Cherry Jones
Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, she has twice won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play: for the 1995 revival of The Heiress and for the 2005 original production of Doubt. She has also won three Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2009 for her role as Allison Taylor on the FOX television series 24, and twice winning the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performances in The Handmaid's Tale and Succession. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards. Jones made her Broadway debut in the 1987 original Broadway production of Stepping Out. Other stage credits include Pride's Crossing (1997–98) and The Glass Menagerie (2013–14). Her film appearances include The Horse Whisperer (1998), Erin Brockovich (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Amelia (2009), and The Beaver (2011). In 2012, she played Dr. Judith Evans on the NBC drama Awake.
Cherry Jones | |
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.jpg.webp) Jones in 2009 | |
| Born | November 21, 1956 Paris, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse(s) | Sophie Huber (m. 2015) |
| Partner(s) | Mary O'Connor Sarah Paulson (2004–2009) |
Early life
Jones was born in Paris, Tennessee. Her mother was a high school teacher, and her father owned a flower shop.[1] Her parents were very supportive of her theatrical ambitions, encouraging her interest by sending her to classes with local drama teacher, Ruby Krider.[2] Jones takes great pains to credit her high school speech teacher, Linda Wilson, with her first real preparatory work.[3] She is a 1978 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre.[4]
Career
Most of her career has been in theater, beginning in 1980 as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[5]
Her Broadway performances include Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress and also a 2005 production of John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt at the Walter Kerr Theatre. For both roles, she earned a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.
Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron's play Imaginary Friends (with Swoosie Kurtz), the 2000 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good, for which she earned her first Tony nomination.[6] She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States.[7] In 1994, she also appeared in the Broadway run of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika as the Angel, replacing Ellen McLaughlin, who had originated the role.
She has narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series including, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, and Little Town on the Prairie. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock, The Perfect Storm, Signs, Ocean's Twelve, and The Village.[8]
Jones played President Taylor on the Fox series 24, a role for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[9] She played the role in the seventh season, from January to May 2009, as well as eighth season, which aired from January to May 2010.[10]
In 2012, Jones starred in the NBC drama series Awake as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Evans.
Also in 2012, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in the Loeb Drama Center's revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie alongside Zachary Quinto, Brian J. Smith and Celia Keenan-Bolger.[11]
In 2014, Cherry Jones was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[12]
In 2015 and 2016 Jones had a recurring role on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent in its second and third seasons. She was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for her work in the 2015 season.
In 2016, she appeared in "Nosedive", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.[13]
In 2018, Jones played Holly, the feminist mother to June/Offred in The Handmaid's Tale. She won an Emmy for her performance.[14]
In 2019, Jones played the role of a grouchy psychic and tarot card reader in the comedy Wine Country,[15] directed by Amy Poehler.
Personal life
In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked her then-partner, architect Mary O'Connor,[16] with whom she had an 18-year relationship.[17][18]
She started dating actress Sarah Paulson in 2004. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work in Doubt, she thanked "Laura Wingfield", the Glass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Paulson.[19] In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview with Velvetpark at Women's Event 10 for the LGBT Center of New York.[20] Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.[21]
In mid-2015, Jones married her girlfriend, filmmaker Sophie Huber.[22]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Light of Day | Cindy Montgomery | |
| The Big Town | Ginger McDonald | ||
| 1992 | Housesitter | Patty | |
| 1995 | Polio Water | Virginia | Short film |
| 1997 | Julian Po | Lucy | |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Liz Hammond | |
| 1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Hallie Flanagan | |
| The Lady in Question | Mimi Barnes | ||
| 2000 | Erin Brockovich | Pamela Duncan | |
| The Perfect Storm | Edie Bailey | ||
| 2002 | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Buggy Abbott | |
| Signs | Officer Paski | ||
| 2004 | The Village | Mrs. Clack | |
| Ocean's Twelve | Molly Star/Mrs. Caldwell | ||
| 2005 | Swimmers | Julia Tyler | |
| 2009 | Amelia | Eleanor Roosevelt | |
| Mother and Child | Sister Joanne | ||
| 2011 | The Beaver | Vice President | |
| New Year's Eve | Mrs. Rose Ahern | ||
| 2013 | Days and Nights | Mary | |
