Jill Hennessy
Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actress, known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan.
Biography
Early life
Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Her father, John Hennessy, was a meat salesman, a job that required
considerable travel and resulted in frequent moves for the family. Her
mother, Maxine, left the family in 1982, leaving her daughter to be
partially raised by her paternal grandmother, Eleanor, in Kitchener, Ontario. She has a younger brother, John Hennessy Jr., and an identical twin sister, Jacqueline, who is a magazine writer and TV show host in Canada. Hennessy has Irish, French, Swedish and Italian ancestry on her father’s side, and mostly Ukrainian, as well as Austrian, ancestry on her mother’s. She graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario and used to busk in the Toronto Subway.
Career
Hennessy and her sister played twin call girls in 1988’s Dead Ringers. She was short-listed for the role of Dana Scully, on The X-Files[citation needed]. Hennessy is famous for playing Claire Kincaid on Law & Order (1993 – 1996) and the lead role as Jordan Cavanaugh on Crossing Jordan. In 1999 she played Lisa in Chutney Popcorn. In 2000, Hennessy wrote, produced, and co-directed with Elizabeth Holder an independent film called The Acting Class. Inspired by a true story, the mockumentary
looks at the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional acting class.
The film co-starred her sister, and included cameos by a number of
Hennessy’s former Law & Order co-stars.
In 2001 she portrayed Jackie Kennedy in the film Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot. In 2003 she made a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer. She also appeared on Broadway in the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story in 1990. Most recently, she portrayed Tim Allen’s wife in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs. On June 9, 2007, she received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. She also has been recording an album in Austin, Texas.
Personal life
Hennessy is multi-lingual, and speaks English, Italian, French, Spanish and German. She married Paolo Mastropietro, a former bartender and sometime actor, on October 1, 2000. Her husband opened a tavern in Northvale, New Jersey, in 1999, and named it Hennessy Tavern, after his wife. The tavern is located next to the former bowling alley where the television series Ed was filmed. Hennessy also enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband. They also had a second marriage ceremony in January 2001, which took place at New York City Hall with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani officiating. Their son, Marco, was born on September 17, 2003. On November 21, 2007, she gave birth to her second child, Gianni, in New York City.
Hennessy is a fan of the Indigo Girls
and a poster of the act hung in the kitchen of Jordan’s on-screen
apartment. :She sometimes makes appearances at music events as a guest
guitarist where she usually performs barefoot.
Filmography (selected)
Films
- Lymelife (2008)
Oranges (2008)
Wild Hogs (2007)
Pipe Dream (2002)
Love in the Time of Money (2002)
Exit Wounds (2001)
Autumn in New York (2000)
The Acting Class (2000)
Row Your Boat (2000)
Komodo (1999)
Molly (1999)
Chutney Popcorn (1999)
Two Ninas (1999)
The Florentine (1999)
Dead Broke (1999)
Weekend Getaway (1998)
Most Wanted (1997)
A Smile Like Yours (1997)
Kiss & Tell (1996)
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
The Paper (1994)
Trip nach Tunis (1993)
RoboCop 3 (1993)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Television
- Crossing Jordan (2001-2007)
- Las Vegas (2004-2006)
- Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001)
- Nuremberg (2000)
- Law & Order (1993-1996)
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1996)
- Flying Blind (1992)
- Counterstrike (1990)
- War of the Worlds (1988-1990)
- Friday the 13th (1989-1990)
- C.B.C.’s Magic Hour (1990)
- The Hitchhiker (1989)