# Jillian Armenante

Jillian Armenante (born July 5, 1964) is an American television and film actress, known for playing the role of Donna Kozlowski on the TV show Judging Amy.

## Life and career

Armenante was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey.
Her feature-film credits include Vice, Hail, Caesar!, Bad Teacher, A Mighty Heart, North Country and Girl, Interrupted. On television, Armenante has made guest appearances on several shows including Fresh Off the Boat, The Mayor, Shameless, Medium, Party Down, Castle, The Closer, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Las Vegas, ER, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and Northern Exposure.
With Alice Dodd, her wife, Armenante co-produced, co-directed and co-wrote Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog and In Flagrante Gothicto at the Circle X Theatre Company. Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog won the Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for "Best New Musical" and "Best Musical Production".
In Flagrante Gothicto was produced at The Empty Space Theatre in Seattle in their 2003 season.
Armenante directed the world premiere of Great Men Of Science, Nos. 21 & 22. The show received a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for "Best Production in a 99 seat theatre", and The L.A. Weekly Award for Best Production. She also produced The Texarkansas Waltz at Circle X Theatre.
Regionally, she has acted at the Empty Space Theatre in the title role of The Salvation Of Iggy Scrooge; at the Group Theatre in Marisol; at New City Theatre in Stript and 3 Americanisms.
She played "Melony" in a stage version of The Cider House Rules which was performed at The Atlantic Theater in New York City, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. For this role she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, received a Garland Award and a Theatre World Award for "Debut on the New York Stage". The show also received a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for "Best Production in a Larger Theatre".
In Seattle, she was a member of Annex Theatre for eight years, where she appeared in The Fatty Arbuckle Spookhouse Review, Bessemer's Spectacles, Tattoo Girl, and Hamlet The Musical. At Annex, she directed Triplets In Uniform, Exquisite Torture, and Running From Boomerangs. She was the Associate Artistic Director for Alice B. Theatre where she produced Pretty, Witty and Gay and Memory Tricks by Marga Gomez at the Broadway Performance Hall.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | The Wright Brothers | Col. Kovacevich | |
| 1999 | Delivered | Danielle | |
| 1999 | Girl, Interrupted | Cynthia Crowley | |
| 2003 | Frankie and Johnny Are Married | Cynthia | |
| 2005 | North Country | Peg | |
| 2007 | A Mighty Heart | Maureen Platt | |
| 2007 | The Gray Man | Delia Budd | |
| 2008 | Prairie Fever | Lettie | Video |
| 2009 | Shrink | Karen | |
| 2010 | Not Your Time | Debbie | Short |
| 2011 | Bad Teacher | Ms. Pavicic | |
| 2013 | Trust Me | Sandy | |
| 2014 | TSA America: Yeah, But Is It Ticking? | Officer Shears | Short |
| 2014 | Mr Maple Leaf | Cousin Zelda | Short |
| 2016 | Hail, Caesar! | Script Girl | |
| 2018 | Vice | Karen Hughes | |
| 2019 | The Untold Story | Patty | Completed |
| 2019 | Stuck | Officer Wheeler | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Northern Exposure | Chef's Assistant | "The Big Feast" |
| 1994 | Northern Exposure | Olympias | "Baby Blues" |
| 1997 | Cracker | Ina Gardener, RN | "Hell Hath No Fury" |
| 1999 | The West Wing | Leela | "Five Votes Down" |
| 1999–05 | Judging Amy | Donna Kozlowski | Main role; 101 episodes |
| 2004–05 | Strong Medicine | Francine "Frankie" Biancavilla | "The Real World Rittenhouse", "Family Practice" |
| 2005 | Unscripted | Director | "1.6" |
| 2005 | Six Feet Under | Shirley | "Hold My Hand" |
| 2005 | ER | Tamara Gordon | "All About Christmas Eve" |
| 2006 | Grey's Anatomy | Mindy Carlson | "It's the End of the World", "As We Know It" |
| 2006 | Smith | Nash | "Two", "Three" |
| 2007 | Las Vegas | Beth Lipshitz | "Run, Cooper, Run!" |
| 2008 | Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show | Bonny Bonnom | "Surprise Party" |
| 2008 | The Closer | Norma Patterson | "Cherry Bomb" |
| 2008 | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Rita | "Allison from Palmdale", "Brothers of Nablus" |
| 2008 | Untitled Victoria Pile Project | Det. Grace Dillon | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2009 | Private Practice | Arlene Perkins | "Contamination" |
| 2009 | Numb3rs | Claire Wells | "First Law" |
| 2009 | Castle | Susan Mailer | "Ghosts" |
| 2009 | Hawthorne | Cheryl Brooks | "Pilot", "Healing Time", "The Sense of Belonging" |
| 2009 | Dollhouse | Grace | "The Public Eye" |
| 2010 | Party Down | Mona | "Not on Your Wife Opening Night" |
| 2011 | Medium | Veronica Tate | "Labor Pains" |
| 2011 | Shameless | Abby Ruggiero | "Aunt Ginger" |
| 2011 | Memphis Beat | Dolores Toscano | "Flesh and Blood" |
| 2011 | In Plain Sight | Dr. Perez | "A Womb with a View" |
| 2011 | The Guild | Lizette | "Downturn", "Grande Finale" |
| 2011 | Desperate Housewives | Rachel | "School of Hard Knocks", "The Art of Making Art" |
| 2012 | Scandal | Moira O'Donnell | "White Hats Off" |
| 2013 | Arrested Development | Armstrong | "Off the Hook" |
| 2013 | New Girl | Eileen | "The Box" |
| 2015 | Kittens in a Cage | Barbara | Regular role |
| 2015 | Better Call Saul | Paula | "RICO" |
| 2015 | The Fosters | Shaz | "Daughters" |
| 2015 | Dropping the Soap | Melanie | Regular role |
| 2015–2019 | Fresh Off the Boat | Nancy | Recurring role; 18 episodes |
| 2017 | The Mayor | Kitty | "Pilot", "City Hall-oween" |
| 2017 | Hank'n Barry | Lindsay | TV film, post-production |
| 2021 | The Sex Lives of College Girls | Coach Woods | 5 episodes |
| 2022-2023 | Physical | Woman in recovery | 7 episodes |

## Other work

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | Kittens in a Cage | Executive producer, director, writer |
| 2016 | The List | Producer, director |
| 2016 | Hank'n Barry | Executive producer, collaborating director, co-writer, editor |
| 2017 | Stuck | Executive producer, director |