Leah Remini

Remini was born on June 15, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Vicki Marshall and George Remini, who owned an asbestos removal company. Her mother is of Austrian Jewish descent, while her father has Italian ancestry, rooted in Sicily. Remini was raised in Bensonhurst. Remini was baptized into the Catholic Church as an infant and raised in the faith during her early childhood. When she was 8, her mother joined the Church of Scientology, and Remini was thereafter raised as a Scientologist. At 13, Remini and her sister were taken to join Scientology's Paramilitary organization called the Sea Organization, where they were forced to sign billion-year contracts and work for their room and board. Remini's mother decided to take her children out of the Sea Org and return to civilian Scientology life within the same year. Remini moved to Los Angeles, with her mother and sisters, where she spent the remainder of her teenage years working to pay off their debt to Scientology for all of their auditing received. In addition, Remini and her family worked regular jobs to pay for continuing Scientology courses and services.