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Jane Adams (actress, born 1965)

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Jane Adams
Born (1965-04-01) April 1, 1965 (age 59)
EducationJuilliard School (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actress, writer
Years active1985–present

Jane Adams (born April 1, 1965)[1][2][3] is an American actress and screenwriter. Known for her work in independent cinema, her acting credits include Light Sleeper (1992), Happiness (1998), Mumford (1999), Songcatcher (2000), The Anniversary Party (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006), All the Light in the Sky (2012), and She Dies Tomorrow (2020).

On television, she appeared in the recurring role of Dr. Mel Karnofsky on the NBC sitcom Frasier (1999–2000) and co-starred as Nikki Katz on HBO's drama series The Idol (2023). For her roles as Tanya Skagl on HBO's Hung (2009–2011), and Nina Daniels on Hacks (2021–2022) she received nominations for the Golden Globe Award, and two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award respectively.

Adams made her Broadway debut in the original production of Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet in 1991, and won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Sheila Birling in the revival of J.B. Priestly's An Inspector Calls (1994).

Early life

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Jane Adams was born in Washington, DC and was raised in Wheaton, Illinois, and Bellevue, Washington.[citation needed] She is the daughter of Janice, an administrative assistant, and William Adams, an engineer.[4] She has a younger brother named Jonathan.[citation needed]

Adams attended the University of Washington, where she studied political science, and the Cornish College of the Arts, where she took theater. She attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1985–1989, Group 18)[5] where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1989.[6][unreliable source?]

Career

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Adams performed theatre at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. She turned down the chance to work in Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg for the opportunity to work with Arthur Miller onstage.

She worked with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in Father of the Bride Part II. She went back to the stage and won the 1994 Tony Award for best performance by a featured actress in a play for the Broadway revival of An Inspector Calls. She also won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best debut performance in a play in the Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet.[7]

In 1996, Adams portrayed Karen Lukens in the ABC-TV drama series Relativity.[8]: 883-884 

In 1998, she starred in the misanthropic dark comedy Happiness with Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing the role of Joy, a sensitive single woman who is struggling with life. She and the cast won many ensemble awards. The next year, Adams got a recurring role on the comedy series Frasier from 1999 to 2000. She played Dr. Mel Karnofsky, who became Niles Crane's second wife. She also had a role in the 1999 film Mumford.[9]

In 2001, she was in the independent film titled Songcatcher, with Janet McTeer. She and the cast won a Sundance Special Jury Prize.[citation needed] She also portrayed Reeva Baines Eidenberg in the CBS drama series Citizen Baines.[8] Adams has also appeared in mainstream films such as You've Got Mail (1998), Wonder Boys (2000), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), and Last Holiday (2006). In 2007, she appeared in The Sensation of Sight and The Brave One. In the latter film, she appeared opposite Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Mary Steenburgen and Naveen Andrews.

From 2009 to 2011, Adams co-starred in the HBO series Hung opposite Thomas Jane.[8]: 487  She starred in and co-wrote the 2012 film All the Light in the Sky with director Joe Swanberg for which she was named Best Actress at the Nashville Film Festival.[10]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Bombs Away Greeting Girl
1990 Vital Signs Suzanne Maloney
1992 Light Sleeper Randi Jost
1994 I Love Trouble Evans
1994 Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Ruth Hale
1995 Father of the Bride Part II Dr. Megan Eisenberg
1996 Kansas City Nettie Bolt
1998 Music from Another Room Irene
1998 Happiness[11] Joy Jordan National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1998 Day at the Beach Marie
1998 You've Got Mail Sydney Anne Uncredited
1999 A Fish in the Bathtub Ruthie
1999 A Texas Funeral Mary Joan
1999 Mumford Dr. Phyllis Sheeler
2000 Songcatcher Eleanor 'Elna' Penleric Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast
2000 Wonder Boys[11] Oola
2001 The Anniversary Party Clair Forsyth
2002 Orange County Mona
2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind[11] Carrie
2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events White-Faced Woman
2006 Last Holiday Rochelle
2006 Little Children Sheila
2006 The Sensation of Sight Alice
2007 The Brave One Nicole
2008 The Wackness Eleanor
2008 Lifelines Nancy Bernstein
2009 Alexander the Last Director
2009 Calvin Marshall June Marshall
2011 The Lie Dr. Bentel
2011 Silver Bullets June
2011 Restless Mabel
2012 All the Light in the Sky Marie Also writer
Bridgestone Grand Jury Prize for Best Actress in Narrative Feature
2015 Digging for Fire Woman on beach
2015 Poltergeist Dr. Brooke Powell
2016 Always Shine Summer
2017 Brigsby Bear April
2018 Intervene Gwendolyn Short film
2020 She Dies Tomorrow Jane Nominated—Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
2020 Build the Wall Sarah
2022 Dog Tamara
2022 Sick Pamela

