Jean Smart

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Jean Smart
PaleyFest 2015, New York City
Born
Jean Elizabeth Smart

(1951-09-13) September 13, 1951 (age 72)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Washington (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1975–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1987; died 2021)​
Children2
AwardsFull list

Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951)

CBS sitcom Designing Women
, in which she starred from 1986 to 1991.

Smart was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy. Smart is the most awarded performer at the Critics' Choice Television Awards, with four wins (for the above mentioned Fargo, Watchmen and Hacks) from 5 nominations. Smart is only the second actress, after Betty White, to win all three comedy Emmy nominations - comedy lead, supporting, and guest categories.[2]

Smart's film credits include

Independent Spirit Award nomination for Guinevere
(1999).

Early life

Smart was born and raised in

Who Do You Think You Are?, Smart discovered she is a maternal descendant of Dorcas Hoar, one of the last women convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.[7]

She is a 1969 graduate of Ballard High School in Seattle; it was there that she gained an interest in acting in the drama program. She graduated from the University of Washington Professional Actors Training Program with a BFA.[4]

Career

1975–1984: Early work; theater

After graduating from college, Smart began her career appearing in regional theater throughout the

Seattle Repertory Theater as well as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.[4] In the mid-1970s, she moved to New York City with college friend and fellow actress, Elizabeth Wingate (Lavery), and began working in Off-Broadway and professional regional productions.[8]

In 1980, she appeared as Lady Macbeth at the Pittsburgh Public Theater opposite Tom Atkins as Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff. In 1981, Smart was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.[4] In February 1981, Smart appeared in a Broadway production of Piaf playing Marlene Dietrich,[8] a role which she later reprised for the 1984 television version.[4]

In addition to theater, Smart began working in television in several smaller to mid-size guest parts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, appearing on The Facts of Life, Alice, and Remington Steele among several others.[4] According to Smart, after roles on the short-lived series Teachers Only and Reggie in 1983, "casting directors just decided I was funny. When that happens, you usually get pigeonholed, but I was fortunate. I got to move back and forth."[8] The following year, she had a supporting part in the thriller Flashpoint (1984).[9]

1985–1999: Designing Women; film

Smart at the 1991 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony

In 1985, Smart was cast in the starring role of Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the comedy series Designing Women,[10] a role she played from the show's beginning in 1986 through its fifth season. After leaving Designing Women, her work mostly concentrated within made-for-television movies and supporting roles in films. Notably she portrayed serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), followed by a supporting part in the black comedy Mistress (1992), opposite Robert De Niro and Eli Wallach.[11] Critic Roger Ebert praised the film and called Smart's character portrayal "calculating".[12]

The following year, she appeared in the family drama

Scarlett (1995), and appeared in a supporting role in The Brady Bunch Movie (1995).[13] She also appeared in the television thriller film A Stranger In Town (1995) opposite Gregory Hines.[14]

In 1995, Smart was cast as the lead in the comedy series High Society, which co-starred Mary McDonnell and ran for 13 episodes,[4] followed by a role opposite Nancy McKeon in another short-lived CBS sitcom, Style & Substance. Other roles included a part in Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II (1998), and as Deborah Sloane in the drama Guinevere (1999).[4] She had a lead role in the comedy Forever Fabulous (1999) as an aging beauty queen.[15]

2000s: Frasier, Broadway, TV roles

Smart after her Primetime Emmy Award win on September 21, 2008

In 2000, Smart was cast as

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.[16] Reflecting on the role, Smart said: "I had loved that role on Frasier so much, particularly that first episode. It's nice to get nominated and win for something you were particularly proud of. At the time I was a little bit snobby about doing guest parts. Based on what I don't know. It wasn't something I was seeking. But my agent said, 'You have to read this.' I thought it was hilarious and the show was brilliant so I didn't even hesitate. I remember when we did the table read with the rest of the cast we could hardly get through it we were laughing so hard."[16]

The same year, she played in a Broadway revival production of

Chief Jack Mannion of the Metropolitan Police Department on The District.[20]

