Jackson was born inMiami,Florida, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blackstad) and James McCaslin Jackson, a gym coach.[2] From the age of 5 until she was 18, Jackson's father trained her in gymnastics.[3]
While doing summer stock theater in Alabama, Jackson met former child actorJohnny Crawford of the 1950s television seriesThe Rifleman, who cast her in his nightclub act. She moved to Los Angeles in 1981,[6] working various day jobs and performing comedy at night.[7][8][9] Her first big break was an appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where she recited poetry while doing a handstand.[7][10][11] She went on to appear on the show 20 times.[7] In 1984 she appeared in the pilot forW*A*L*T*E*R, aM*A*S*H spin-off that the networks did not pick up.[12]
Following a role in the short-lived 1985 television seriesHalf Nelson,[13] Jackson received an offer to audition for the cast ofSaturday Night Live. Because she was not confident her audition had gone well, she performed several impersonations on her nextTonight Show appearance and sent the tape toSNL'sLorne Michaels. After viewing the tape, Michaels asked Jackson to join the show.[14][15] A regular cast member from 1986 to 1992,[16] Jackson often appeared on the show's weeklyWeekend Update segment as a correspondent who goes off topic, reciting poetry and doing backbends or handstands on the desk.[5][14] She was also known for recurring skit roles where she impersonatedRoseanne Barr,Sally Struthers andZsa Zsa Gabor.[5][17]
During her tenure onSNL, Jackson was cast in a number of films, includingBaby Boom,Family Business,I Love You to Death,[16]UHF,[7]The Pick-up Artist,[18]The Couch Trip,[19] andCasual Sex?.[14] Her film career continued after her 1992 departure fromSaturday Night Live, but mostly in unknown or unnoticed films. On television, she was cast as the lead of her own sitcom, co-starringGeorge Clooney. When there was a change in management at Fox, the show was scrapped without being broadcast.[7] In 1994, she appeared as "Beverly" in theIn the Heat of the Night[20] episode "Good Cop, Bad Cop", and in 1999 she appeared as the unrequited love of a small-town man who can control the weather inThe X-Files episode "The Rain King".[21]
In 2011, Jackson criticized the TV showGlee for showing a kiss between two male actors, calling it "sickening" and citing the Bible to justify her criticism. When accused ofhomophobia, Jackson countered that the label was merely a "cute liberal buzzword" and suggested thatGlee be replaced with a show promoting celibacy.[34]
In 2011, Jackson joined the staff ofPatriot Update as a writer and video blogger and host of the talk showPolitichicks. Co-hosts included Ann-Marie Murrell, Jannique Stewart, and Jennie Jones.[35][36] Jackson wrote a satirical song for "Politichicks" titled "Shariah Law", with the song's lyrics claiming, "They [Muslims] like beheadings and pedophile weddings".[35] Among her work for Patriot Update was a piece onOccupy Wall Street that was critical of the protesters.[37][38]
In 2012, White Hall publishers, part of the Liberty Alliance, released Jackson's autobiographyIs My Bow Too Big? How I Went from Saturday Night Live to the Tea Party.[25][39][40]
In 2012, afterTodd Akin's remarks regarding pregnancies resulting fromrape, Jackson said "If I got raped, I would have the baby. And if I didn't want to keep it because I had these horrible nightmares, I would adopt it out. But I think that God can turn a bad thing into a good thing, and that if I got raped and a beautiful baby who was innocent was born out of it, that would be a blessing."[41]
In 2014, Jackson filed a petition as anindependent candidate for one of two District 2 seats in Williamson County, Tennessee. She received 632 votes, not enough to secure either seat against the incumbent candidates.[42][43]
Jackson married a fellow performer, fire-eating magician Nisan Mark Eventoff, in 1984,[6] and had a daughter. They divorced in 1991.[5] Shortly thereafter, she reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Paul Wessel, then a Miami-Dade SWAT team police officer, and they married and had a daughter.[3] When her husband retired in 2013, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee.[3][24] Jackson was diagnosed withbreast cancer in 2015.[45] She announced through an Instagram post in August 2024 that her breast cancer had metastasized and she had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in herwindpipe.[46]
^Montville, Leigh (July 29, 1984). "Adventures in the L.A. skim trade".Boston Globe.
^Damsker, Matt (November 1, 1983). "'Rainbow Of Comedy' Coming To San Diego: Stand-Up Comics Set For Old Globe Stand-Up Comics".Los Angeles Times.Opening for each of these headliners is an assortment of lesser-known stand-ups. ranging from ... comic poet-acrobat Victoria Jackson,...
^Berger, Phil (July 29, 1984)."The New Comediennes".The New York Times.Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 29, 2018.
^Daltry, Laura (August 19, 1984). "'Tonight Show' Special: Women, 19 Cents A Pound".Los Angeles Times.
