# Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American-Canadian actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997, Alexander served as the chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Alexander won the 1969 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway production of The Great White Hope. Other Broadway credits include 6 Rms Riv Vu (1972), The Night of the Iguana (1988), The Sisters Rosensweig (1993) and Honour (1998). She has received a total of eight Tony Award nominations and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
Her film breakthrough came with the romantic drama The Great White Hope (1970), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her subsequent Oscar nominations were for her roles in All the President's Men (1976), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Testament (1983). An eight-time Emmy nominee, she received her first nomination for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin (1976), a role that required her to age from 18 to 60. She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Playing for Time (1980) and Warm Springs (2005).

## Early life

Alexander was born Jane Quigley in Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of Ruth Elizabeth (née Pearson), a nurse, and Thomas B. Quigley, an orthopaedic surgeon. She graduated from Beaver Country Day School, an all-girls school in Chestnut Hill outside of Boston, where she discovered her love of acting.
Encouraged by her father to go to college before embarking on an acting career, Alexander attended Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, where she concentrated on theater but also studied mathematics with an eye toward computer programming in the event that she failed as an actress. Also while at Sarah Lawrence, she shared an apartment with Hope Cooke, who would become Queen Consort of the last king of Sikkim. Alexander spent her junior year studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland where she participated in the Edinburgh University Dramatic Society. The experience solidified her determination to continue acting.

## Career

Alexander made her Broadway debut in 1963, replacing Phyllis Wynn as Sandy Dennis' standby in A Thousand Clowns. She reportedly performed the role a handful of times. Alexander's major break in acting came in 1967 when she played Eleanor Backman in the original production of Howard Sackler's The Great White Hope at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Like her co-star, James Earl Jones, she went on to play the part both on Broadway (1968), winning a Tony Award for her performance, and in the film version (1970), which earned her an Oscar nomination. Alexander's additional screen credits include All the President's Men (1976), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Testament (1983), all of which earned her Oscar nods, Brubaker (1980), The Cider House Rules (1999), and Fur (2006), in which she played Gertrude Nemerov, mother of Diane Arbus, played in the film by Nicole Kidman.
The play The Time of Your Life was revived on March 17, 1972, at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles with Alexander, Henry Fonda, Gloria Grahame, Lewis J. Stadlen, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Thompson, Strother Martin, Richard X. Slattery, and Pepper Martin among the cast with Edwin Sherin directing.
Alexander portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt in two television productions, Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); she also played FDR's mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, in HBO's Warm Springs (2005) with Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon, a role which garnered her an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Alexander co-starred with Rachel Roberts in Steven Gether's teleplay and production of A Circle of Children (1977), based on Mary MacCracken's autobiographical book about emotionally disturbed children (with an emphasis on autism), which won Gether an Emmy. Alexander also starred in its sequel, Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II (1978).
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Alexander's name and picture.
Alexander's other television films include Arthur Miller's Playing for Time, co-starring Vanessa Redgrave, for which Alexander won another Emmy Award; Malice in Wonderland (as famed gossip-monger Hedda Hopper); Blood & Orchids; and In Love and War (1987) co-starring James Woods, which tells the story of James and Sybil Stockdale during Stockdale's eight years as a US prisoner of war in Vietnam. Alexander also played the protagonist, Dr. May Foster, in the HBO drama series Tell Me You Love Me. Her character, a psychotherapist, serves as the connecting link between three couples coping with relational and sexual difficulties. The show's frank portrayal of "senior" sexuality and explicit sex scenes generated controversy, although it won a rare endorsement by the AARP. She also had a minor role as Dr. Graznik in The Ring.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Alexander chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, the organization that had provided partial funding for The Great White Hope at Arena Stage. Alexander moved to Washington, DC, and served as chair of the NEA until 1997. Her book, Command Performance: an Actress in the Theater of Politics (2000), describes the challenges she faced heading the NEA at a time when the 104th U.S. Congress, headed by Newt Gingrich, unsuccessfully strove to shut it down. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.
In 2004, Alexander, together with her husband, Edwin Sherin, joined the theater faculty at Florida State University. She serves on various boards, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, the National Audubon Society, Project Greenhope, the National Stroke Association, and Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament, and she has received the Israel Cultural Award and the Helen Caldicott Leadership Award. Alexander is also a fellow of the International Leadership Forum. In 2009 Alexander starred in Thom Thomas's play A Moon to Dance By at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was directed by her husband, Edwin Sherin.

