Madeline Zima

Madeline Zima

Active - 1986 - 2022  |   Born - Sep 16, 1985 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Comedy, Romance

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Biography by AllMovie

Fans of 1990s prime-time sitcoms will invariably remember actress Madeline Zima as the sugar-sweet, angelic Grace, six-year-old daughter of British theatrical producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), on the Fran Drescher series comedy The Nanny. In fact, when Zima landed that part, she had already tackled child roles in features as diverse as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Mr. Nanny (1993). The Drescher series, of course, represented Zima's breakthrough, and by the late '90s, the young actress (who remained with the sitcom cast for all six seasons, until it wrapped in 1999) had blossomed into a starkly beautiful teenager. She branched out into more adult-oriented material with an uncanny portrayal of the young Lucille Ball in the telemovie Lucy (2003), then returned to series programs with a regular role on the quirky David Duchovny-headlined Showtime comedy drama Californication (2007). She went on to appear in The Collector, The Family Tree, Crazy Eyes, and Lake Effects.

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Factsheet

  • First on-screen job was in a television commercial at age 2.
  • Best known for playing Grace Sheffield on the CBS sitcom The Nanny, starring Fran Drescher.
  • Received nine Young Artist Award nominations and three Hollywood Reporter's YoungStar Award nominations.
  • Learned to play the violin in preparation for her role in The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000).