Leah Remini

The rags-to-riches story of Brooklyn-born Leah Remini is pure Horatio Alger (in a petticoat). Dropping out of school at the age of 14, she experienced the cruel world from the vantage of waitress, cashier and telemarketer, among other vocations, before landing an agent and a one-line role on "Head of the Class" (ABC). After that, she made steady progress in the sitcom world, snagging regular roles in the short-lived likes of "Living Dolls" (ABC, 1989), "Man in the Family" (ABC, 1991) and "First Time Out" (The WB, 1995). Though those series tanked, Remini managed to get excellent exposure in two recurring roles on popular shows: from 1991-93 she played Carla's rebellious daughter Sarafina in NBC's long-running "Cheers", and 1993 saw her as Daisy in episodes of "Evening Shade" (CBS). She also made guest appearances on many series, including "Blossom" (NBC), "NYPD Blue" (ABC) and "Friends" (NBC).

The raven-haired Remini caught a huge break playing Sharon Lawrence's foil in NBC's "Fired Up" (debuting April 1997), but despite its Number 1 rating among women 18 to 49 for the first five weeks of the 1997-98 season, it did not survive the year. Remini had, however, lent an authentic New York voice to "Fired Up", and her stock for portraying "tough" somewhat in the style of Fran Drescher was going through the roof. She next signed on to "The King of Queens" (CBS, 1998- ), the blue-collar comedy reminiscent of "The Honeymooners", which has provided the best showcase of her talent to date. Completely at home as the Queen of Queens, she is quick to keep her truck-driving husband (Kevin James) in line, while loving the big lug all the same. The series looks like a keeper, its success in no small part due to Remini, whose first love is sitcom TV, taped in a studio full of people. "I need an audience. I need to hear the cameraman laughing. If the crew laughs, it's a hit."