Madeline Rose Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and Dennis Zima on September 16, 1985. She has two younger sisters, Vanessa and Yvonne, both of whom are also actresses. She began her career at the age of 2 when she was chosen as a toddler to appear in a television commercial for Downy fabric softener. Madeline grew up in Pennsylvania and early on had a New York agent that kept her busy modeling and doing commercials.

She and her sister, Vanessa, were discovered by Woody Allen for his movie Alice. Madeline actually quit show business the same week when she was urged back in to her sixth call back for the film, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, she came back and booked the role of Emma. Since booking the movie, Madeline has never stopped working in both film and television.

Madeline followed that dramatic thriller with a short film that Daryl Hannah directed called The Last Supper, where Madeline as a tiny wily child scared away her mother’s abusive boyfriend by convincing him that she and her mother were cannibals – the film was a favorite at the Sundance Film Festival. She followed that with the comedies, Mr. Nanny and Our Song, a pilot with George Hamilton; and finally The Nanny. The pilot for The Nanny was picked up and Madeline moved from the East Coast to LA, when The Nanny became a hit show. On The Nanny, where writing changed daily, Madeline honed her comic timing on the six year CBS comic hit as youngest daughter, Grace Sheffield.

After The Nanny, Madeline went on to star in numerous feature and TV films including: The Secret Path, Lethal Vows and The Sandy Bottom Orchestra. The Sandy Bottom Orchestra was a starring role where Madeline learned virtuoso violin pieces, which were so impressively played, even the music consultant on the movie thought Madeline was a professional violinist.

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. She followed that up playing the wicked stepsister of Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story. Madeline also took up improv and sketch comedy writing with hopes of one day being on the long-running sketch show Saturday Night Live.

Madeline continued working in independent features such as: Dimples; a horror film, Looking for Sunday; a coming of age drama where she plays the like able yoga instructor girlfriend of Michael Weston, Legacy; which is about three sorority sister murder suspects – Madeline is one of the suspects.

In 2006, Madeline was featured in the pilot for a show titled, 3 lbs, she played a violinist again and this time with a brain tumor. Reviews in “Entertainment Weekly” said her performance was the only reason to watch the show.

2007 became a break-out year for Madeline, its when she began to play the character Mia Cross, a sexually precocious and worldly 16-year old, on the hit series Californication. She returned for a second season of the show in 2008 reprising her role as bratty 17-year-old Mia. In promotion of Mia’s (fictional) book, “Fucking and Punching”, Madeline starred in several Californication “webisodes” that are featured on YouTube. Madeline returned in the season 3 finale episode of the show and there is plans to bring Mia back during 4 – which starts airing in January 2011.

In 2009, Madeline joined the cast of another hit TV show, Heroes, as Gretchen Berg who was Claire Bennet’s (Hayden Panettiere) quirky bisexual roommate and tentative love interest.

2010 saw Madeline working in more film with roles in: My Own Love Song; co-starring with Academy Award winners Renée Zellweger and Forest Whitaker and The Family Tree; which features a cast with both veteran actors (Hope Davis, Selma Blair, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dermot Mulroney) and up-and-coming actors (Brittany Robertson, Bow Wow). Production also began on First Dates; a comedic short film centering around an eclectic cast of characters in a series of vignettes about first dates. Madeline has also finished the films Trance; a film about girls at a rave who turn into blood thirsty killers after taking a mysterious new drug, and Crazy Eyes; a film directed by Adam Sherman that features the talents of Lukas Haas and Jake Busey – both Trance and Crazy Eyes are pending release.

Madeline is also gifted musically; she sings, plays guitar, and writes songs. Madeline likes to spend lots of time with her sisters who are also actresses and writers, Vanessa and Yvonne Zima. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Updated: September 4, 2010

Biography written by Madeline Zima Online, please do not redistribute or claim as your own!