Jane Krakowski

JANE KRAKOWSKI

Date of Birth: October 11, 1968

"I've had busy times as an actress and I've had not busy times as an actress. ... I appreciate when jobs come like this [Ally McBeal]-- especially when the work is this good."

This New Jersey native has become a veteran of soaps, Broadway musicals and feature films. Krakowski has been working since she was 15. That's when she was cast as T.R. Kendall, a troubled teen on the soap Search For Tomorrow. She chalked up two Emmy nominations in as many years before making her Broadway debut in Starlight Express. That led to her Drama Desk and Tony-nominated role in Grand Hotel. More stage work and small parts on television and in movies followed.

In 1997, Krakowski landed a part that made her a household 'face'—as the pesky secretary that everyone loves to hate on Fox's Ally McBeal. "I've heard it all," says Krakowski, when asked about fan feedback to her character, Elaine Vassal, "That she's annoying. A nympho. A gnat they want to swish away." Krakowski is also good friends with the show's star, Calista Flockhart. The two have known each other for years, and Krakowski's best friend was Flockhart's college roommate.

During a one year hiatus from the show, Krakowski was cast in two films. The independent feature Go, which was directed by Doug Liman and featured up-and-comers such as Scott Wolf, Katie Holmes and Sarah Polley. She also landed a role on Dance with Me, a project she desperately wanted. "I started dancing when I was three," she explains. "It was the passion of my life. A leotard was like a second skin."

Krakowski can be heard on Verese Saraband's latest recordings Lost in Boston IV and Sondheim At The Movies, the soundtrack for the independent film Hudson River Blues and many other Broadway original cast recordings of the shows in which she has appeared. In 2003 she won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Nine, opposite Antonio Banderas.

She presently divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Filmography:

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)
The Rocker (2008)
Open Season (2006) (voice)
Pretty Persuasion (2005)
Alfie (2004)
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (2003)
Marci X (2003)
Ice Age (2002)
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
Go (1999)
Dance with Me (1998)
Hudson River Blues (1997)
Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)
Stepping Out (1991)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
No Big Deal (1983)