'm very spiritual. I meditate every day. I don't know if that's surprising or not, but I've been doing that since I was 16 every day, so that's like kind of my thing. I'm really a hippie-chick at heart.
- It's just not a good idea to drink and drive; that is just common sense. But common sense is not that common!
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