Cherry Jones
Encyclopedia
Cherry Jones is an American actress and recipient of the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
.
on the Fox
series 24
, for which she won an Emmy. However, most of her career has been in the theatre on Broadway, including her Tony-winning lead performances in Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress
and John Patrick Shanley
's play Doubt
, a role which earned her the 2005 Tony Award
for Best Leading Actress in a Play
. The play opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre
in March 2005.
Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron
's play Imaginary Friends
(with Swoosie Kurtz
); Angels in America
: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, the 2000 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten
, and Timberlake Wertenbaker
's Our Country's Good
, for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States.
She has narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder
's Little 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
and Little Town on the Prairie
. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock
, The Perfect Storm
, Signs
, Ocean's Twelve
and The Village
.
Jones played President Taylor on the Fox series 24
, a role for which she won an Emmy
for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She played the role in the seventh season
as well as eighth season, which began airing in January 2010 and concluded in May 2010.
, to a high school
teacher mother and a flower shop owner father. She is a 1978 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre
, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre
.
In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked her then lover, architect Mary O'Connor. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work in Doubt
, she thanked "Laura Wingfield", the Glass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Jones's girlfriend, actress Sarah Paulson
. The pair had attended the awards together and kissed right after Jones won, thus making it clear that Paulson was not closeted about the relationship. In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview with VelvetPark at Women's Event 10 for the LGBT Center of New York.
Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
.
Career
Jones may be best-known for her role as President Allison TaylorAllison Taylor
Allison Taylor may refer to:*Allison Taylor, 24 character*Allison Taylor...
on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, for which she won an Emmy. However, most of her career has been in the theatre on Broadway, including her Tony-winning lead performances in Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress
The Heiress
The Heiress is a 1949 American drama film. It was written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 play of the same title that was based on the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. The film was directed by William Wyler, with starring performances by Olivia de Havilland as...
and John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...
's play Doubt
Doubt (play)
Doubt: A Parable is a 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley. Originally staged off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on November 23, 2004, the production transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway in March 2005 and closed on July 2, 2006 after 525 performances and 25 previews...
, a role which earned her the 2005 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Leading Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
. The play opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre
Walter Kerr Theatre
The Walter Kerr Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre. Located at 219 West 48th Street, it is owned and operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. One of the smaller auditoriums in the theatre district, it seats 975....
in March 2005.
Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, journalist, author, and blogger.She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in...
's play Imaginary Friends
Imaginary Friends (play)
Imaginary Friends is a play by Nora Ephron. It includes songs with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Craig Carnelia.-Plot:The play focuses on writers Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy, who reunite in hell and reflect on their decades-long antagonistic relationship...
(with Swoosie Kurtz
Swoosie Kurtz
Swoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters...
); Angels in America
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, the 2000 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
, and Timberlake Wertenbaker
Timberlake Wertenbaker
- Biography :Wertenbaker grew up in the Basque Country of France near Saint-Jean-de-Luz. She attended schools in Europe and the US before settling permanently in London...
's Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good is a 1988 play written by British playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel The Playmaker. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, in the 1780s, who put on a production of The Recruiting...
, for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States.
She has narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
's Little House series including, Little House in the Big Woods
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House in the Big Woods is a children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder and was published in 1932. This book is the first of the series of books known as the Little House series....
, Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (novel)
Little House on the Prairie is a children's novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder and was published in 1935. This book is the third of the series of books known as the Little House series....
, Farmer Boy
Farmer Boy
Farmer Boy is a children's historical novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder. First published in 1933, it is the second book in the nine part Little House series, also known as "The Laura Years"...
, On the Banks of Plum Creek
On the Banks of Plum Creek
On the Banks of Plum Creek is a children's book written in 1937 by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The fourth of nine books written in her Little House series, it is based on Laura's childhood at Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota in late 19th Century....
, By the Shores of Silver Lake
By the Shores of Silver Lake
By the Shores of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was first published in 1939 and is the fifth of nine books written in her Little House on the Prairie series, also known as "The Laura Years." The book begins when Laura is twelve years old and the family moves to what will become De Smet,...
