Jane Kaczmarek

Jane Frances Kaczmarek (/kæzˈmærək/; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's control-freak mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2000—2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominations and seven Primetime Emmy nominations.

Jane Kaczmarek
Kaczmarek in 2014
Born	Jane Frances Kaczmarek (1955-12-21) December 21, 1955 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education	University of Wisconsin, Madison Yale University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Bradley Whitford ​ ( m. 1992; div. 2010)
Children	3

Early life

Kaczmarek was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of Evelyn (née Gregorska), a teacher, and Edward Kaczmarek, a US Department of Defense worker.[1][2][3] Of Polish ancestry,[4] she grew up in Greendale, where she was raised a Roman Catholic.[5] She majored in theater at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and later attended graduate school at the Yale School of Drama, where she was a part of its theater company.

Career

Kaczmarek has had several Broadway hits, including Lost in Yonkers and Raised in Captivity, where she won an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award. Her first television role was that of Margie Spoletto on For Lovers Only (1982). One of her early film appearances was in the 1984 movie Falling in Love, starring Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro, playing the role of Ann Raftis, De Niro's character's wife. She also played a role in The Heavenly Kid in 1985 as Emily. In 1998, Kaczmarek was cast as David and Jennifer's mother in the movie Pleasantville.

Kaczmarek has appeared in over 40 television roles, including:

• Nurse Sandy Burns on St. Elsewhere (1982).
• Connie Lehman in The Paper Chase: The Second Year (1983–1984).
• Mrs. Hall, a school guidance counselor, in Something About Amelia an ABC made-for-TV movie (1984)
• Hill Street Blues -played a recurring role as officer Marinaro's partner in the 4th season (1984)
• Mary Newell Abbott on Hometown (1985), a comedy/drama on CBS directly adapted from the 1983 hit movie The Big Chill.
• Linda Bauer, a lawyer, on the ABC legal drama Equal Justice (1990–1991).
• Maureen Cutler, girlfriend of Martin Crane (John Mahoney) on Frasier in "Police Story" (052–1996) and "Dad Loves Sherry, the Boys Just Whine" (082–1997).
• Janet Rudman on Law & Order in "Censure" (414–1994).
• Carol Anderson, biological mother of Julie Emrick on Felicity in 5 episodes (1999–2000).
• Holly in five episodes of Cybill (1996–1997).
• Helene Thompson in three episodes of Party of Five (1995–1999).
• Lois, the mother of Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), Reese (Justin Berfield), Francis (Christopher Masterson), Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan), and baby Jamie (James and Lukas Rodriguez), the wife of Hal (Bryan Cranston), and the daughter of Ida Welker (Cloris Leachman) in 148 episodes of Malcolm in the Middle from 2000–2006.
• Trudy Kessler, Courtroom Judge in 25 episodes of Raising the Bar from 2008–2009.
• The voice of Judge Constance Harm, the strict cruel judge of Springfield Courthouse, in eight episodes of The Simpsons from 2001 to 2010, namely "The Parent Rap", "Brawl in the Family", "Barting Over", "Brake My Wife, Please", "The Wandering Juvie", "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister", "Rome-old and Juli-eh", and recently "Chief of Hearts".
• Mrs. Armwood, Frankie Heck's dental teacher in The Middle
• Dr. Gallo, psychiatrist in The Big Bang Theory

Malcolm in the Middle

On January 9, 2000, Kaczmarek was cast to play Lois Wilkerson in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.[6] TV Guide dubbed her role in the series as a "true breakout; a female Homer Simpson", and critics hailed her for her comic talents.[7] Later, Kaczmarek would credit the show for bringing out her comedic side, saying, "[Before Malcolm] I couldn't even get auditions for comedies. I played very unfunny people."[8] For her performance as Lois, Kaczmarek was nominated for seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, holding the record of receiving the most Emmy nominations in this category without ever winning. She also earned three Golden Globe Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and garnered two Television Critics' Association Awards and the American Comedy Award and Family Television Award in 2001.

Later work

Following the end of Malcolm in the Middle on May 14, 2006, Kaczmarek went on to star in the short-lived series Help Me Help You co-starring Ted Danson. She starred in the short-lived TNT series Raising the Bar as Judge Trudy Kessler. She also continues to voice Judge Constance Harm on several Simpsons episodes.

On November 19, 2009, Kaczmarek played against Julie Bowen and Robin Quivers in the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, on which she won $50,000 for a charity.

In 2010, she starred in the Lifetime Original Movie, Reviving Ophelia, which aired October 11, 2010, she starred as the mother of a 16-year-old girl who was in an abusive relationship.

On July 22, 2011, it was confirmed that Kaczmarek will make a vocal appearance as Red Jessica in the television series Jake and the Never Land Pirates during its second season early 2012.[9]

In 2011, she guest starred in the FX comedy Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood.

From 2011 to 2013, she appeared on Whitney as Whitney's mother.

In April 2012, she appeared in the David Lindsay-Abaire play Good People as Margie.

