Allison Janney
ALLISON JANNEY is currently on Broadway with her performance of Violet Newstead in the much anticipated musical version of 9 to 5 for which she earned a Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award. In addition Janney has several films: The Sam Mendes movie, Away We Go is currently in theaters. Next up for release will be the Todd Solondz film, Life During Wartime which will have its North American debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The Eddie Murphy film, A Thousand Words should be out early next year. She also put forth another outstanding performance in the Oscar nominated ensemble hit Juno and appeared in the movie version of the Tony Award winning play Hairspray which became only the 3rd musical in recent years to cross the $100 million mark at the box office. Additionally Janney received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the film Our Very Own, which debuted at the Los Angeles Film Festival. She appeared in the comedy Strangers with Candy and was heard as the voice of Gladys in Dreamworks' animated comedy Over the Hedge. Janney also starred opposite Meryl Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Other feature credits include the Academy Award winning films American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture) and Finding Nemo as well as Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Six Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection, and Big Night. Television fans will remember Allison's starring role as CJ Cregg in the award-winning NBC series The West Wing, where she won a remarkable four Emmy and four SAG Awards for her work on the show. While a freshman studying acting at Kenyon College in Ohio, Janney auditioned for Paul Newman and got the part. Soon after, Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward suggested she study at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. She followed their advice and went on to make her Broadway debut in Noel Coward's Present Laughter for which she earned the Outer Critics Circle Award and Clarence Derwent Award. For her Broadway performance in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge she was nominated for a Tony Award and won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Best Supporting Actress In addition she has starred in the New York Public Theater's production of Taming of the Shrew, which was part of the Shakespeare in the Park series and in the Williamstown Theatre Festival's production of Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden. Bio as of July, 2009. American Theatre Wing programs, interviews and/or credits include: Downstage Center (audio) Allison Janney - August, 2009 - Listen Now. SpringboardNYC Mentor - 2009 Internet Broadway Database Listing (IBDB.com)