, The Long Winter
The Long Winter (novel)
The Long Winter is a Newbery Honor novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, first published in 1940. The story is set in South Dakota during the severe winter of 1880-1881, when Laura turned fourteen...
and Little Town on the Prairie
Little Town on the Prairie
Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was first published in 1941 and is the seventh of nine books written in her Little House series, also known as "The Laura Years." The book is set in De Smet, South Dakota...
. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein...
, The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm (film)
The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger about the crew of the Andrea Gail that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg,...
, Signs
Signs (film)
Signs is a 2002 American science fiction horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was adapted from a screenplay also written by Shyamalan. Executive producers for the film comprised Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer. The story focuses on a former preacher named Graham...
, Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
and The Village
The Village (2004 film)
The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
.
Jones played President Taylor on the Fox series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, a role for which she won an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She played the role in the seventh season
24 (season 7)
Season Seven, also known as Day 7 of the American serial television series 24, was to premiere on January 13, 2008, but was delayed for one year due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. On November 23, 2008, Fox aired 24: Redemption, a two-hour TV movie set between seasons. Season...
as well as eighth season, which began airing in January 2010 and concluded in May 2010.
Personal life
Jones was born in Paris, TennesseeParis, Tennessee
Paris is a city in Henry County, Tennessee, United States, west of Nashville, on a fork of the West Sandy River. In 1900, 2,018 people lived in Paris, Tennessee; in 1910, 3,881; and in 1940, 6,395. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,763. It is the county seat of Henry...
, to a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
teacher mother and a flower shop owner father. She is a 1978 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is the oldest degree-granting drama program in the United States, founded in 1914 as a division of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre
City Theatre (Pittsburgh)
City Theatre is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh's South Side. It specializes in productions of new plays and has commissioned new works by playwrights on the national theatre scene, including Christopher Durang, Adam Rapp, and Jeffrey Hatcher...
, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre
Theatre in Pittsburgh
Theatre in Pittsburgh has existed professionally since the early 1800s and has continued to expand, having emerged as an important cultural force in the city over the past 30 years.-History:...
.
In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked her then lover, architect Mary O'Connor. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work in Doubt
Doubt (play)
Doubt: A Parable is a 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley. Originally staged off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on November 23, 2004, the production transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway in March 2005 and closed on July 2, 2006 after 525 performances and 25 previews...
, she thanked "Laura Wingfield", the Glass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Jones's girlfriend, actress Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson
-Career:She was a series regular on the cult television show American Gothic and the WB series Jack & Jill , playing the character "Elisa Cronkite"...
. The pair had attended the awards together and kissed right after Jones won, thus making it clear that Paulson was not closeted about the relationship. In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview with VelvetPark at Women's Event 10 for the LGBT Center of New York.
Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.
Filmography
- Alex: The Life of a Child (1986) (TV) .... Tina Crawford
- Light of DayLight of DayThe soundtrack to the film was released in 1987. As a single, "Light of Day" reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received additional album-oriented rock airplay due to the connection of Joan Jett and Bruce Springsteen....
(1987) .... Cindy Montgomery - The Big Town (1987) .... Ginger McDonald
- Spenser: For HireSpenser: For HireSpenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
(1987) TV Series ....Tracy Kincaid - HouseSitterHouseSitterHouseSitter is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.-Plot:Newton Davis is a...
(1992) .... Patty - LovingLoving-Places:* Loving, New Mexico, a village located in Eddy County, New Mexico.* Loving County, Texas, the least populous county in the U.S.-Things:* Love, a range of human emotions* Loving , a 1945 novel by Henry Green....
(1983) TV Series .... Frankie (1992) - Polio Water (1995) .... Virginia
- Julian PoJulian Po-Plot:This is the story of a depressed man who comes into a town with no future. The title character wanders into a small sleepy town with the intent to kill himself. When the townspeople learn of his plan, Julian becomes a minor celebrity, and is offered all sorts of free perks since this is the...