On November 2012, she made a guest appearance on ABC's The Middle as Frankie Heck's (Patricia Heaton) dental teacher. In 2013, Kaczmarek guest starred on NBC's long-running legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as Suffolk County D.A. Pamela "Pam" James.[10]

In 2013, Kaczmarek played the lead role of Ms. Liz, a third-generation dairy woman in the feature film Lost on Purpose, starring alongside C. Thomas Howell, James Lafferty, Dale Dickey and Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer.

Kaczmarek and former Malcolm in the Middle co-star Bryan Cranston reprised their roles as Hal and Lois in an "alternate ending" featurette on the Breaking Bad DVD/Blu-ray box set that was released on November 26, 2013. In it, Hal wakes up from the nightmare that was the plot of Breaking Bad, in a nod to the final scene from Newhart.[11]

In 2014, she appeared as herself on The Comeback, auditioning for the role of Mallory Church in the fictional HBO series-within-a-series entitled Seeing Red.

From 2014 onwards, she appeared in multiple episodes of Playing House across its three seasons, as Gwen Crawford, the mother of Jessica St. Clair's Emma.

In 2016, she appeared as a psychiatrist on The Big Bang Theory.

On October 9, 2018, she guest starred on the series This Is Us as the mother of Rebecca's ex-boyfriend.

Personal life

Kaczmarek married fellow Wisconsin native and actor Bradley Whitford on August 15, 1992. They lived in Los Angeles with their three children. Both were active with charity, and were seen attending major award shows together. She is the founder of "Clothes Off Our Back" which auctions celebrity clothing for children's charities. In June 2009, the couple filed for divorce after almost 17 years of marriage.[12][13] The divorce was finalized in October 2010.[14] One of the last times they were seen together publicly was in September 2008, at the opening of a Los Angeles production of The House of Blue Leaves,[15] in which Kaczmarek was starring. According to a June 2009 magazine interview with More.com conducted prior to announcement of the divorce, she replied "That's a big no comment" when asked to sum up her love life. She added that she used to believe that she could "go it alone and as long as I had some fabulous boy on my arm, or man, and my career was sailing, that's all I needed" whereas she now had grown to appreciate the support of her girlfriends "to talk about kids, to talk about marriages, to talk about just life".[16] In 2010, they sold their 1924 villa in San Marino, California.[17]

Kaczmarek underwent a hip replacement in April 2004, due to chronic arthritis.[18] She recovered quickly, and used an X-ray of her new hip for her Emmy campaign the following summer, advertising herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip (except for Anthony LaPaglia)".[19]

In 2006, Kaczmarek and Malcolm in the Middle co-star Erik Per Sullivan contributed the afterword for the children's book Together that shows the importance of domestic animals to impoverished people in the world, inspired by the mission of the nonprofit charitable organization Heifer International.

She is a registered Democrat.[20]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2000	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Malcolm in the Middle	Nominated
2000	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy		Won
2001	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2001	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy		Nominated
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2001	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy		Won
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2002	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy		Nominated
2002	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy		Nominated
2003	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2003	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy		Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2004	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2004	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy		Won
2005	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2006	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2012	Ovation Awards	Lead Actress in a Play	Good People[21]	Nominated

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Uncommon Valor	Mrs. Wilkes
1984	Falling in Love	Ann Raftis
1985	The Heavenly Kid	Emily Barnes
1985	Door to Door	Katherine Holloway
1988	D.O.A.	Gail Cornell
1988	Vice Versa	Robyn Seymour
1989	All's Fair	Linda
1996	The Chamber	Dr. Anne Biddows
1996	Wildly Available	Rita Goodman
1998	Pleasantville	David's mom
2015	The Boat Builder	Katherine
2016	Wolves at the Door	Mary
2017	CHiPs	Jane Lindel
2018	6 Balloons	Gayle

