Leslie Stefanson

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title: "Leslie Stefanson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-actresses", "20th-century-american-women-sculptors", "20th-century-american-sculptors", "21st-century-american-women-sculptors", "21st-century-american-sculptors", "actresses-from-north-dakota", "american-film-actresses", "barnard-college-alumni", "living-people", "actors-from-fargo,-north-dakota", "people-from-moorhead,-minnesota", "american-people-of-icelandic-descent", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)"] description: "American actress and sculptor (born 1971)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Stefanson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress and sculptor (born 1971) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
image
name	Leslie Stefanson
birth_name
birth_date
birth_place	Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
website
years_active	1994–2003
education	Barnard College (BA)
occupation	Actress
partner	James Spader (2002–present)
children	1
::

| image = | name = Leslie Stefanson | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | website = | years_active = 1994–2003 | education = Barnard College (BA) | occupation = Actress | partner = James Spader (2002–present) | spouse = | children = 1

Leslie Stefanson (born May 10, 1971) is an American actress and sculptor. She is most known for playing the title role as Capt. Elisabeth Campbell in the film The General's Daughter, and Joan Bennett Kennedy in the television miniseries Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot. Her sculpture, La Bestia, won the top prize from the National Sculpture Society in 2019.

Biography

Stefanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1971, and raised in Moorhead, Minnesota, the youngest of three girls. Her father, Randy Gustafson, was a lawyer while her mother, Corinne, operated a clothing store. She is of Icelandic heritage, with her paternal grandparents, Skúli Stefánsson and Heffie Einarson, emigrating from Iceland. She studied literature in New Jersey at Drew University and in New York City at Columbia University. In 1993, she graduated with a degree in English literature from Barnard College. She was a member of a New York theater group, modeled, and appeared in an advertisement for Lee's Jeans in 1997, which was shown during the Super Bowl.

In August 2008, Stefanson gave birth to her first child, a son, with actor James Spader.

As of 2024, she makes bronze and terracotta sculptures in New York City.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	The Cowboy Way	Girl At Party
1996	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Sara Myers
1997	Fool's Paradise	Elizabeth "Liz"
1997	Flubber	Sylvia, Weebo's Hologram
1997	As Good as It Gets	Cafe 24 Waitress
1998	Delivered	Claire Moore
1998	An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn	Michelle Rafferty	last1=Carr
1998	Break Up	Shelly
1999	The General's Daughter	Captain Elisabeth Campbell	last1=Justin
2000	Beautiful	Joyce Parkins	last1=Norman-Culp
2000	Unbreakable	Kelly
2001	The Stickup	Natalie Wright
2001	Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot	Joan Bennett Kennedy	TV miniseries
2002	Desert Saints	FBI Agent Donna Marbury
2002	MDs	Shelly Pangborn	10 episodes
2003	The Hunted	Irene Kravitz
2003	Alien Hunter	Nyla Olson
2019	Glass	Kelly	Archival footage from Unbreakable
::

References

References

1. Drake, Samantha. (2019-03-23). "All About James Spader's Divorce, Kids, and Relationship with Leslie Stefanson".
2. "National Sculpture Society Past Recipients".
3. (March 2, 2001). "Stefanson didn't grow up with movie-star dreams to shatter.". Star Tribune.
4. (January 5, 2001). "Vestur-íslensk leikkona á uppleið í Hollywood". [[Morgunblaðið]].
5. (September 25, 2013). "Trúlofaður íslensk ættaðri konu". [[Vísir.is]].
6. "Leslie Stefanson {{!}} Sculpture".
7. (February 27, 1998). "'Burn Hollywood Burn' never catches fire". The Boston Globe.
8. (March 2, 2001). "Moorhead's Leslie Stefanson enjoys her role". Star Tribune.
9. (June 18, 1999). "Exploitative murder mystery". The Orlando Sentinel.
10. (September 29, 2000). "'Beautiful' disappointing despite Driver and Field". North County Times.
11. (March 16, 2003). "Friedkin Should Have 'Hunted' For Better Script". The Tyler Courier-Times.

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