MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actress , Co-producer , Executive co-producer more
Birth name Jean Elizabeth Smart
American nationality
Birth September 13, 1951 (Seattle – Washington, United States)
BIOGRAPHY
Considering becoming a veterinarian, Jean Smart ultimately decided to study drama. With her diploma in hand, the young woman joined theater companies representing Shakespeare classics, before playing Marlene Dietrich in the play “Piaf”, in 1981. Thus spotted by Hollywood, she made her screen debut two years later late, in the second season of Teachers Only , about the daily lives of high school teachers. In 1986, the sitcom Business Women and Ladies of the Heart , about the personal and professional lives of employees of an interior design agency, propelled her to the forefront. During the first five seasons, Jean Smart lends her features to the naive Charlene Frazier Stillfield, alongside Annie Potts and Dixie Carter , and meets her future husband, the actor Richard Gilliland . The actress then obtained a supporting role in Hollywood Mistress , with Robert De Niro , then played Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute turned serial killer , in the TV film Balades fatales .
In the 90s, his career shifted towards family dramas ( The Incredible Journey , A Mother’s Victory , The Yearling ), comedies ( The Brady Tribe , Odd Couple 2 , White Day , Dirty Kid ), or mother/daughter dynamics ( A Coming of Age Story , Forever Fabulous , Fashion Victim ). Adding a new string to her bow, Jean Smart lends herself to the exercise of dubbing, first for the Japanese animated film Si tu tense l’oreille , then for the 4 seasons and two TV films of Kim Possible , interpreting the mother of the heroine. With her new notoriety, the actress is reluctant to the offer to appear as a guest star in Frasier , but ends up accepting. A profitable choice, which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. After starring alongside her husband in the drama Audrey’s Destiny , she then starred under the direction of Zach Braff in Garden State , then David O. Russell for J’adore Huckabees . Jean Smart then goes on to win awards for her role as the psychologically unstable First Lady of the United States, in 24 Hours Flat, then for that of the mother of the protagonist of Samantha Who?
While multiplying the supporting roles in the cinema ( Hero Wanted , Barry Munday , Baby instructions , All hopes are allowed …), Jean Smart remains faithful to the small screen, playing Governor Pat Jameson, who decides to recruit Lieutenant Steve McGarrett ( Alex O’Loughlin ) to take charge of the special unit of Hawaii Five-0 , before stepping into the shoes of a prosecutor for a few episodes of season 2 of The Law According to Harry , taken by Kathy Bates . In 2013, the actress turned to independent projects, including Call Me Crazy , dealing with mental illness, or the thriller Miss Meadows for which she was also executive producer. After appearances on Halt and Catch Fire , Getting On and Sirens , showrunner Noah Hawley recruited her for the second season of the anthology Fargo . Her performance as the matriarch of a criminal family earned her the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. 2017 marks the second collaboration between Jean Smart and Noah Hawley , for his new creation, Legion . In this X-Men spin-off series, she plays Dr. Melanie Bird, a demanding psychiatrist with unconventional methods, revealing to David Haller ( Dan Stevens ), diagnosed with schizophrenia, that he is in reality a mutant.
