Allison Janney encyclopedia topics

Biography

Personal life

Janney was born in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Macy (née Putnam), a former actress and homemaker, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. She has two older brothers, Jay and Hal. She attended The Miami Valley School in Dayton, where she was named a distinguished alumna in 2004, and the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. She then attended Kenyon College. At Kenyon, Janney studied under another Kenyon alum, Paul Newman. She went on to study drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She attended The Neighborhood Playhouse the same years as actor Dylan McDermott.

Career

Janney's first roles on television were as comedic foils on soap operas: she first played Vi Kaminski for a short time on As the World Turns, following up with a two-year stint as one of the Spaulding maids, Ginger on Guiding Light. In the spring of 1994, she appeared in the season finale of Law & Order, as a reluctant witness against a member of the Russian mob. This episode was also notable as Michael Moriarty's final episode in the series.

Janney has appeared in a number of films with roles of various sizes, including the 1990s films American Beauty, The Object of My Affection, Big Night, The Impostors, Drop Dead Gorgeous, The Ice Storm, Primary Colors, 10 Things I Hate about You, and Private Parts, and the 2000s films Nurse Betty, The Hours, The Chumscrubber, How to Deal, Winter Solstice and a considerable role in the animated movie, Finding Nemo, voicing Peach, the starfish. In 2006, Janney had carried notable roles in the movies, Margaret and Over the Hedge, an animated comedy.

In 1999, she was cast in the role of presidential press secretary C.J. Cregg on the television drama The West Wing, for which she eventually won four Emmy Awards. Two of the Emmys were for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series in 2000 and 2001, and two were for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series in the years 2002 and 2004. She was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in the 2003 and 2006 Primetime Emmys. She is one of six cast members from The West Wing to have won an Emmy for their work - however, Janney is the only one who has won more than once. Janney was nominated in 2002 for American Film Institute's Actor of the Year.

Several weekend trips to Washington, D.C. were frequent to Janney's schedule, and for the rest of the cast as well as many outdoor scenes on The West Wing were actually filmed in the nation's capital. Janney also met several times with former White House Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers, who served in the Clinton Administration from 1993–1994. Janney met with Myers in New York City to help portray her character more authentically.

Janney's starting salary, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), was $70,000/episode in 1999. Since that date, negotiations were made for increased salaries for all the critically acclaimed actors on The West Wing. It is suggested that Janney's salary per episode for the later years of the show increased significantly.

The West Wing was canceled in January 2006, and the last episode aired in May of that year. Even though the latter seasons were plagued by declining ratings, the overall rating of Janney remained a relatively positive one, touted by Entertainment Weekly as "one to watch", "uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive". In January 2006, West Wing's cast was also nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast. Janney, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, and other members of the cast appeared at the SAG Awards to honor their late cast mate and friend, John Spencer.

In 2006, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in the film Our Very Own. Many of Janney's long time friends were involved with Our Very Own including its producer Shannon McMahon Lichte and cast member Allison Mackie. All three were in the same class at the Neighborhood Playhouse. The writer/director Cameron Watson, also a longtime friend, wrote the role of Joan for her.

In 2007, Janney appeared in the Academy-Award-nominated film, Juno playing the part of Bren MacGuff, the title character's stepmother, for which she won Best Supporting Actress in the Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2007. In the same year, Janney appeared in the Golden-Globe-nominated film, Hairspray, as Prudy Pingleton, Penny's (Amanda Bynes) strict and religious mom.

Janney has also appeared in another show created by Aaron Sorkin, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which also starred Bradley Whitford, a former cast mate of Janney's from The West Wing. Janney made a guest appearance as herself in The Disaster Show, as the guest host of the week's episode of Studio 60, though ironically she guest-starred in the only episode of the show not to include Whitford. However, many of the cast made references to her part in The West Wing, showing that the show did exist even in the fictional world of Studio 60. A "Bartlet for America" poster can be seen in the background.

Janney has remained active in theater; in 1998, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. Her first Broadway role was in Present Laughter opposite Frank Langella. In 2007, she participated in a workshop for a new musical of the film 9 to 5. In late 2008, Janney will join Broadway stars Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch in the new musical, 9 to 5. Based on the film of the same name, Janney will star as Violet Newstead, the super efficient office manager played by Lily Tomlin (a former cast mate from The West Wing) in the original film.

In 2004, Janney began lending her voice to television and radio spots created by Kaiser Permanente in the health maintenance organization's broad "Thrive" media campaign, and in a radio campaign for the American Institute of Architects.