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1986 Tales from the Darkside Charlotte Rose Cantrell Episode: "Deliver Us from Goodness"
1987, 1989 Family Ties First Love / Marty Brodie 3 episodes
1989, 1995 ABC Afterschool Special Elly Robinson / Michelle 2 episodes
1990 Rising Son Meg Bradley Television film
1993 Lifestories: Families in Crisis Beth Episode: "Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story"
1996 Relativity Karen Lukens 7 episodes
1997 Liberty! Sara Scott 6 episodes
1999 The Outer Limits Mona Bailey Episode: "What Will The Neighbors Think"
1999–2000 Frasier[11] Dr. Mel Karnofsky 11 episodes
2000 Citizen Baines Reeva Eidenberg 9 episodes
2000 From Where I Sit Ruth Pilot
2001 Night Visions Amanda Episode: "The Doghouse"
2003 Carnivàle Mother of Dead Baby Uncredited
Episode: "Milfay"
2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Sylvia Campbell Episode: "The Gift"
2005 Stone Cold Brianna Lincoln Television film
2007 House Bonnie Episode: "House Training"
2008 In Plain Sight Ruth Ferguson / Ruth Fraser Episode: "Don of the Dead"
2009–2011 Hung Tanya Skagle[11] 30 episodes
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Joanne Parsons Episode: "Learning Curve"
2013 Axe Cop Red Headed Women Voice
Episode: "Super Axe"
2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Belinda Goff Episode: "Rubbery Homicide"
2016–2019 Easy Annabelle Jones 5 episodes
2016 Atlanta Janice Episode: "Nobody Beats the Biebs"
2017 Twin Peaks Constance Talbot 6 episodes
2017 Claws Gladys Coleman Pirette 4 episodes
2018–2019 Sneaky Pete Maggie Murphy 8 episodes
2020 Messiah Miriam Keneally 10 episodes
2021–2022 Hacks Nina 5 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2023 The Idol Nikki Katz

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 I Hate Hamlet Deirdre McDavey Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Debut Performance
1992 The Crucible Mary Warren
1994 An Inspector Calls Sheila Birling
2003 Enchanted April Rose Arnott Replacement
2004 Match Lisa
2006 Resurrection Blues Emily Shapiro

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1991 Clarence Derwent Awards Best Supporting Female Won
1998 National Board of Review National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Happiness Won
2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize Songcatcher Won
2010 67th Golden Globe Awards Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Hung Nominated
Women's Image Network Awards Actress Comedy Series Nominated
2013 Nashville Film Festival Best Actress in a Narrative Feature All the Light in the Sky Won
2020 Florida Film Critics Circle Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress She Dies Tomorrow Nominated
2021 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Hacks Nominated
2022 74th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Jacobs, Jill (June 27, 2009). "All 'Hung' Up". New York Post. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022. Adams, 44
  2. ^ Schneller, Johanna (September 29, 2016). "On Easy, the plight of the 'not really beautiful'". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022. Jane Adams, 51
  3. ^ Boone, Ashley (August 30, 2020). "Jane Adams: 'This whole idea of stay safe – life's never been safe'". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022. Adams, 55, has reaffirmed her indie cred with She Dies Tomorrow.
  4. ^ "Janice Adams Obituary - Seattle, WA | The Seattle Times". Legacy.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved Sep 23, 2019.
  5. ^ "Alumni News". The Juilliard School. March 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-11-11.
  6. ^ "Jane Adams biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  7. ^ "Awards for 1990-1991". Outer Critics Circle. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  9. ^ "'Mumford' (R)". www.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2000-08-18. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  10. ^ Arnold, Joel (2013-12-20). "For An Actress In Eclipse, 'All The Light' She Can Grasp". NPR. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  11. ^ a b c d e Lee, Luaine (September 26, 2011). "'I got lucky,' says Jane Adams". The Evening Sun. Pennsylvania, Hanover. McClatchy-Tribune News Service. p. 9. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Kuchwara, Michael (13 June 1994). "AIDS play and 'Passion' win big Tonys". The Honolulu Advertiser. No. 48, 120 (Final ed.). Honolulu, Hawaii: Gannett Pacific. Associated Press. p. B3. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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