Cherry Jones | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jones in 2009 | |
| Born | (1956-11-21)November 21, 1956 (age 69)[1] Paris, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner(s) | Mary O'Connor (1986–2004) Sarah Paulson (2004–2009) |
| Awards | Full list |
Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress. She started her career in theater as a founding member of theAmerican Repertory Theater in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on stage and screen, she has receivedvarious accolades, including threePrimetime Emmy Awards and twoTony Awards, as well as nominations for anOlivier Award and aScreen Actors Guild Award.
Jones made her Broadway debut in the 1987 playStepping Out. She went on to receive twoTony Awards for Best Actress in a Play forThe Heiress in 1995 andDoubt in 2005. Her other Tony-nominated roles were inOur Country's Good in 1991,A Moon for the Misbegotten in 2000, andThe Glass Menagerie in 2014. Her most recent Broadway performance was inThe Lifespan of a Fact in 2018.
She is also known for her work on television with breakthrough roles as Barbara Layton inThe West Wing and PresidentAllison Taylor in24, the latter of which won her thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2009. She received aScreen Actors Guild Award nomination forTransparent in 2015 and earned twoPrimetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her roles in theHulu drama seriesThe Handmaid's Tale in 2019 and theHBO drama seriesSuccession in 2020.
Her film appearances includeThe Horse Whisperer (1998),Erin Brockovich (2000),The Perfect Storm (2000),Signs (2002),The Village (2004),Amelia (2009),The Beaver (2011),A Rainy Day in New York (2019), andThe Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021).
Jones was born inParis, Tennessee. Her mother was a high school teacher, and her father owned a flower shop.[2] Her parents were very supportive of her theatrical ambitions, encouraging her interest by sending her to classes with local drama teacher, Ruby Krider.[3] Jones takes great pains to credit her high school speech teacher, Linda Wilson, with her first real preparatory work.[4] She is a 1978 graduate of theCarnegie Mellon School of Drama. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work atCity Theatre, a fixture ofPittsburgh theatre.[5]
Most of her career has been in theater, beginning in 1980 as a founding member of theAmerican Repertory Theater inCambridge, Massachusetts.[6]
Her Broadway performances includeLincoln Center's 1995 production ofThe Heiress and also a 2005 production ofJohn Patrick Shanley's playDoubt at theWalter Kerr Theatre. For both roles, she earned aTony Award forBest Leading Actress in a Play.
Other Broadway credits includeNora Ephron's playImaginary Friends (withSwoosie Kurtz), the 2000 revival ofA Moon for the Misbegotten, andTimberlake Wertenbaker'sOur Country's Good, for which she earned her first Tony nomination.[7] She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States.[8] In 1994, she also appeared in the Broadway run ofAngels in America: Millennium Approaches andPerestroika as the Angel, replacingEllen McLaughlin, who had originated the role.
She has narrated the audiobook adaptations ofLaura Ingalls Wilder'sLittle House series including,Little House in the Big Woods,Little House on the Prairie,Farmer Boy,On the Banks of Plum Creek,By the Shores of Silver Lake,The Long Winter, andLittle Town on the Prairie. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits includeCradle Will Rock,The Perfect Storm,Signs,Ocean's Twelve, andThe Village.[citation needed]
Jones playedPresident Taylor on the Fox series24, a role for which she won anEmmy forOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[9] She played the role in theseventh season, from January to May 2009, as well as eighth season, which aired from January to May 2010.[10]
In 2012, Jones starred in the NBC drama seriesAwake as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Evans.
Also in 2012, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in the Loeb Drama Center's revival ofTennessee Williams'The Glass Menagerie alongsideZachary Quinto,Brian J. Smith andCelia Keenan-Bolger.[11]
In 2014, Cherry Jones was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[12]
In 2015 and 2016 Jones had a recurring role on thePrimetime Emmy Award-winningAmazon comedy-drama seriesTransparent in its second and third seasons. She was nominated for theCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for her work in the 2015 season.
In 2016, she appeared in "Nosedive", an episode of theanthology seriesBlack Mirror.[13]
In 2018, Jones played Holly, the feminist mother to June/Offred inThe Handmaid's Tale. She won anEmmy for her performance.[14]
In 2019, Jones played the role of a grouchy psychic and tarot card reader in the comedyWine Country,[15] directed byAmy Poehler.