(1997) .... Lucy - The Horse WhispererThe Horse WhispererThe Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans...
(1998) .... Liz Hammond - Murder in a Small TownMurder in a Small TownMurder in a Small Town is a mystery produced by, and originally aired on, the A&E Network. The film stars Gene Wilder as Larry "Cash" Carter, a stage director, theater manager, former actor, and unofficial consulting detective for the police department in 1930s Stamford, Connecticut.- Plot :The...
(1999) (TV) .... Mimi Barnes - Cradle Will RockCradle Will RockCradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein...
(1999) .... Hallie Flanagan - The Lady in QuestionThe Lady in QuestionThe Lady in Question is a 1940 film directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Brian Aherne and Rita Hayworth.-Cast:*Brian Aherne as Andre Morestan*Rita Hayworth as Natalie Roguin*Glenn Ford as Pierre Morestan*Irene Rich as Michele Morestan...
(1999) (TV) .... Mimi Barnes - Erin BrockovichErin Brockovich (film)Erin Brockovich is a 2000 biographical film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film is a dramatization of the story of Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts, who fought against the US West Coast energy corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Roberts won the Academy Award, Golden Globe,...
(2000) .... Pamela Duncan - The Perfect StormThe Perfect Storm (film)The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger about the crew of the Andrea Gail that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg,...
(2000) .... Edie Bailey - Cora UnashamedCora UnashamedCora Unashamed is a TV movie from The American Collection directed by Deborah M. Pratt, starring Regina Taylor and Cherry Jones, and released in 2000. The movie is based on a short story by the same name in The Ways of White Folks, a collection of short stories by Langston Hughes...
(2000) (TV) .... Lizbeth Studevant - What Makes a FamilyWhat Makes a FamilyWhat Makes a Family is a 2001 television movie from Lifetime Television. The film premiered on the network on January 22, 2001.-Plot:Based on a true story, the movie involves a lesbian couple living in Florida who choose to have a child...
(2001) (TV) .... Sandy Cataldi - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya SisterhoodDivine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (film)Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, directed and written by Callie Khouri...
(2000).... Buggy Abbott - SignsSigns (film)Signs is a 2002 American science fiction horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was adapted from a screenplay also written by Shyamalan. Executive producers for the film comprised Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer. The story focuses on a former preacher named Graham...
(2002) .... Officer Paski - The West Wing TV Series .... Barbara Layton (2004)
- The VillageThe Village (2004 film)The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
(2004) .... Mrs. Clack - Clubhouse (2004) TV Series .... Sister Marie
- Ocean's TwelveOcean's TwelveOcean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
(2004) .... Molly Star/Mrs. Caldwell - SwimmersSwimmers (film)Swimmers is a 2005 American independent drama about a waterman's family on Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2005 and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best New American Film from the Seattle International Film Festival...
(2005) .... Julia Tyler - 2424 (TV series)24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
(2008–2010) .... President Allison Taylor - AmeliaAmelia (film)Amelia is a 2009 English-language biographical film of the life of Amelia Earhart, starring Hilary Swank as Earhart along with a cast that includes Richard Gere, Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor. It is directed by Mira Nair based on a script initially written by Ronald Bass...
(2009) .... Eleanor Roosevelt - Mother and ChildMother and Child (film)Mother and Child is an American drama film directed and written by Rodrigo García, and stars Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Shareeka Epps and Samuel L. Jackson. It premiered on September 14, 2009 at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and at the Sundance Film Festival on...
(2010) .... Sister Joanne - The BeaverThe Beaver (film)The Beaver is a 2011 drama film directed by Jodie Foster and starring Mel Gibson and Foster in their first film together since 1994's Maverick.-Plot:...
(2011) .... Vice President
External links
- Cherry Jones at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater (U. Michigan Press, edited by Robin Bernstein) republishes the interview in which Cherry Jones first publicly discussed her sexuality.
- Cherry Jones - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
- TonyAwards.com Interview with Cherry Jones