Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951)[1] is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play Piaf. Smart was later cast in a leading role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women, in which she starred from 1986 to 1991.
Jean Smart
Actress
1975–present
2
Smart was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 2000 Broadway revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner, and she received two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as Lana Gardner on the NBC sitcom Frasier (2000–01). She won a third Emmy Award for her supporting role as Regina Newley on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? (2007–09). She also portrayed Martha Logan on the action drama series 24 (2006–07). Smart is also known for her recurring voice role in Kim Possible (2002–2007) as the main character's mom. In the past decade Smart has seen a resurgence acting in television series, such as FX's Fargo (2015) and Legion (2017–2019), both created by Noah Hawley, the HBO projects Watchmen (2019) and Mare of Easttown (2021), as well as the Max series Hacks (2021), the latter three earning her Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with Hacks winning her two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and 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 The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Garden State (2004), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Accountant (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and Babylon (2022). She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Guinevere (1999).
Early life[edit]
Smart was born and raised in Seattle, Washington,[3] the daughter of Kathleen Marie "Kay" (Sanders) and Douglas Alexander Smart, a teacher.[4][5] She is the second of four children. Smart was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 13 years old.[6] Her father was a first-generation Scottish-American.[7] On Season 10 of the television show 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[edit]
1975–1984: Early work; theater[edit]
After graduating from college, Smart began her career appearing in regional theater throughout the Pacific Northwest, including in Washington, Alaska, and Oregon.[8] She performed with 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]
Personal life[edit]
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]
Sources