Nancy McKeon
Encyclopedia
Nancy Justine McKeon is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress. She is best known for her role as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 sitcom The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

.

Early life & career

McKeon was born in Westbury, New York
Westbury, New York
Westbury incorporated in 1932 as a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 15,146 at the 2010 census.The Village of Westbury is in the Town of North Hempstead....

. Prior to her breakthrough on The Facts of Life, she and her older brother Philip
Philip McKeon
Philip McKeon is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Tommy Hyatt, the son of the title character, in the long-running sitcom Alice, from 1976 to 1985.-Life and career:...

 appeared in numerous commercials. McKeon also appeared on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

s The Secret Storm
The Secret Storm
The Secret Storm is a soap opera which ran on CBS from February 1, 1954 to February 8, 1974. The series was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life...

and Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

. The McKeons moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 in 1975, when Philip began appearing on the television series Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...

with Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...

.

In 1977, McKeon was discovered by a casting director for The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

after a performance in a Hallmark
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....

 greeting cards advertisement. She was cast as tough and independent tomboy Jo Polniaczek, and debuted on the show in the fall of 1980. This is her most famous role and she portrayed the character until the show was canceled in 1988. McKeon also provided the voice for many ABC Weekend Special
ABC Weekend Special
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....

cartoon characters, including the voice for Scruffy.

McKeon has also been noted for her ability to cry on command. While on The Facts of Life, this ability earned her the nickname "Faucet Face" by her cast mates.

Later career

In 1995 she starred in her own series, Can't Hurry Love
Can't Hurry Love
Can't Hurry Love is a US sitcom that ran for less than five months between September 1995 and February 1996.The show starred Nancy McKeon as a 20-something placement coordinator at a New York City personnel agency. McKeon plays Annie O'Donnell, a single career woman living in New York City and...

, which lasted one season. In 1998, she starred in a sitcom with Jean Smart
Jean Smart
Jean E. Smart is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her comedic roles, one of the best known being her role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. She later gained critical acclaim for dramatic work, with her portrayal of Martha Logan on 24...

 titled Style & Substance
Style & Substance
Style & Substance was a television situation comedy that premiered on CBS July 22, 1998.The show starred Jean Smart as Chelsea Stevens, a Martha Stewart-like star of a how-to home show, and Nancy McKeon as her producer, Jane Sokol, a small-town girl new to New York City...

.

McKeon portrayed Inspector Jinny Exstead on the Lifetime
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...

 police drama The Division
The Division
The Division is an American Lifetime Television original series about a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.-Synopsis:...

from 2001 to 2004, with her pregnancy incorporated into the storyline of the last year of the series. Since 2009, McKeon has appeared in a recurring role in the Disney Channel Original Series Sonny With a Chance
Sonny With a Chance
Sonny with a Chance is an American children's sitcom which aired on Disney Channel, created by Steve Marmel, that follows the experiences of teenager Sonny Munroe, portrayed by Demi Lovato, who becomes the newest accepted cast member of her favorite live comedy show, So Random!.The series debuted...

, as Connie Munroe, the mother of Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato
"She’s got the range, the full emotional spectrum, incredible control… Vocally, she’s the best thing Disney’s had since Christina Aguilera."—Producer Toby Gad on Demi Lovato's vocals...

's character Sonny Munroe.

McKeon also starred in numerous made-for-TV movies throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, in which she portrayed an abuse victim and The Wrong Woman
The Wrong Woman
The Wrong Woman is a 1995 film starring Nancy McKeon, Chelsea Field, and Michele Scarabelli, produced by Pierre David, written by Douglas Soesbe, and directed by Douglas Jackson....

, portraying a woman framed for killing her boss. In 2003, McKeon starred in the film Comfort and Joy
Comfort and Joy (2003 film)
Comfort and Joy is a TV movie directed by Maggie Greenwald, originally airing on the Lifetime cable network in 2003. It starred Nancy McKeon as Jane Berry. The life of Jane Berry was all materialist, until one Christmas Eve, she is involved in a car accident that changes her life forever...

.

On June 24, 2011 McKeon was named Cougar of the Week by The Danettes on The Dan Patrick Show.

Personal life

While McKeon was on The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

, she and her parents, all devout Catholics, were granted a private audience with Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

.

During the 1980s she dated the actor Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...

 and former NHL hockey player, left winger Luc Robitaille
Luc Robitaille
Luc Robitaille is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. During his 19-season National Hockey League career, Robitaille won a Stanley Cup in 2001–02 with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, but is most known for his fourteen seasons,...

 of the Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

.

McKeon married key grip
Key grip
In the United States and many parts of the world in film-making, the key grip is the head of the grip department and chief rigging technician on the set. Using light, he or she is in charge of the shadows of light, the movement of the camera, the placing of cameras on any stationary, moving,...

 Marc Andrus in June 2003, and in March 2004 gave birth to their daughter, Aurora. According to her A&E Biography TV special, she welcomed a second daughter, Harlow, in 2006.

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Other notes
1992 Where the Day Takes You
Where the Day Takes You
Where the Day Takes You is a 1992 film directed by Marc Rocco. The film tells the story of teenage runaways trying to survive on the streets of Los Angeles...

Vikki
1994 Teresa's Tattoo
Teresa's Tattoo
Teresa's Tattoo is a 1994 action–comedy–crime film directed by Julie Cypher and John E. Vohlers. The film is also known as Natural Selection. The film stars C. Thomas Howell, Lou Diamond Phillips, Melissa Etheridge, who also performed songs for the film, K.D. Lang, and Kiefer Sutherland...

Sara
1995 The Wrong Woman
The Wrong Woman
The Wrong Woman is a 1995 film starring Nancy McKeon, Chelsea Field, and Michele Scarabelli, produced by Pierre David, written by Douglas Soesbe, and directed by Douglas Jackson....

Melanie
1997 Just Write
Just Write
Just Write is a 1997 romantic comedy directed by Andrew Gallerani starring Jeremy Piven, Sherilyn Fenn, JoBeth Williams and Wallace Shawn.-Plot:...

Bride
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1977 Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...

Vikki Mayer Episode: The Crying Child
1978 Return to Fantasy Island Ann TV-Pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

/TV-Movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

A Question of Love Susan Moreland ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 TV-Movie
1978, 1981 Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...

Girl Orphan
Kimberly
Episode: Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?
Episode: Alice's Halloween Surprise
1979 Stone Jill Stone ABC TV-Movie
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Additional Voices Voice role
The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

Penny Barrett Episode: The Brotherhood of the Sea...
1979–1983 ABC Weekend Special
ABC Weekend Special
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....

Dolly
Amelia Matilda Daley
Scruffy
Voice role
7 episodes
1980–1988 The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...

Joanna 'Jo' Polniaczek 186 episodes
1980 Stone
Stone (TV series)
Stone was an American police drama that aired on NBC on Monday nights between January 14 and March 17 1980. The series was a Stephen J. Cannell Production in association with Gerry Productions, Inc. and Universal Television and was created by Cannell, Richard Levinson and William Link.-Premise:The...

Jill Stone 9 episodes
ABC Afterschool Special
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...

Lucy Twining Episode: Schoolboy Father
1980, 1981 Thundarr the Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning animated television series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran 2 seasons, 1980-1981 and 1981-1982...

Tai Voice Role
Episode: Harvest of Doom
Episode: Last Train to Doomsday
1981 Please Don't Hit Me, Mom Nancy Parks ABC Afterschool Special
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...

1982 The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour
The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour
The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour was a 60-minute package show, a Hanna-Barbera/Ruby-Spears co-production in 1982 for ABC Saturday mornings...

Dolly Voice Role
13 episodes
The Facts of Life Goes to Paris Joanna 'Jo' Polniaczek NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 TV-Movie
1983 Dusty Slugger TV-Pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

High School U.S.A.
High School U.S.A.
"High School U.S.A." is also the title of the biggest pop hit by Tommy Facenda.High School U.S.A. is a 1983 television movie directed by Rodney Amateau. The film originally aired on NBC on October 16, 1983 and features an ensemble cast including Michael J. Fox, Anthony Edwards, and Crispin...

Beth Franklin NBC TV-Movie
1985 Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy (1985 film)
Poison Ivy is a 1985 comedy television movie starring Michael J. Fox. Directed by Larry Elikann, the screenplay was written by Bennett Tramer. The film was produced by NBC and aired just months before Fox's feature film breakthrough Back to the Future and follow-up Teen Wolf.-Main cast:-Plot...

Rhonda Malone NBC TV-Movie
This Child Is Mine Kimberly Downs NBC TV-Movie
1986 Firefighter
Firefighter (film)
Firefighter is a 1986 television film directed by Robert Michael Lewis. The film is based on the true story of Cindy Fralick, the first female firefighter at the Los Angeles Fire Department.- Plot :...

Cindy Fralick CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 TV-Movie
1987 The Facts of Life Down Under Joanna 'Jo' Polniaczek NBC TV-Movie
Strange Voices
Strange Voices
Strange Voices is a 1987 television film about schizophrenia directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman. The film, based on actual events, was criticized as inferior to other made-for-television movies about the disorder, including Promise...

Nicole Glover NBC TV-Movie
1989 A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story Tracey Thurman NBC TV-Movie
1990 The Hitchhiker Episode: New Dawn
1991 Lightning Field Martha USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 TV-Movie
1992 Baby Snatcher Karen Williams CBS TV-Movie
1993 Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage Rosalie Profaci Bonann CBS TV-Movie
1995 A Mother's Gift Margaret Deal CBS TV-Movie
Can't Hurry Love
Can't Hurry Love
Can't Hurry Love is a US sitcom that ran for less than five months between September 1995 and February 1996.The show starred Nancy McKeon as a 20-something placement coordinator at a New York City personnel agency. McKeon plays Annie O'Donnell, a single career woman living in New York City and...

Annie O'Donnell 19 episodes
1997 In My Sister's Shadow Joan Connor CBS TV-Movie
1998 Style & Substance
Style & Substance
Style & Substance was a television situation comedy that premiered on CBS July 22, 1998.The show starred Jean Smart as Chelsea Stevens, a Martha Stewart-like star of a how-to home show, and Nancy McKeon as her producer, Jane Sokol, a small-town girl new to New York City...

Jane Sokol 13 episodes
1999 Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...

Rachel Episode: The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life
2001–2004 The Division
The Division
The Division is an American Lifetime Television original series about a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.-Synopsis:...

Insp. Jinny Exstead 88 episodes
2003 Comfort and Joy
Comfort and Joy (2003 film)
Comfort and Joy is a TV movie directed by Maggie Greenwald, originally airing on the Lifetime cable network in 2003. It starred Nancy McKeon as Jane Berry. The life of Jane Berry was all materialist, until one Christmas Eve, she is involved in a car accident that changes her life forever...

Jane TV-Movie
2004 Category 6: Day of Destruction
Category 6: Day of Destruction
Category 6: Day of Destruction is a 2004 four-hour miniseries that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in two parts, with the first part aired on November 14 and the second on November 17. It was later released to DVD on February 15, 2005...

Amy Harkin CBS Miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

2006 Wild Hearts
Wild Hearts
Wild Hearts is a Hallmark Channel original made for television movie that premiered on July 8, 2006. The movie cast includes Emmy award winning actor Richard Thomas, Hallee Hirsh, and Nancy McKeon. -Plot summary:...

Emily TV-Movie
2007 Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...

Gail Sweeney Episode: Absalom
2009–2010 Sonny With a Chance
Sonny With a Chance
Sonny with a Chance is an American children's sitcom which aired on Disney Channel, created by Steve Marmel, that follows the experiences of teenager Sonny Munroe, portrayed by Demi Lovato, who becomes the newest accepted cast member of her favorite live comedy show, So Random!.The series debuted...

Connie Munroe 7 Episodes
Recurring role

Awards and nominations

Marco Island Film Festival
  • 2000: Won, "Audience Award for Best Short Drama" - A Wakening
  • 2000: Won, "Crystal Palm Award for Best Short Film" - A Wakening


Prism Awards
  • 2003: Nominated, "Best Performance in a Drama Series Episode" - The Division
  • 2003: Nominated, "Best Performance in a Drama Series" - The Division
  • 2004: Nominated, "Best Performance in a Drama Series Multi Episode Storyline" - The Division


TV Land Awards
TV Land Awards
The TV Land Awards is an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorates shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with awards such as the Emmys. It is presented in a manner that spoofs other entertainment award ceremonies...

  • 2007: Nominated, "The 'When Bad Teens Go Good' Award" - The Facts of Life


Young Artist Awards
  • 1982: Nominated, "Best Young Comedienne in Motion Picture or Television" - The Facts of Life
  • 1983: Won, "Best Young Actress in a Television Special" - Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
  • 1983: Won, "Best Young Actress in a Movie Made for Television" - The Facts of Life Goes to Paris
  • 1983: Won, "Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series" - The Facts of Life
  • 1984: Nominated, "Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series" - The Facts of Life

External links

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