## Personal life

Alexander met her first husband, Robert Alexander, in the early 1960s in New York City, where both were pursuing acting careers. They had one son, Jace Alexander, in 1964, and the couple divorced a decade later. Alexander had been acting regularly in various regional theaters when she met producer/director Edwin Sherin in Washington, DC, where he was artistic director at Arena Stage. Alexander starred in the original theatrical production of The Great White Hope under Sherin's direction at Arena Stage prior to the play's Broadway debut. The two became good friends and, once divorced from their respective spouses, became romantically involved, marrying in 1975. Between the two, they have four children, Alexander's son Jace and Sherin's three sons, Tony, Geoffrey, and Jon. She and Sherin became Canadian citizens, having maintained a home in Lockeport, Nova Scotia starting in 1998. Edwin Sherin died at the age of 87, in Nova Scotia, on May 4, 2017.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | The Great White Hope | Eleanor Bachman | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female Nominated—Golden Laurel Award for Star of Tomorrow – Female |
| 1971 | A Gunfight | Nora Tenneray | USA title Gunfight |
| 1972 | The New Centurions | Dorothy Fehler | a.k.a. Precinct 45: Los Angeles Police |
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Judy Hoback Miller | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1978 | The Betsy | Alicia Hardeman | a.k.a. Harold Robbins' The Betsy |
| 1979 | Kramer vs. Kramer | Margaret Phelps | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (3rd Place) Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd Place) |
| 1980 | Brubaker | Lillian Gray | |
| 1982 | Night Crossing | Doris Strelzyk | |
| 1983 | Testament | Carol Wetherly | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated—Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (2nd Place) |
| 1984 | City Heat | Addy | |
| 1987 | Sweet Country | Anna | a.k.a. Glykeia patrida (Greece) |
| 1987 | Square Dance | Juanelle King | a.k.a. Home Is Where the Heart Is (USA: TV title) |
| 1989 | Glory | Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw | (uncredited) |
| 1999 | The Cider House Rules | Nurse Edna | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 2002 | Sunshine State | Delia Temple | |
| 2002 | The Ring | Dr. Grasnik | |
| 2006 | Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus | Gertrude Nemerov | |
| 2007 | Feast of Love | Esther Stevenson | |
| 2008 | Gigantic | Mrs. Weathersby | |
| 2009 | The Unborn | Sofi Kozma | |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Virginia | |
| 2011 | Dream House | Dr. Greeley | |
| 2013 | Mr. Morgan's Last Love | Joan Morgan | |
| 2017 | Three Christs | Dr. Abraham | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1969 | N.Y.P.D. | | Episode "The Night Watch" |
| 1969 | Adam-12 | Flo the Records Clerk | Episode "Log 112: You Blew It" (uncredited) |
| 1972 | Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol | Anne Palmer | |
| 1973 | Miracle on 34th Street | Karen Walker | |
| 1974 | This Is the West That Was | Sarah Shaw | |
| 1975 | Death Be Not Proud | Frances Gunther | |
| 1976 | Eleanor and Franklin | Eleanor Roosevelt, age 18–60 | Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special |
| 1977 | A Circle of Children | Mary MacCracken | CBS two night mini-series adapted from Mary MacCracken's autobiographical book. |
| 1977 | Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years | Eleanor Roosevelt | Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special |
| 1978 | A Question of Love | Barbara Moreland | a.k.a. A Purely Legal Matter |
| 1978 | Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II | Mary MacCracken | Two night mini-series adapted from Mary MacCracken's second autobiographical book. |
| 1980 | Playing for Time | Alma Rose | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |
| 1981 | Dear Liar | Mrs. Patrick Campbell | |
| 1982 | In the Custody of Strangers | Sandy Caldwell | |
| 1984 | When She Says No | Nora Strangis | |
| 1984 | Calamity Jane | Martha Jane "Calamity Jane" Canary | Bronze Wrangler Award for Fictional Television Drama Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |
| 1985 | Malice in Wonderland | Hedda Hopper | a.k.a. The Rumor Mill Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |
| 1986 | Blood & Orchids | Doris Ashley | |
| 1987 | In Love and War | Sybil Stockdale | |
| 1988 | A Friendship in Vienna | Hannah Dournenvald | Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie |
| 1988 | Open Admissions | Ginny Carlsen | |
| 1990 | Daughter of the Streets | Peggy Ryan | |
| 1991 | A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz | Georgia O'Keeffe | |
| 1992 | Stay the Night | Blanche Kettman | |
| 1993 | New Year | Elsie Robertson | |
| 2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Regina Mulroney | Episode: "Entitled" (also for Law & Order episode "Entitled: Part 2") Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series |
| 2000 | Law & Order | Regina Mulroney | Episode: "Entitled: Part 2" |
| 2001 | Jenifer | Marilyn Estess | |
| 2001 | Bitter Winter | | |
| 2004 | Freedom: A History of Us | Jane Addams | Episode: "Yearning to Breathe Free" |
| 2004 | Carry Me Home | Mrs. Gortimer | Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special |
| 2005 | Warm Springs | Sara Delano Roosevelt | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
| 2006 | The Way | Helen Warden | |
| 2007 | Tell Me You Love Me | Dr. May Foster | 10 episodes |
| 2008 | Louisa May Alcott | Ednah Cheney | |
| 2011 | Deck the Halls | Nora Regan Reilly | |
| 2011–2015 | The Good Wife | Judge Suzanne Morris | 5 episodes |
| 2011 | William & Catherine: A Royal Romance | Queen Elizabeth II | |
| 2013–2014 | The Blacklist | Diane Fowler | 4 episodes |
| 2013 | Forgive Me | Bookie | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | The Divide | Elizabeth | 2 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | Elementary | C. | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | The Book of Negroes | Maria Witherspoon | Episode #1.5 |
| 2015 | Forever | Nora Morgan | Episode: "Social Engineering" |
| 2017–2018 | The Good Fight | Judge Suzanne Morris | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Modern Love | Margot | Episode: "The Race Grows Sweeter Near Its Final Lap" |
| 2020 | Tales From The Loop | Klara | 3 episodes |
| 2025 | Severance | Celestine "Sissy" Cobel | Episode: "Sweet Vitriol" |

