Jane Krakowski

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Jane Krakowski

Krakowski in 2005
Born Jane Krajkowski
October 11, 1968 (1968-10-11) (age 39)
Parsippany, New Jersey, United States

Jane Krakowski (born October 11, 1968) is a Tony Award-winning American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal and Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Krakowski was born Jane Krajkowski in Parsippany, New Jersey, the daughter of Barbara, a college theater instructor, and Ed Krajkowski, a chemical engineer.[1] Krakowski grew up in Parsippany, New Jersey[2] where she attended Parsippany High School.[3] She went to Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts where she met Calista Flockhart.

[edit] Television

In her first major television role, Krakowski joined the soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1984, playing the role of Theresa Rebecca (T.R.) Kendall, a role she played until the show ended in 1986. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for the role in 1987.

In 1997, she landed what would become her biggest role, playing office assistant Elaine Vassal on the television series Ally McBeal for five seasons until 2002. Her role on Ally McBeal earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1999. In 2004, she guest starred on Law and Order: SVU as Emma Spevak, the sister of a suspect who is believed to have murdered 3 elderly women. In 2006, Krakowski joined the cast of the new NBC sitcom 30 Rock, where she plays Jenna Maroney, a cast member of the fictional late night sketch show TGS with Tracy Jordan.

[edit] Film

Krakowski has also appeared in the movies National Lampoon's Vacation, Fatal Attraction, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (where she played Betty Rubble), Marci X, Alfie, Go, Dance with Me, Stepping Out, Pretty Persuasion and will appear in the upcoming movie Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery. Krakowski was also originally cast in the horror camp classic Sleepaway Camp as the role of "mean girl" Judy but dropped out just before filming began because she felt her character's death scene with a curling iron was too violent.

[edit] Stage

A trained singer, Krakowski has made numerous appearances on stage. At age 18 she originated the role of Dinah the dining car in the 1987 Broadway production of Starlight Express. She appeared in the 1989 Broadway musical Grand Hotel as the typist and would-be-film-star Flaemmchen for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Her solo number "I Want to go to Hollywood" is included on the original cast recording. At the 2000 American Comedy Awards, Krakowski won rave reviews when she performed a sexually-charged musical tribute and love letter to Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates.

In 1995, she played the ditzy flight attendant April in The Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Company. In 1996 she starred alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress.

In January of 2002, Windham Hill Records released a Jim Brickman album titled Love Songs & Lullabies featuring Jane as a vocalist for the song "You", which became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations. Brickman and Krakowski also recorded an alternate Christmas version of "You". She also appeared on the album Broadway Cares: Home For The Holidays singing the song Santa Baby.

In 2003, she starred in the Broadway revival of Nine for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. In 2005, she starred as Miss Adelaide alongside Ewan McGregor in the new production of Guys and Dolls[4] in London (Piccadilly Theatre) a role for which she won the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Krakowski performed in a January 2007 workshop production and backers' audition for a Broadway musical adaption of the 1980 film, Xanadu, with music from the film's soundtrack and a book by Douglas Carter Beane. Xanadu premiered on Broadway summer 2007, although Krakowski's role is played by Kerry Butler.

[edit] Other works

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/52/Jane-Krakowski.html
  2. ^ Nash, Margo. "JERSEY FOOTLIGHTS", The New York Times, March 19, 2006. Accessed November 13, 2007. "So, on March 12, Ms. Krakowski, who grew up in Parsippany but lives in New York City, took the stage at the Bickford Theater in Morristown to perform Better When It's Banned: A Sinful Songbook, the cabaret act she first performed at Lincoln Center last year."
  3. ^ Leave It to Jane, TheaterMania.com, March 10, 2006.
  4. ^ http://www.guysanddollsthemusical.com/

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Awards
Preceded by
Harriet Harris
for Thoroughly Modern Millie		 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2003
for Nine		 Succeeded by
Anika Noni Rose
for Caroline, or Change
Preceded by
Cady Huffman
for The Producers		 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
2002-2003
for Nine		 Succeeded by
Isabel Keating
for The Boy from Oz
v • d • e
30 Rock
Cast
Characters
Episodes
Elements
Related articles
Persondata
NAME Krakowski, Jane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Krajkowski, Jane
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1969-10-11
PLACE OF BIRTH Parsippany, New Jersey, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH