Jane Anderson

American actress, playwright, screenwriter and film director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jane Anderson (born c. 1954 in California) is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and director. She wrote and directed the feature film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005), and wrote the film It Could Happen to You (1994), starring Nicolas Cage. She won an Emmy Award for writing the screenplay for the miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014).

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...
Jane Anderson
Bornc. 1954 (age 7071)
Occupation(s)Actress, playwright, screenwriter, director
Years active1982–present
SpouseTess Ayers
Children1
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Career

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Jane Anderson got her start as an actress, before getting her first writing job as a writer and consultant on the sitcom The Facts of Life (on which she had also appeared). She followed this up by creating the short-lived sitcom Raising Miranda, which was cancelled in its first season. She then had several other TV series gigs, and wrote her first play, The Baby Dance (1989).

Her first film experience was writing the 1993 HBO film The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, starring Holly Hunter; the film was critically acclaimed, and TV critics Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in their 2016 book TV (The Book) named it the 2nd greatest American TV movie of all time, behind Steven Spielberg's Duel.[1] She later wrote and directed several other critically acclaimed television movies, including The Baby Dance (1998), based on her play and starring Stockard Channing and Laura Dern; When Billie Beat Bobby (2001) starring Holly Hunter and Ron Silver; and Normal (2003), based on her play Looking for Normal and starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson. She also wrote the segment "1961" of the 2000 HBO film If These Walls Could Talk 2, which won Vanessa Redgrave an Emmy Award for her portrayal of an elderly lesbian prevented from hospital visitation with her dying long-time companion.

She became a writer for the AMC television drama Mad Men for the show's second season in 2008. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series for her work on the second season.[2]

In 2015, Anderson wrote the documentary Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson about her great aunt, Edith Lake Wilkinson, a lesbian and painter who was institutionalized in the 1920s and spent the rest of her life in an asylum for the mentally ill.[3] Anderson cites Wilkinson as an inspiration for her own drawing.[3]

In 2017, Anderson wrote the Glenn Close-starring The Wife.

Filmography

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Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1994 It Could Happen to You No Yes No
1995 How to Make an American Quilt No Yes No
2005 The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio Yes Yes No
2015 Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson No Yes Yes Documentary
2017 The Wife No Yes No
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Writer Producer Notes
1986 The Facts of Life Yes No Episodes "The Apartment", "Ready or Not" and "Write and Wrong"
1988 Raising Miranda Yes Yes Episodes "Black Monday" and "Home for the Holidays"
1989 The Wonder Years Yes No Episode "How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation"
1991 The Hidden Room Yes No Episodes "Dream Child" and "A Type of Love Story"
2008 Mad Men Yes Yes Episode "The Gold Violin"
2014 Olive Kitteridge Yes Yes Miniseries
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TV movies

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Writer Notes
1993 The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom No Yes
1998 The Baby Dance Yes Yes
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Yes Yes Segment "1961"
2001 When Billie Beat Bobby Yes Yes
2003 Normal Yes Yes
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Other credits

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
1985–86 The Facts of Life Program consultant 5 episodes
1986 Who's the Boss? Episode "Charmed Lives"
1989 The Wonder Years Executive story editor 7 episodes
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Acting roles

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Year Title Role Notes
1978 The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour Regular performer TV series
1978 Girlfriends Omega Receptionist Film
1984 P.O.P. Dana McNeil TV film
1984 E/R Mrs. Grettie "Only a Nurse"
1985 The Facts of Life Karen "We Get Letters"
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Plays

  • The Baby Dance (1989)
  • Looking for Normal (2001)[4]
  • Defying Gravity
  • The Quality of Life (2007)[5]
  • The Escort: An Explicit Play for Discriminating People (2011)[6]
  • The Baby Dance: Mixed (2018; revised version of The Baby Dance)[7]

Awards and nominations

See also

References

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