| 2015 | Knight of Cups | Ruth | |
| I Saw the Light[23] | Lillie Williams | ||
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Geri Taub | |
| 2017 | The Party | Martha | |
| 2018 | Boy Erased | Dr. Muldoon | |
| 2019 | Wine Country | Lady Sunshine | |
| A Rainy Day in New York | Mrs. Welles | ||
| Motherless Brooklyn | Gabby Horowitz | ||
| Our Friend | Faith Pruett | ||
| 2021 | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Rachel LaValley | Post-production |
| TBA | The Sky Is Everywhere | Gram Walker | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Alex: The Life of a Child | Tina Crawford | Television movie |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Tracy Kincaid | Episode: "Sleepless Dream" |
| 1992 | Loving | Frankie | Unknown episodes |
| 1993 | Tribeca | Tough Woman | Episode: "The Loft" |
| 1999 | Murder in a Small Town | Mimi | Television movie |
| 2000 | Cora Unashamed | Lizbeth Studevant | Television movie |
| 2001 | What Makes a Family | Sandy Cataldi | Television movie |
| 2001 | Frasier | Janet | Episode: "Junior Agent" |
| 2002 | The American Experience | Narrator | Episode: "Miss America" |
| 2004 | The West Wing | Barbara Layton | Episode: "Eppur Si Muove" |
| 2004–2005 | Clubhouse | Sister Marie | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | 24: Redemption | President-Elect Allison Taylor | Television movie |
| 2009–2010 | 24 | President Allison Taylor | 44 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2009) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
| 2012 | Awake | Dr. Judith Evans | 11 episodes |
| 2015–2019 | Transparent | Leslie Mackinaw | 12 episodes Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
| 2016 | Mercy Street | Dorothea Dix | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | 11.22.63 | Marguerite Oswald | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Black Mirror | Susan | Episode: "Nosedive" |
| 2017 | American Crime | Laurie Ann Hesby | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Portlandia | Ms. Mayor | Episode: "Rose Route" |
| 2018–2019 | The Handmaid's Tale | Holly Maddox | 3 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2019) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2018) |
| 2019 | Chimerica | Mel Kincaid | 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Succession | Nan Pierce | 2 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2020) |
| 2020 | Defending Jacob | Joanna Klein | 8 episodes |
| 2020 | Close Enough | (voice) | Episode: "Robot Tutor/Golden Gamer" |
Theatre
Awards and nominations
References
- "Cherry Jones Biography (1956–)". Retrieved May 5, 2015.
- http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/jones_c_A.pdf
- Chinoy, Helen Krich; Jenkins, Linda Walsh (May 26, 2018). Women in American Theatre. Theatre Communications Grou. ISBN 9781559362634 – via Google Books.
- Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pg. 247. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- Hartigan, Patti (May 11, 2017). "Cherry Jones returns to the city where she launched her career". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
- Internet Broadway Database Cherry Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
- Brantley, Ben (February 14, 2013). "'The Glass Menagerie,' at Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA". New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- Cherry Jones at IMDb
- Joyce Eng (September 20, 2009). "Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Cryer Win First Emmys". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
- "Jones moves into 24 Oval Office". Reuters. July 21, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
- Hetrick, Adam. "Zachary Quinto, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith Join Cherry Jones for A.R.T.'s Glass Menagerie" Archived October 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, October 18, 2012
- "Cherry Jones, Ellen Burstyn, Cameron Mackintosh and More Inducted Into Broadway's Theater Hall of Fame". Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- "'Black Mirror' Season 3 Trailer: "No One Is This Happy'". Deadline. October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
- Dowling, Amber. "'The Handmaid's Tale' Enlists Cherry Jones for Pivotal Season 2 Role (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- "'Wine Country': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Crews, Chip. "A Benefit of 'Doubt'". Washington Post.
- Witchel, Alex. "Cherry Jones, at the Peak of Her Powers". New York Times.
- "Cherry Jones: Prop 8 Supporters 'Will Be Ashamed of Themselves'". Queerty. February 11, 2009.
- AfterEllen.com Sarah Paulson Archived June 9, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- "Velvetpark – Art Thought Culture". Retrieved May 5, 2015.
- "Cherry Jones & Sarah Paulson Call It Quits With 'Happiest Break-Up'". Access Online. October 9, 2009.
- Bendix, Trish. "Cherry Jones on getting married and playing a lesbian feminist in Season 2 of "Transparent"". Afterellen.
- Stephen L. Betts (November 7, 2014). "Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones Cast in Upcoming Hank Williams Movie". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cherry Jones. |
- Cherry Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
- Cherry Jones at IMDb
- Cherry Jones at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater (U. Michigan Press, edited by Robin Bernstein) republishes the interview in which Cherry Jones first publicly discussed her sexuality.
- Cherry Jones – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
- TonyAwards.com Interview with Cherry Jones
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