Raised in Parsippany, New Jersey, by parents who were a theater director and a chemical engineer, it is no surprise that Tony Award winner and three-time Emmy Award nominee Jane Krakowski’s gifts are performance and chemistry. Krakowski recalls a throwback acting mold – performers whose work on the stage permeates their contributions across TV, film, radio and song.
Krakowski’s most recent television role is Jacqueline Voorhees on the Netflix original comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Prior to that role, she starred as Jenna Maroney on NBC’s Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock, also created by Fey and Carlock, a performance that indelibly marked her brand of theatrical comedy on primetime. Krakowski was honored with three Emmy nominations for her work on the show as well as a collective 2009 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series along with a nomination in that category in 2013. She was first introduced to the TV mainstream with her Golden Globe nominated five-year portrayal of Elaine Vassal on the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award winning Ally McBeal.
Last year, Krakowski released her solo debut album, The Laziest Gal in Town, a CD recording captured during her cabaret nightclub debut at the Park Avenue hotspot Feinstein’s at Loews Regency.
And through it all, the stage has always been her home. Krakowski received the 2003 Tony Award for her portrayal of Carla in the Broadway musical Nine, opposite Antonio Banderas. Her performance in Nine also earned her the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critic’s Award. She earned her first Tony nomination for her work in the production of Grand Hotel. Krakowski won an Olivier Award while starring in Guys and Dolls with Ewan McGregor. Other Broadway credits include Company, Once Upon a Mattress, Tartuffe and Starlight Express. She also starred in the Encores revival of Damn Yankees opposite Sean Hayes. In 2012, she performed a one-woman cabaret act to a sold-out crowd at NYC’s legendary Town Hall Theater.
Making her film debut as Cousin Vickie in National Lampoon’s Vacation (with Chevy Chase), Krakowski has also starred alongside Jude Law in Alfie (the remake of the famous 1966 film), in Pretty Persuasion with Evan Rachel Wood and James Woods; she co-starred opposite Abigail Breslin in the family film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, and appeared in the Universal feature Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (directed by Paul Weitz).