From 2002 to 2007, she voiced Dr. Ann Possible in Kim Possible,[21] and also provided the voice of the alcoholic chain-smoking, Pickles Oblong, on The Oblongs. In 2004, she reprised her voice role as Reba Heyerdahl in an episode of the Nickelodeon series Hey Arnold![citation needed] The same year, she was cast in a lead role in the short-lived Center of the Universe.[22] She also had a supporting role in David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees (2004).[23][24]

In January 2006, Smart joined the cast of the

Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for the role in 2006 and 2007.[16] She also appeared in several films between 2006 and 2010, including the Curtis Hanson drama, Lucky You (2007), opposite Drew Barrymore; Youth in Revolt (2009); and the independent comedy Barry Munday (2010).[26]

Smart won her third Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for portraying Samantha's overbearing mother in the sitcom Samantha Who?, opposite Christina Applegate,[27] which she played from 2007 to 2009. She later was cast as Hawaii Governor Pat Jameson during the first season of the CBS-TV remake of Hawaii Five-0.[28]

2010s: Fargo and Watchmen

Smart at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con promoting Legion

In 2012, Smart was nominated for a

Lifetime film Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
(2013).

In 2015, Smart starred in the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
. She worked with Hawley again on Legion, in which she played Melanie Bird, a therapist who works with the protagonist David Haller.

In 2016, Smart had a role in the thriller

Candace Cameron, in the Hallmark Channel
television film A Shoe Addict's Christmas, which aired Sunday November 25, 2018.

In 2019, Smart portrayed

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
for her performance.

2020s: Hacks and continued acclaim

In 2021, Smart has appeared in the seven episode

crime drama limited series Mare of Easttown set in a small town in Pennsylvania. The series stars Kate Winslet as a grizzled detective with a supporting cast which includes Guy Pearce, Julianne Nicholson, and Evan Peters. Her role as Winslet's mother has earned her critical acclaim with Jackson McHenry of Variety writing, "It's one of those essential truths of TV, as Watchmen and Legion displayed recently, that if you need a tough-as-nails broad, you hire Jean Smart. Smart has the voice and the timing to play a stern matriarch, and whenever she's onscreen in Mare of Easttown, she wrenches away the spotlight like she's grabbing a juice box."[33]

She also stars as the lead in the

HBO Max dark comedy series Hacks (2021) playing a legendary Las Vegas comedy diva looking to appeal to a younger audience. USA Today declared Smart, at the age of 69, "The Queen of HBO", after appearing in Watchmen, Mare of Easttown and now Hacks. Glen Weldon of NPR praised Smart's performance in his review writing, "I don't know if the role of Deborah Vance was written for Smart, but she certainly makes it seem like it was...Smart's also convincing as a standup, performing Deborah's vaguely hokey routines with a naturalistic flair as if she was born to it."[34] She won two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
(2021 and 2022).

In 2021, Smart co-starred in the romantic comedy film Senior Moment with William Shatner and Christopher Lloyd.[35] In 2022, she played Peg, the grandmother of Kiernan Shipka's character Bea Johnson, in Wildflower.[36]

In 2022, Smart appeared in

comedy-drama film Babylon
as gossip columnist Elinor St. John.

Personal life

Smart was married to actor Richard Gilliland, whom she met while working on the set of Designing Women (he played J.D. Shackelford, the boyfriend of Annie Potts's character, Mary Jo Shively). They have two sons.[4] Gilliland played Captain Stan Cotter on 24 while Smart later played First Lady Martha Logan on the same series. Gilliland died after a brief illness in March 2021.[37][38]

Filmography

Main article: Jean Smart filmography

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Jean Smart

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including five

Critics' Choice Television Award twice for Fargo (2015) and Watchmen
(2020).

