Career
She is best known for the role of Sydney Andrews on the television series Melrose Place and for Ashley Marin on American Broadcasting Company Family"s series Pretty Little Liars. In the early 1990s, she took her first major acting role as Sydney Andrews in the prime time soap opera Melrose Place. The part was originally intended for only two episodes in season 1, but was developed into a full-time role for the subsequent seasons 2 to 5 (1993-1997).
She also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1995 with musical guest Rancid.
Leighton left Melrose Place in 1997 at the end of her contract, and later appeared on Beverly Hills, 90210. Aaron Spelling created the role of wannabe actress Sophie Burns for her, and she received a six-figure salary per episode.
In 1999, she appeared in the independent feature film Angels, Baby! which received a limited release late that year. That same year she appeared in the romantic comedy Seven Girlfriends and the thriller Clean and Narrow which was released direct to video in early 2000.
In the 2000s, she has guest-starred in shows such as Cupid and The Outer Limits, and lent her voice to the animated series Duckman.
She later starred in the indie film The Sky Is Falling before taking a long break to have children. In 2003, she returned to the small screen in the much-hyped, but little-watched SKIN, which lasted three episodes, and in the short-lived 2005 American Broadcasting Company series Eyes. In 2006-2007, she made numerous prime-time guest appearances, on shows such as the American Broadcasting Company drama/comedy Boston Legal, Law & Order: SVU, Computer Society of India: Miami, and Shark.
In 2004, she starred in Deadly Encounter as Joanne Sanders, a single mother who is the victim of a stalker.
Leighton was seen in the made-for-television movie Love Notes on Lifetime the western/horror/thriller The Burrowers directed by J.T Petty and the Hallmark Channel movies Daniel"s Daughter and Mending Fences, opposite Angie Dickinson. On April 5, 2009, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Leighton would appear in the 2009 series Melrose Place, reprising her role as the presumed-dead Sydney, who will serve as landlord at Melrose Place.
On December 7, 2009, American Broadcasting Company Family announced that Leighton had been cast in the television series Pretty Little Liars, a television adaptation of a book of the same name by Sara Shepard. She portrays Ashley Marin, the mother of Hanna Marin, one of the four main characters on the show.
