Madeline Zima began her acting career at the age of seven and has developed into a seasoned and diverse actress. Equally skilled at comedy and drama, she has worked continuously for several decades, in critically-acclaimed projects. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to parents Dennis and Marie, and is the sister of actresses Vanessa Zima and Yvonne Zima. "Zima", a Polish surname, is her mother's maiden name; Madeline's maternal grandfather was of Polish descent, while her other ancestry is Italian, German, and Irish. She grew up in Pennsylvania and, early on, had a New York agent for modeling and commercials.
She and her sister Vanessa were discovered by Woody Allen for his movie, Alice (1990). She actually quit show business, the week when she was urged to come in for her sixth call back for La main sur le berceau (1992). She came back for one more audition and booked the role of "Emma". She booked the movie and has never stopped working since. It was both Madeline and Julianne Moore's first film and was directed by Academy Award-winning director and writer, Curtis Hanson. Madeline won critical notice for her first film role.
Madeline followed that dramatic thriller with a short film that Daryl Hannah directed. It was a Sundance favorite called L'ultime souper (1995), where Madeline, as a tiny wily child, scared away her mother's abusive boyfriend by convincing him that she and her mother were cannibals. She followed that with the comedies, Mr. Nanny (1993), Our Song, a pilot with George Hamilton, and finally Une nounou d'enfer (1993). On Une nounou d'enfer (1993), where writing changed daily, Madeline honed her comic timing on the six-year CBS comic hit that is now a linchpin of the Lifetime daily programming. By this time, the pilot of Une nounou d'enfer (1993) was picked up and Madeline moved from the New York to L.A., when Une nounou d'enfer (1993) became a hit show.
She has starred in TV films: The Secret Path (1999). Her sister, Yvonne Zima played the seven-year-old counterpart to her characters. She played the daughter of the late John Ritter and Marg Helgenberger on Mort à petite dose (1999). La musique du bonheur (2000) was a starring role where she 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 (2003) (aka "Redhead"). She followed that up playing the wicked stepsister of Hilary Duff in Comme Cendrillon (2004). Madeline took up sketch comedy-writing with hopes of one day being on SNL.
In the pilot, 3 lbs. (2006), produced by Peter Ocko, she plays a violinist again, this time with a brain tumor. Reviews in Entertainment Weekly said her performance was the only reason to watch the show.
In a return to television, she agreed to play the mysterious and destructive character "Mia" on the hit Showtime series, Californication (2007).
When not working on movies, Madeline sings and plays guitar, writes songs, screenplays. She loves to snowboard, paint, dance and spends lots of time with her sisters, who are also actresses and writers, Vanessa Zima and Yvonne Zima.
