Jane Krakowski

Jane Krakowski

A musical theater veteran, Jane Krakowski is best known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of scheming law secretary Elaine on the Fox TV hit Ally McBeal. Raised in Parsippany, NJ, Krakowski began taking dance lessons at age three. After making her movie debut as an orally skilled teenager in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), she garnered two Emmy nominations during her 1984-1986 stint on the serial Search for Tomorrow. Though she acted in several TV productions, including Men and Women II (1991) and Queen (1993), and had small feature film parts in Fatal Attraction (1987) and Stepping Out (1991), Krakowski found more success on Broadway in the first half of the 1990s. After she earned a Tony nomination for her work in the 1990 musical Grand Hotel, the actress was featured in several shows, including the revival of Once Upon a Mattress starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Krakowski became a TV star, however, when she was cast in Ally McBeal in 1997. As ambitious busybody Elaine, Krakowski became a bombshell comic foil to Calista Flockhart's neurotic Ally, asserting her power over the series' law office with her well-honed observational skills. The actress also displayed her versatile talents in the show's whimsical song-and-dance interludes. Bolstered by her TV success, Krakowski played a supporting role in the dance romance Dance With Me (1998), appeared as the seemingly lascivious wife of William Fichtner's bizarre narc in Go (1999), and starred as Betty in the sequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). After Ally McBeal went off the air in 2002, Krakowski continued to divide her time between TV, features and the stage. Along with voicing one of the female sloths in the hit animated movie Ice Age (2002), Krakowski starred in the made for TV romantic comedy Just a Walk in the Park (2002) and played a supporting role in the Lisa Kudrow comic vehicle Marci X (2003). As in the early 1990s, though, Krakowski wound up attracting more attention on Broadway. Drawing positive notice for her acrobatic entrance via a bed sheet as well as her musical gifts, Krakowski earned another Tony nomination for her sexy supporting performance as Antonio Banderas's mistress in the acclaimed revival of Nine, the musical version of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide