Jayne Houdyshell
Encyclopedia
Jayne Houdyshell is a Tony Award
–nominated American theater actress.
, she is the youngest of four daughters born to Galen "Buzz" Houdyshell and Louella Taylor. She graduated from Topeka High School in 1971, and she went on to graduate with honors from the Academy of Dramatic Art at Oakland University
in Rochester, Michigan
in 1974.
Since the mid-1970s, she has appeared in more than 200 plays at regional theaters throughout the United States, including the Meadow Brook Theater, Attic Theater, Missouri Repertory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre
, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater, Delaware Theater Company, Wilma Theater, Syracuse Stage, Studio Arena, GeVa Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Steppenwolf Theater, American Conservatory Theater
, Totem Pole Playhouse, Peterborough Players, and others.
In New York, she may be best-known for her role as Ann Kron in the Broadway
production of Well
by Lisa Kron
. It was a role that garnered her a Tony Award
nomination in 2006. Her other distinctions include winning a Theater World Award, and an Obie
for Well
off-Broadway in 2004 at the Public Theater. She received a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award
for her performance in The Pain and the Itch for Steppenwolf
and a 2006 Barrymore Award for her work in The Clean House at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia.
Houdyshell's Broadway credits include Wicked
, Well, Bye Bye Birdie, The Importance of Being Earnest
, and the 2011 revival of Follies
.
Houdyshell's other New York credits include, Coraline
, The New Century, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center; The Receptionist at the Manhattan Theater Club; Much Ado About Nothing
; Fighting Words, and The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons; Attempts on Her Life at Soho Rep; and True Love at the Zipper Theater.
Her television credits include appearances include Law & Order
, Third Watch
, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent
. She has appeared in such films as Changing Lanes
(2002), Garden State
(2004), Trust the Man
(2006), and Everybody's Fine.
Houdyshell had a cameo role as a landlady in the 2010 film The Bounty Hunter
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...
–nominated American theater actress.
Life and career
Raised in Topeka, KansasTopeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, she is the youngest of four daughters born to Galen "Buzz" Houdyshell and Louella Taylor. She graduated from Topeka High School in 1971, and she went on to graduate with honors from the Academy of Dramatic Art at Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
in Rochester, Michigan
Rochester, Michigan
Rochester is an affluent city in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the northern outskirts of metro Detroit. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census...
in 1974.
Since the mid-1970s, she has appeared in more than 200 plays at regional theaters throughout the United States, including the Meadow Brook Theater, Attic Theater, Missouri Repertory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre
Asolo Repertory Theatre
The Asolo Repertory Theatre or Asolo Rep is a professional theater in Sarasota, Florida. It is the largest Equity theatre in Florida, and the largest Repertory theatre in the Southeastern United States. Asolo Rep is a resident regional theatre company which also invites in guest artists...
, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater, Delaware Theater Company, Wilma Theater, Syracuse Stage, Studio Arena, GeVa Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Steppenwolf Theater, American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
, Totem Pole Playhouse, Peterborough Players, and others.
In New York, she may be best-known for her role as Ann Kron in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Well
Well (play)
Well is a play about illness written by and starring Lisa Kron. Well made its world premier at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City in 2004. The play was directed by Leigh Silverman and also starred Jayne Houdyshell as Lisa's mother, Ann Kron. The Public Theater production garnered...
by Lisa Kron
Lisa Kron
Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron is an American actress and playwright.-Biography:Kron was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She jokes in one of her plays that her life began on her parents’ trip to Europe: “I was conceived in Venice, you know...
. It was a role that garnered her a 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...
nomination in 2006. Her other distinctions include winning a Theater World Award, and an Obie
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Well
Well (play)
Well is a play about illness written by and starring Lisa Kron. Well made its world premier at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City in 2004. The play was directed by Leigh Silverman and also starred Jayne Houdyshell as Lisa's mother, Ann Kron. The Public Theater production garnered...
off-Broadway in 2004 at the Public Theater. She received a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....
for her performance in The Pain and the Itch for Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. It has since relocated to Chicago's Halsted Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Its name comes from...
and a 2006 Barrymore Award for her work in The Clean House at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia.
Houdyshell's Broadway credits include Wicked
Wicked
Wicked is generally used as an adjective to mean evil or sinful.Wicked may also refer to:* Wicked Pictures, an American pornographic studio...
, Well, Bye Bye Birdie, The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, and the 2011 revival of Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
.
Houdyshell's other New York credits include, Coraline
Coraline (musical)
Coraline is a musical written by Stephen Merritt and David Greenspan and is based on the novella Coraline by Neil Gaiman. It follows a young girl who is bored in her new house, and finds a new universe.-Production:...
, The New Century, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center; The Receptionist at the Manhattan Theater Club; Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
; Fighting Words, and The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons; Attempts on Her Life at Soho Rep; and True Love at the Zipper Theater.
Her television credits include appearances include Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, Third Watch
Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
. She has appeared in such films as Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes is a 2002 drama-thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on April 12, 2002 in North America by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(2002), Garden State
Garden State (film)
Garden State is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sir Ian Holm. The film centers on Andrew Largeman , a 26-year-old actor/waiter who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies...
(2004), Trust the Man
Trust the Man
Trust the Man is a 2006 romantic comedy film, starring David Duchovny, Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was directed and written by Bart Freundlich. The film primarily deals with three relationships, and a realization of just how important those relationships are...
(2006), and Everybody's Fine.
Houdyshell had a cameo role as a landlady in the 2010 film The Bounty Hunter
The Bounty Hunter (2010 film)
The Bounty Hunter is a 2010 American action comedy film directed by Andy Tennant, starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. The story centers on a bounty hunter hired to retrieve his ex-wife who has skipped bail...