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	St. Elsewhere	Sandy Burns	3 episodes
1983	Remington Steele	Barbara Troy Dannon	Episode: "Altared Steele"
1983	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Penny	Episode: "Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth"
1983–1984	The Paper Chase	Connie Lehman	8 episodes
1984	Hill Street Blues	Officer Clara Pilksy	6 episodes
1984	Something About Amelia	Mrs. Hall	Television movie
1985	Hometown	Mary Newell Abbott	10 episodes
1986	The Right of the People	Alicia	Television movie
1986	The Christmas Gift	Susan	Television movie
1987	I'll Take Manhattan	Nina Stern	Television movie
1987	The Three Kings	Dr. Paula Bolet	Television movie
1988	American Playhouse	Susan Glaspell	Episode: "Journey Into Genius"
1989	Spooner	Gail Archer	Television movie
1990–1991	Equal Justice	Linda Bauer	22 episodes
1993	Big Wave Dave's	Karen Fisher	6 episodes
1994	Monty	Nickerson	Episode: "Wild, Wild Willy and His O.K. Corral"
1994	Law & Order	Janet Rudman	Episode: "Censure"
1994	ABC Afterschool Specials	Mary Reed	Episode: "Boys Will Be Boys"
1994	L.A. Law	Attorney Gershonwood	Episode: "Whose San Andreas Fault Is It, Anyways?"
1994	Without Warning	Dr. Caroline Jaffe	Television movie
1995	Picket Fences	Janice Neiman	Episode: "Heroes and Villains"
1995–1999	Party of Five	Helene Thompson	3 episodes
1996	Touched by an Angel	Bonnie Bell	Episode: "Out of the Darkness"
1996	ABC Afterschool Specials	Nancy Gallagher	Episode: "Educating Mom"
1996	Apollo 11	Jan Armstrong	Television movie
1996–1997	Cybill	Holly	5 episodes
1996–1997	Frasier	Maureen Cutler	2 episodes
1997	The Practice	Pamela Boyd	2 episodes
1999	Felicity	Carol Anderson	5 episodes
2000–2006	Malcolm in the Middle	Lois	151 episodes American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Performer in a Television Series Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2000–01) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2001–03) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2000–06) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (2001, 2003) Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress – Comedy Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series
2001–2010	The Simpsons	Judge Constance Harm (voice)	8 episodes
2006–2007	Help Me Help You	Anne Hoffman	6 episodes
2008–2009	Raising the Bar	Judge Trudy Kessler	23 episodes
2010	Reviving Ophelia	Marie	Television movie
2011	Wilfred	Beth	Episode: "Pride"
2011–2012	Whitney	Candi	3 episodes
2012–2013	The Middle	Sandy Armwood	3 episodes
2012–2013	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	Red Jessica (voice)	11 episodes
2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	D.A. Pam James	Episode: "Beautiful Frame"
2014	Us & Them	Pam	Unaired, 7 episodes
2014–2017	Playing House	Gwen Crawford	7 episodes
2014	The McCarthys	Eileen	Episode: "Sister Act"
2015	Big Time in Hollywood, FL	Dr. Moore	2 episodes
2015	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Coach Jackie (voice)	Episode: "Ultrahyperball"
2016	The Big Bang Theory	Dr. Gallow	Episode: "The Sales Call Sublimation"
2016	Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life	Cindy Barrett	Episode: "How to Survive Your Parents' Visit"
2018	This Is Us	Mrs. Philips	Episode: "Katie Girls"
2019	Carol's Second Act	Phyllis	Episode: "Sick and Retired"
2019	Mixed-ish	Eleanor	Episode: "True Colors"

References

1. Roberts, Robin (July 13, 2003). "'Malcolm's' new fifth dimension". Record-Journal. p. F1, F5. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
2. Borun, Thaddeus (1946). We, the Milwaukee Poles: The History of Milwaukeeans of Polish Descent and a Record of Their Contributions to the Greatness of Milwaukee. Nowiny Publishing Company. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
3. "Gregorski, Frances J." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. May 29, 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
4. "Jane Kaczmarek Biography (1955-)". Film Reference. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
5. "Jane Kaczmarek Biography". The Biography Channel. A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2014. The daughter of a defense department employee and a teacher, she grew up in a strict, Catholic household.
6. "Yahoo". blackvoices.aol.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007.
7. "Malcolm in the Middle". Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved 2006-05-18.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link). Fox.com
8. "Malcolm in the Middle Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine" on TV.com
9. Schneider, Michael (Jul 22, 2011). "Exclusive: Sharon Osbourne Gets Animated for Next TV Gig". TV Guide. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
10. Stanhope, Kate (November 19, 2012). "Law & Order: SVU Exclusive: Malcolm in the Middle Mom to Battle DA Barba". TV Guide. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
11. Teti, John (November 17, 2013). "A Breaking Bad alternate ending is a Malcolm In The Middle dream sequence". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
12. "Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce". People. June 19, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
13. "Bradley Whitford, Jane Kaczmarek File for Divorce After Nearly 17 Years". TVGuide.com. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
14. "Whitford and Kaczmarek -- Divvying Up the Goodies". TMZ. October 22, 2010.
15. Search: bradley whitford. Getty Images. Retrieved on 2011-09-23.
16. Health, Beauty, Fashion, Love, Careers and more – MORE Magazine Archived 2009-06-24 at the Wayback Machine. More.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-23.
17. Beale, Lauren (August 17, 2010). "Jane Kaczmarek, Bradley Whitford sell San Marino villa". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
18. "Malcolm in the Middle – Kaczmarek Has Hip Replacement Surgery". contactmusic.com, 24 June 2004.
19. "Jane Kaczmarek – Kaczmarek Explains Hip Emmy Ad." contactmusic.com, 29 August 2004.
20. Hossain, Farhana (November 5, 2006). "THE 2006 CAMPAIGN: CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS; On-Screen Dems Hope for a Real Win" – via NYTimes.com.
21. "Center Theatre Group Tops 2012 Ovation Awards". 13 November 2012.

External links

• Jane Kaczmarek on IMDb
• Kaczmarek supports Milwaukee parks