In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked Mary O'Connor,[16] with whom she had an 18-year relationship.[17][18]
She started datingSarah Paulson in 2004. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work inDoubt, she thanked "Laura Wingfield", theGlass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Paulson.[19] In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview withVelvetpark at Women's Event 10 for theLGBTQ Center of New York.[20] Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.[21]
In mid-2015, Jones married filmmaker Sophie Huber.[22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Light of Day | Cindy Montgomery | |
| The Big Town | Ginger McDonald | ||
| 1992 | Housesitter | Patty | |
| 1995 | Polio Water | Virginia | Short film |
| 1997 | Julian Po | Lucy | |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Liz Hammond | |
| 1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Hallie Flanagan | |
| 2000 | Erin Brockovich | Pamela Duncan | |
| The Perfect Storm | Edie Bailey | ||
| 2002 | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Buggy Abbott | |
| Signs | Officer Paski | ||
| 2004 | The Village | Mrs. Clack | |
| Ocean's Twelve | Molly Star/Mrs. Caldwell | ||
| 2005 | Swimmers | Julia Tyler | |
| 2009 | Amelia | Eleanor Roosevelt | |
| Mother and Child | Sister Joanne | ||
| 2011 | The Beaver | Vice President | |
| New Year's Eve | Mrs. Rose Ahern | ||
| 2013 | Days and Nights | Mary | |
| 2015 | Knight of Cups | Ruth | |
| I Saw the Light[23] | Lillie Williams | ||
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Geri Taub | |
| 2017 | The Party | Martha | |
| 2018 | Boy Erased | Dr. Muldoon | |
| 2019 | Wine Country | Lady Sunshine | |
| A Rainy Day in New York | Mrs. Welles | ||
| Motherless Brooklyn | Gabby Horowitz | ||
| Our Friend | Faith Pruett | ||
| 2021 | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Rachel LaValley | |
| 2022 | The Sky Is Everywhere | Gram Walker | |
| TBA | The Steel Harp | TBA | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Alex: The Life of a Child | Tina Crawford | Television film |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Tracy Kincaid | Episode: "Sleepless Dream" |
| 1992 | Loving | Frankie | Unknown episodes |
| 1993 | TriBeCa | Tough Woman | Episode: "The Loft" |
| 1999 | Murder in a Small Town | Mimi Barnes | Television film |
| The Lady in Question | |||
| 2000 | Cora Unashamed | Lizbeth Studevant | |
| 2001 | What Makes a Family | Sandy Cataldi | |
| Frasier | Janet | Episode: "Junior Agent" | |
| 2002 | American Experience | Narrator | Episode: "Miss America" |
| 2004 | The West Wing | Barbara Layton | Episode: "Eppur Si Muove" |
| 2004–2005 | Clubhouse | Sister Marie | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | 24: Redemption | President-Elect Allison Taylor | Television film |
| 2009–2010 | 24 | President Allison Taylor | Main role (season 7–8); 44 episodes |
| 2012 | Awake | Dr. Judith Evans | 11 episodes |
| 2015–2019 | Transparent | Leslie Mackinaw | 12 episodes |
| 2016 | Mercy Street | Dorothea Dix | 2 episodes |
| 11.22.63 | Marguerite Oswald | 5 episodes | |
| Black Mirror | Susan | Episode: "Nosedive" | |
| 2017 | American Crime | Laurie Ann Hesby | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Portlandia | Ms. Mayor | Episode: "Rose Route" |
| 2018–2025 | The Handmaid's Tale | Holly Maddox | 5 episodes |
| 2019 | Chimerica | Mel Kincaid | 4 episodes |
| 2019–2023 | Succession | Nan Pierce | 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Defending Jacob | Joanna Klein | 8 episodes |
| Close Enough | (voice) | Episode: "Robot Tutor/Golden Gamer" | |
| 2022 | Five Days at Memorial | Susan Mulderick | 7 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | Velma | Victoria Jones (voice) | 11 episodes |
| 2023 | Poker Face | Laura | Episode: "The Orpheus Syndrome" |
| Extrapolations | President Elizabeth Burdick | Episode: "2059: Face of God" | |
| 2025 | Foundation | Ambassador Quent | Season 3 |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Philanthropist | Liz | |
| 1984 | The Ballad of Soapy Smith | Kitty Chase | |
| 1985–1996 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Cecily Cardew | |
| 1987 | Claptrap | Sarah Littlefield | |
| 1987 | Stepping Out | Lynne | |
| 1987 | Tartuffe | Dorine | Portland Stage Company (Maine) |
| 1988 | Macbeth | Lady Macduff | |
| 1991 | Our Country's Good | Reverend Johnson/Liz Morden | |
| 1991 | Light Shining in Buckinghamshire | — | |
| 1992 | The Baltimore Waltz | Anna | |
| 1992 | Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) | Constance Ledbelly | |
| 1993–1994 | Angels in America: Millennium Approaches | Various replacements | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 1993–1994 | Angels in America: Perestroika | Various replacements | |
| 1993 | And Baby Makes Seven | Anna | |
| 1993 | Desdemona | Bianca | |
| 1995 | The Heiress | Catherine Sloper | Cort Theatre, Broadway |
| 1996 | The Night of the Iguana | Hannah Jelkes | Roundabout Theatre Company |
| 1997–1998 | Pride's Crossing | Mabel Tidings/Bigelow | Lincoln Center |
| 1999 | Tongue of a Bird | Maxine | The Public Theater |
| 2000 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 2001 | Major Barbara | Barbara Undershaft | American Airlines Theatre, Broadway |
| 2002–2003 | Imaginary Friends | Mary McCarthy | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 2003 | Flesh and Blood | Mary Stassos | New York Theatre Workshop |
| 2005–2006 | Doubt | Sister Aloysius | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 2006 | Faith Healer | Grace | Booth Theatre, Broadway |
| 2010 | Mrs. Warren's Profession | Mrs. Kitty Warren | American Airlines Theatre, Broadway |
| 2013–2014 | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | Booth Theatre, Broadway |
| 2014 | When We Were Young and Unafraid | Agnes | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| 2017 | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | Duke of York's Theatre, West End |
| 2018 | The Lifespan of a Fact | Emily | Studio 54, Broadway |
| 2024 | The Grapes of Wrath | Ma Joad | Lyttleton Theatre, London |
My mother was an English teacher, my father had a flower shop, and my grandmother worked at the flower shop.
