MELISSA LEO seems to be fated to work in series's where she is surrounded by troubled, sometimes immature, men. The actress starred as the tough-talking Sgt. Kay Howard in the gritty drama series Homicide: Life In The Streets, but before her stint as ace detective of the Baltimore police Melissa played Emma Shannon, housekeeper and confidante of the riders. Childless with a husband who ran out on her, Emma's maternal instincts were aroused by the innocence of her young wards. 

Emma seems to have had a questionable past -- there were references to this in the episode Unfinished Business. She married young and she and her husband had a son. But when she and the baby contracted chicken pox, her husband left them to fend for themselves. The baby died. Later, she married Marshall Sam Cain and left Sweetwater to start a new life as the wife of the Territorial Marshall.

Melissa was born and raised in New York City and attended the State University of New York at Purchase before studying acting in London. Her motion-picture credits include Streetwalkin' and A Time of Destiny. She also appeared in three Henry Jaglom films: Always, Venice/Venice and Hampton House. Her other film credits include Immaculate Conception, By a Thread, The Garden, The Ballad of Little Jo and Under the Bridge. She recently completed work in the lead role of the independent film Code of Ethics. Melissa has guest-starred on numerous television series, including The Equalizer, Spencer: For Hire, Miami Vice and Gideon Oliver, and was featured in the NBC movie Carolina Skeletons.

Among Melissa's stage credits are the New York Shakespeare Festival Production of Don Juan; Cinders with Christopher Walken at the Public Theatre; and Today I Am a Fountain Pen by Israel Horowitz with the American Jewish Theatre. She also appeared in The White Rose and Out of Gas on Lover's Leap, both at the WPA Theatre in New York City. Melissa originated the role of Gloria in the Tennessee Williams play Will Mr. Meriwether Return from Memphis? in Key West. She also appeared in A Touch of the Poet at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn. Melissa lives in New York with her son, John Matthew.