### Stage

| Date | Production | Role | Notes |
| October 3, 1968 – January 31, 1970 | The Great White Hope | Eleanor Bachman | Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Theatre World Award |
| October 17, 1972 – May 19, 1973 | 6 Rms Riv Vu | Anne Miller | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| December 13, 1973 – May 4, 1974 | Find Your Way Home | Jacqueline Harrison | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| December 17, 1975 – January 25, 1976 | Hamlet | Gertrude | |
| April 20, 1976 – May 9, 1976 | The Heiress | Catherine Sloper | |
| October 3, 1978 – December 9, 1978 | First Monday in October | Judge Ruth Loomis | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| April 23, 1980 – April 26, 1980 | Goodbye Fidel | Natalia | |
| December 14, 1982 – December 18, 1982 | Monday After the Miracle | Annie | |
| June 26, 1988 – September 4, 1988 | The Night of the Iguana | Maxine Faulk | (revival) |
| November 11, 1990 – April 7, 1991 | Shadowlands | Joy Davidman | |
| January 23, 1992 – March 1, 1992 | The Visit | Claire Zachanassian | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play |
| March 18, 1993 – July 16, 1994 | The Sisters Rosensweig | Sara Goode | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| April 26, 1998 – June 14, 1998 | Honour | Honor | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| December 23, 2019 – March 1, 2020 | Grand Horizons | Nancy | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Results |
| 1970 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | The Great White Hope | Nominated |
| 1976 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | All the President's Men | Nominated |
| 1979 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Kramer vs. Kramer | Nominated |
| 1983 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | Testament | Nominated |
| 2013 | ACTRA Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female in TV or Feature | Forgive Me | Won |
| 1989 | CableACE Awards | Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries | A Friendship in Vienna | Nominated |
| 2014 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series | Forgive Me | Nominated |
| 2005 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special | Carry Me Home | Nominated |
| 1969 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Performance | The Great White Hope | Won |
| 1992 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | The Visit | Nominated |
| 1993 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | The Sisters Rosensweig | Won |
| 2009 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Chasing Manet | Nominated |
| 2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | The Lady from Dubuque | Nominated |
| 1960 | Golden Globe Awards | Most Promising Newcomer – Female | The Great White Hope | Nominated |
| 1979 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Kramer vs. Kramer | Nominated |
| 1983 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Testament | Nominated |
| 2005 | High Falls Film Festival | The Faith Hubley "Web of Life" Award | — | Won |
| 1970 | Laurel Awards | Star of Tomorrow – Female | The Great White Hope | 8th Place |
| 1983 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actress | Testament | Runner-up |
| 1979 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Kramer vs. Kramer | 3rd Place |
| 1979 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Kramer vs. Kramer | Runner-up |
| 1993 | New York Women in Film & Television | Muse Award | — | Won |
| 2000 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Law & Order / Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Nominated |
| 2005 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Warm Springs | Nominated |
| 2014 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series | The Blacklist | Nominated |
| 1976 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special | Eleanor and Franklin | Nominated |
| 1977 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special | Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years | Nominated |
| 1981 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special | Playing for Time | Won |
| 1984 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special | Calamity Jane | Nominated |
| 1985 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special | Malice in Wonderland | Nominated |
| 2000 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Episode: "Entitled") | Nominated |
| 2005 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Warm Springs | Won |
| 2017 | RiverRun International Film Festival | Master of Cinema Award | — | Won |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Warm Springs | Nominated |
| 1999 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The Cider House Rules | Nominated |
| 1969 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | The Great White Hope | Won |
| 1969 | Tony Awards | Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play | The Great White Hope | Won |
| 1973 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | 6 Rms Riv Vu | Nominated |
| 1974 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | Find Your Way Home | Nominated |
| 1979 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | First Monday in October | Nominated |
| 1992 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | The Visit | Nominated |
| 1993 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | The Sisters Rosensweig | Nominated |
| 1998 | Tony Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | Honour | Nominated |
| 2020 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Grand Horizons | Nominated |
| 1985 | Western Heritage Awards | Fictional Television Drama | Calamity Jane | Won |
| 1996 | Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards | Norma Zarky Humanitarian Award | — | Won |