Jane Mancini

Jane Andrews (previously Mancini and McBride), played by Josie Bissett, is a fictional character from the 1990s prime time soap opera Melrose Place and the 2009 series of the same name.

Melrose Place

When the series starts, she is married to Dr. Michael Mancini and works in a clothing boutique on Melrose Ave. In Los Angeles, Jane and Michael serve as the apartment building's superintendents as well as having separate careers. A major plot point for Jane and Michael in the first season is their inability to find time to be together and manage their busy work schedules.

As the series progresses, Jane and Michael's once happy relationship begins to crumble when Michael cheats on Jane with fellow doctor Kimberly Shaw. Jane then divorces Michael. Jane's younger sister Sydney Andrews moves into her apartment and begins to have an affair with Michael behind Jane's back. Eventually Jane leaves Melrose Place and moves back to her hometown of Chicago. She eventually moves back to L.A. for the final season of the show.

Melrose Place (2009)

Jane reappears in the 2009 follow-up series as the new landlord of the Melrose apartment building. Her character in the follow-up series became a scheming, devious, crafty, and downright amoral and evil person just like all of the other characters. At the aftermath of her sister's death, Jane meets Ella Simms (Katie Cassidy), but actually threatens to show the police incriminating e-mails Ella sent Sydney unless the publicist makes her client wear one of Jane's designs, hoping to make a comeback after her boutique burned down years ago (in an arson fire, which implies, but never fully explains, that Jane may have set the fire to her own boutique to collect a fire insurance payment). Violet Foster (Ashlee Simpson-Wentz) reveals herself as Sydney's illegitimate daughter and Jane seemingly accepts Violet, but she immediately betrays Violet for no clear reason by tipping off the police of Violet's past (stealing money from her foster parents to search for her mother). Jane also goes back on her word to Ella and informs the police of Ella's incriminating e-mails. Jane returns in "Santa Fe" to check up on Amanda to make sure that Ella pays for pulling the red carpet under her. Jane and Michael reunite also with Jo.

Reception

Korbi Ghosh of Zap2it describes Jane as "the first first lady of the series -- and probably the only one who pretty much maintained her sanity from start to finish -- Jane is sweet! And so is the lady who plays her." ^[1]

References