Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Allison Janney

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00048
Allison Janney at an event for The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards (2014)
Take a closer look at the various roles Allison Janney has played throughout her acting career.
Play clip2:01
Allison Janney | Career Retrospective
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
Allison Janney is an award-winning actress who has earned a solid reputation in stage productions and in many supporting roles on screen, and who more recently has become prominent by portraying one of the major characters in the popular TV series The West Wing (1999).

Entertainment Weekly magazine describes Janney's screen presence as "uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive". As an actor, the magazine deems her to be "one to watch".

Janney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Macy Brooks (Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. While studying at Kenyon College, Janney answered a casting call for an on-campus play that was to be directed by Kenyon's most famous alumnus, the legendary actor Paul Newman. During her audition/interview, Janney played upon Newman's known passion for race car driving - she explained how she cut thirty minutes off of the 130 mile journey from her home town to the college. She got chosen for the play's cast.

After earning her degree in drama, Janney took Joanne Woodward's suggestion to do further study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

Early in her career Janney got comedic roles in the soap operas As the World Turns (1956) and Guiding Light (1952). Later, she gave memorable movie performances in supporting roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), American Beauty (1999) and Nurse Betty (2000), and in the made-for-TV movie ...First Do No Harm (1997), among others.

Among her stage work, Janney has played in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" on Broadway opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which earned her a Tony Award nomination, and a Drama League Award for outstanding artist for the 1997-98 season. She played in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" opposite Frank Langella, which earned her the Outer Critics Circle Award and an Actors' Equity award. Janney also appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Taming of the Shrew".

In 1999 Janney became part of the original cast of the acclaimed TV series The West Wing (1999) where she played the President's press secretary who eventually gets promoted to the White House Chief of Staff. Her impressive work during the seven seasons of that renowned series earned her four Emmys and two SAG Awards.

With her reputation becoming more broadly established during her work on "The West Wing" Janney won more substantive roles in feature films, in the acclaimed The Hours (2002) where she was Meryl Streep's lesbian lover, and in How to Deal (2003) where she played Mandy Moore's mother.
BornNovember 19, 1959
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornNovember 19, 1959
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00048
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 1 Oscar

The Greatest Character Actors of All Time

The Greatest Character Actors of All Time

Jennifer Coolidge, Danny Trejo, Uzo Aduba, and more familar faces you've seen in everything.
See the gallery
View image
Photos

Photos690

Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, and Ben Platt in The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022)
Allison Janney, Isaach De Bankolé, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Karan Soni, and Ben Platt in The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022)
Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett in Lou (2022)
Allison Janney in Lou (2022)
Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Kevin Foley, and Mandy Hampton in The West Wing (1999)
Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford in A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020)
Kathleen Turner and Allison Janney in One Tiny Incision and a Coffin Dress (2020)
Allison Janney and Jonathan Van Ness in Allison Janney/Jonathan Van Ness/Tom Walker (2019)
Allison Janney in Goat Yogurt and Ample Parking (2019)
Allison Janney, Max Daniels, and Anna Faris in Mom (2013)
Allison Janney and April Bowlby in Mom (2013)
Allison Janney and Toby Huss in Mom (2013)

Known for

Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone in The Help (2011)
The Help
8.1
  • Charlotte Phelan
  • 2011
Michael Cera and Elliot Page in Juno (2007)
Juno
7.5
  • Bren MacGuff
  • 2007
Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep in The Hours (2002)
The Hours
7.5
  • Sally Lester
  • 2002
Michelle Pfeiffer, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, Allison Janney, James Marsden, Elijah Kelley, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, and Nikki Blonsky in Hairspray (2007)
Hairspray
6.7
  • Prudy Pingleton
  • 2007

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • True Love
    • Post-production
  • Mrs. American Pie
    • Pre-production
  • The Heart
    • Pre-production
  • Cookie's Pregnant
    • Pre-production
  • Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and Ben Platt in The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022)
    The People We Hate at the Wedding
  • Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett in Lou (2022)
    Lou
  • Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie (2022)
    To Leslie
  • Q-Force (2021)
    Q-Force
    • (voice)
  • Allison Janney and Anna Faris in Mom (2013)
    Mom
  • Ellen Barkin, Juliette Lewis, Matthew Modine, Clifton Collins Jr., Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Jimmi Simpson, Wanda Sykes, Christopher Lowell, and Awkwafina in Breaking News in Yuba County (2021)
    Breaking News in Yuba County
  • DuckTales (2017)
    DuckTales
    • (voice)
  • Rob Lowe and Martin Sheen in A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020)
    A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
  • The Great Man Himself
  • Sean Hayes in Lazy Susan (2020)
    Lazy Susan
  • Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and Margot Robbie in Bombshell (2019)
    Bombshell
  • Michael Douglas in The Kominsky Method (2018)
    The Kominsky Method
  • Charlize Theron, Bette Midler, Snoop Dogg, Conrad Vernon, Oscar Isaac, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, and Finn Wolfhard in The Addams Family (2019)
    The Addams Family
    • (voice)
  • Allison Janney and Hugh Jackman in Bad Education (2019)
    Bad Education
  • Human Discoveries (2019)
    Human Discoveries
    • (voice)

Producer

  • Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett in Lou (2022)
    Lou
  • Ellen Barkin, Juliette Lewis, Matthew Modine, Clifton Collins Jr., Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Jimmi Simpson, Wanda Sykes, Christopher Lowell, and Awkwafina in Breaking News in Yuba County (2021)
    Breaking News in Yuba County

Music Department

  • Dolly Parton in Dolly Parton: Change It (2009)
    Dolly Parton: Change It
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos222

Allison Janney | Career Retrospective
Clip 2:01
Allison Janney | Career Retrospective
'Troop Zero' Star Viola Davis Reveals Her Dream Role
Clip 2:11
'Troop Zero' Star Viola Davis Reveals Her Dream Role
Spotlighting Sundance 2019's Women Directors
Clip 3:36
Spotlighting Sundance 2019's Women Directors
Exclusive Clip
Clip 1:03
Exclusive Clip
Away We Go -- "Antwerp"
Clip 0:40
Away We Go -- "Antwerp"
Away We Go -- "Only 6 Months Pregnant"
Clip 0:46
Away We Go -- "Only 6 Months Pregnant"
Away We Go -- "The Pain Is So Enlightening"
Clip 1:01
Away We Go -- "The Pain Is So Enlightening"
Away We Go -- "You're So Fat"
Clip 0:38
Away We Go -- "You're So Fat"
Away We Go -- "You Got Lucky, Sister"
Clip 0:56
Away We Go -- "You Got Lucky, Sister"
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Clip 0:36
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Clip 1:00
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Clip 1:00
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Cameo
    • Facebook
    • November 19, 1959
    • Boston, Massachusetts, USA
    • (No Children)
  • Other works
    starred with Anthony LaPaglia on Broadway in a revival of Arthur Miller's play, "A View From The Bridge", for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress. LaPaglia eventually left the cast and was replaced by Tony Danza.
  • Publicity listings
    • 8 Interviews
    • 8 Articles
    • 3 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Was discovered by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward while acting in a play, directed by Newman, at Kenyon College, Ohio. They encouraged her to head to New York City after graduation in order to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
  • Quotes
    [on her towering height] Years ago, one casting agent told me that the only roles I could play were lesbians and aliens.
    • Towering height
    • Mom
      (2013)
      $125,000 per episode (2013-2014)

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.