References

  1. ISBN 978-0786477906 – via Google Books
    .
  2. ^ McLaughlin, Kelly; Guerrasio, Jason (September 19, 2021). "Jean Smart makes history at the Emmys and joins Betty White as the only actresses to sweep the comedy categories". Yahoo.com. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  3. ^ Krug, Kurt Anthony (March 13, 2006). "Seattle native Jean Smart happily back in the TV grind for a stint on "24"". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Jean Smart – Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  5. Who Do You Think You Are?
    , June 18, 2018
  6. ^ Bandler, Michael J. (May 10, 1992). "Against The Odds". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  7. ^
    TV Insider
    . Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Nassour, Ellis (July 2000). "Jean Smart Commutes From TV & Film To The Stage". Total Theater. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  9. ^ Pitts 2013, p. 111.
  10. ^ Shapiro & Jicha 2015, p. 142.
  11. ^ "Mistress (1992) - Overview". Turner Classic Movies. Rovi. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  12. ^ Ebert, Roger (August 21, 1992). "Mistress Movie Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  13. ^ "The Brady Bunch Movie Cast and Crew". TV Guide. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  14. ^ "A Stranger in Town". Jet. Television: 66. July 15, 1996.
  15. ^ "Forever Fabulous (1999)". MovieFone.com. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  16. ^ a b c Berkshire, Geoff (August 11, 2016). "Jean Smart Remembers Her Emmy-Winning 'Frasier' Guest Role". Variety. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  17. ^ "The Man Who Came to Dinner". Roundabout Theatre Company. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  18. ^ "Sweet Home Alabama (2002)". Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  19. About.com. Archived from the original
    on November 18, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  20. ^ Kuklenski, Valerie (February 26, 2001). "'The District' Gets Smart -- Jean Smart". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  21. ^ "Dr. Ann Possible". behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  22. ^ Fonseca, Nicholas (December 13, 2004). "Smart and Soul". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  23. ^ Fonseca, Nicholas (December 13, 2004). "Jean Smart is the new indie queen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  24. ^ Russell & Baena 2004, p. vi.
  25. ^ Keck, William (January 9, 2006). "Fox's '24' makes Smart move". USA Today. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  26. ^ Propst, Andy (March 12, 2010). "Chris D'Arienzo's Barry Munday, with Jean Smart, Patrick Wilson, et al. to Bow at Southwest Film Festival". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  27. ^ "JEAN SMART 'SAMANTHA WHO?'; Roles of the Season, Maybe a Lifetime". The New York Times. June 8, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  28. ^ Collis, Clark (March 10, 2010). "Jean Smart says 'Aloha' to 'Hawaii Five-O' remake". EW. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  29. ^ "Primetime Emmy Awards". Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  30. ^ Gliatto, Tom (October 13, 2016). "The Accountant Review: Ben Affleck Crunches Numbers and Crushes Enemies in Enjoyable Thriller". People. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  31. ^ Saraiya, Sonia. "Jean Smart on Playing Watchmen's Hard-Boiled Laurie Blake". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  32. ^ Deggans, Eric (October 18, 2019). "Who Watches This 'Watchmen?' I Will, And You Should". NPR. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  33. ^ "A Celebration of Jean Smart's Sad-Funny Work on Mare of Easttown". Variety. May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  34. ^ Weldon, Glen (May 13, 2021). "'Hacks': A Comedic Generational Divide Gets Bridged, (Jean) Smartly". NPR. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  35. ^ "Ephraim Lopez, Jean Smart Join William Shatner Comedy 'Senior Moment'". Variety. May 8, 2017.
  36. ^ Gyarkye, Lovia (September 12, 2022). "'Wildflower' Review: Kiernan Shipka Plays the Daughter of Neurodivergent Parents in an Endearing Coming-of-Age Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  37. ^ Barnes, Mike (March 25, 2021). "Richard Gilliland, 'Designing Women' Actor and Husband of Jean Smart, Dies at 71". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  38. ^ Terry Gross (May 12, 2021). "From 'Designing Women' to 'Hacks', Jean Smart's Career Is Still Going Strong". Fresh Air (Podcast). WHYY. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  39. ^ "Jean Smart". Emmys.com. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  40. ^ "Jean Smart". Playbill.com. Retrieved May 13, 2021.

Sources

External links

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