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Jane Krakowski extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Jane Krakowski
In the 2007 Red Dress Collection for The Heart Truth
Born	Jane Krajkowski1 October 11, 1968 (1968-10-11) (age 41) Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Singer
Years active	1983–present

Jane Krakowski (pronounced /krəˈkaÊŠski/; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for playing Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal and Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock, winning Screen Actors Guild Awards for both roles. She also regularly performs on the stage, winning a Tony Award for her performance in Nine.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Television 3 Film 4 Stage 5 Other works 6 Personal life 7 Recordings 8 Filmography 9 Awards 9.1 Wins 9.2 Nominations 10 References 11 External links

Early life

Krakowski was born Jane Krajkowski in Parsippany, New Jersey, the daughter of Barbara, a college theater instructor and producing artistic director for the Women's Theater Company,² and Ed Krajkowski, a chemical engineer.³ She has an older brother.⁴ Krakowski's father's family is entirely Polish and comes from Kraków,⁵ and although she knows few words in Polish, her father and grandparents are fluent.⁶ Krakowski grew up very much immersed in the local theater scene as a result of her parents' activities, saying in one interview "Instead of hiring baby sitters, they brought me along with them."² She took ballet lessons from age four, but later stopped because she was the wrong body shape, instead moving more towards Broadway dancing.⁴ She attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.⁷⁸

She dropped the "j" from the family last name when she began working as an actress¹ as people kept trying to pronounce the letter even though it was silent.²

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,⁹ a role she played until the show ended in 1986. She was nominated for two consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for the role in 1986 and 1987.

In 1996 she made an appearance on the television series Early Edition as Dr. Handleman (season 1, episode 3 "Baby").

In 1997, she played office assistant Elaine Vassal on the television series Ally McBeal for five seasons until 2002; her role earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1999.¹⁰ In 2004, she guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Emma Spevak, a serial killer of elderly women. In 2006, Krakowski was cast in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, where she plays Jenna Maroney, a cast member of the fictional late night sketch show TGS with Tracy Jordan. In 2009, she received an Emmy nomination for her role in 30 Rock.

Film

Krakowski made her film debut in National Lampoon's Vacation;¹⁰ she has also appeared in Fatal Attraction, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (where she played Betty Rubble), Marci X, Alfie, Go, Dance with Me, Stepping Out, Pretty Persuasion, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, and Mom at Sixteen. Krakowski was also originally cast in the horror film Sleepaway Camp, but dropped out just before filming began because she felt her character's death scene with a curling iron was too violent. She also appeared in When Zachary Beaver Came to Town as the mother who wants to become a singer. In 2004, she starred in the TV-musical-movie version of Alan Menken's A Christmas Carol, featured as a ghost from Christmas Past, with a solo-song.

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.⁹ 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 2002, Windham Hill Records released a Jim Brickman album titled Love Songs & Lullabies featuring Krakowski as a vocalist for the song "You",¹⁰ which became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations. Brickman and Krakowski also recorded an alternate Christmas version of the song. 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 playing Carla,¹¹ for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.¹⁰ Krakowski is known for her infamous anti-gravity stunt during the number "A Call From The Vatican". Krakowski and the director struggled finding a company that would let her do air stunts without a harness; Krakowski came up with the idea of using the method previously portrayed in Broadway Bares. Krakowski recalled that the material took a long time to arrive, and the second time she ever did it was on the first performance.¹²

In 2005, she starred as Miss Adelaide alongside Ewan McGregor in the new production of Guys and Dolls¹³ in London (Piccadilly Theatre) a role for which she won the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.¹⁰

In 2005, she performed a cabaret show called Better When It's Banned, which featured various songs deemed racy from the 1920s and '30s.¹⁴

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.¹⁵ Xanadu premiered on Broadway summer 2007, although Krakowski's role is played by Kerry Butler.

In 2008, Krakowski starred as Lola in New York City Center's production of Damn Yankees opposite Sean Hayes and Cheyenne Jackson.¹⁶

Other works

• Krakowski played "Wanda" in the video for the Dixie Chicks' song "Goodbye Earl" in 2000.
• Guest starred in an episode of Due South opposite Paul Gross.

Personal life

In 2007 it was reported that Krakowski was in a relationship with British documentarian Marc Singer, whom she met at a screening for Children of Men in 2006.⁹ Before that, she dated Julian Ovenden.⁴ Krakowski is engaged to Robert Godley.¹⁷

During Christmas of 2009, Godley proposed to Krakowski after a 10 hour delay at an airport. Originally he planned on proposing on the plane, and if refused, would attempt to persuade Krakowski otherwise. Because of snow conditions, their plane was ultimately canceled and he proposed at home.¹⁸

Recordings

Select Recordings include:

• 1992: Grand Hotel, Studio Cast Recording (Mostly Original Broadway Cast)
• 1995: Company, Broadway Revival Cast Recording
• 1997: Once Upon This Matress, Broadway Revival Cast Recording
• 1997: Sondheim at the Movies (singing the Academy Award-winning song "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy)
• 1998: The Burt Bacharach Album
• 2002: A Broadway Valentine
• 2003: Nine, Broadway Revival Cast Recording
• 2004: A Christmas Carol, Television Cast Recording

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other Notes
1983	National Lampoon's Vacation	Cousin Vicki
1987	Fatal Attraction	Babysitter
1991	Stepping Out	Lynne
1996	Mrs. Winterbourne	Christine
1998	Dance With Me	Patricia
1999	Go	Irene
2000	The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas	Betty O'Shale
2002	Ice Age	Female Sloth	(voice)
2003	Marci X	Lauren Farb
	When Zachary Beaver Came to Town	Heather
2004	Alfie	Dorie
	A Christmas Carol	Ghost of Christmas Past
2005	Pretty Persuasion	Emily Klein
	Mom at Sixteen	Donna Cooper
2006	Open Season	Giselle	(voice)
2007	Surf's Up	Sheila Limberfin	(deleted scenes)
2008	The Rocker	Carol
	Kit Kittredge: An American Girl	Miss May Dooley
	Open Season 2	Giselle	(voice)
2009	Bygone Days: An Ally McBeal Retrospective	Elaine
	Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant	Corma Limbs

Awards

Wins

• 1999 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Ally McBeal
• 2003 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical -- Nine
• 2003 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Nine
• 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical - Guys and Dolls
• 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- 30 Rock

Nominations

• 1986 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series -- Search for Tomorrow
• 1987 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series -- Search for Tomorrow
• 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical -- Grand Hotel
• 1990 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Grand Hotel
• 1998 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Ally McBeal
• 1999 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television -- Ally McBeal
• 2000 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Ally McBeal
• 2001 Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series - Comedy or Musical -- Ally McBeal
• 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Ally McBeal
• 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- 30 Rock
• 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- 30 Rock
• 2010 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- 30 Rock

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jane Krakowski

• Jane Krakowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Jane Krakowski at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jane Krakowski at Allmovie
• Jane Krakowski at Yahoo! Movies
• Jane Krakowski - AskMen.com

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Cady Huffman (2001) Â· Harriet Sansom Harris (2002) Â· Jane Krakowski (2003) Â· Anika Noni Rose (2004) Â· Sara Ramírez (2005) Â· Beth Leavel (2006) Â· Mary Louise Wilson (2007) Â· Laura Benanti (2008) Â· Karen Olivo (2009) Complete list: (1950-1975) Â· (1976-2000) Â· (2001-present)

Persondata
NAME	Krakowski, Jane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Krajkowski, Jane
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actress
DATE OF BIRTH	1968-10-11
PLACE OF BIRTH	Parsippany, New Jersey, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH