Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary Elfman (née Butala, born September 30, 1971)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1999, and three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. After making her film debut in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), she has appeared in Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), Dr. Dolittle (1998), EDtv (1999), Keeping the Faith (2000), Town & Country (2001), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), and Big Stone Gap (2014).
Jenna Elfman
Elfman has also played leading roles on other television comedies, including Courting Alex (2006), Accidentally on Purpose (2009–2010), 1600 Penn (2012–2013), Growing Up Fisher (2014), and Imaginary Mary (2017). She also had a recurring role on the FX legal drama Damages in 2012, and has been a series regular on the AMC horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead since 2018.[2]
Early life[edit]
Elfman was born Jennifer Mary Butala in Los Angeles, California. She was the youngest of three children born to homemaker Sue Butala (née Grace) and Richard Butala, a Hughes Aircraft executive. Her paternal uncle is Tony Butala, lead singer of the American vocal trio The Lettermen since 1958. She is of Croatian ancestry on her father's side[3] and was raised Roman Catholic.[4][5]
Elfman attended high school at St. Genevieve High School in the San Fernando Valley for a year, before eventually graduating at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts; she then attended college at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).[6] She trained in ballet from age five, but later gave it up when a tendon separated from bone. She studied at the Westside School of Ballet, receiving a full scholarship.
