Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson | |
---|---|
Born | c.1954 (age 69–70) |
Occupation(s) | Actress, playwright, screenwriter, director |
Years active | 1982–present |
Spouse | Tess Ayers |
Children | 1 |
Jane Anderson(bornc.1954 inCalifornia) is an American actress,playwright,screenwriteranddirector.She wrote and directed the feature filmThe Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio(2005), and wrote the filmIt Could Happen to You(1994), starring Nicolas Cage. She won anEmmy Awardfor writing the screenplay for the miniseriesOlive Kitteridge(2014).
Career
[edit]Jane Anderson got her start as an actress, before getting her first writing job as a writer and consultant on the sitcomThe Facts of Life(on which she had also appeared). She followed this up by creating the short-lived sitcomRaising Miranda,which was cancelled in its first season. She then had several other TV series gigs, and wrote her first play,The Baby Dance(1989).
Her first film experience was writing the 1993HBOfilmThe Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,starringHolly Hunter;the film was critically acclaimed, and TV criticsMatt Zoller SeitzandAlan Sepinwallin their 2016 bookTV (The Book)named it the 2nd greatest American TV movie of all time, behindSteven Spielberg'sDuel.[1]She later wrote and directed several other critically acclaimed television movies, includingThe Baby Dance(1998), based on her play and starringStockard ChanningandLaura Dern;When Billie Beat Bobby(2001) starringHolly HunterandRon Silver;andNormal(2003), based on her playLooking for Normaland starringJessica LangeandTom Wilkinson.She also wrote the segment "1961" of the 2000 HBO filmIf These Walls Could Talk 2,which wonVanessa RedgraveanEmmy Awardfor her portrayal of an elderly lesbian prevented from hospital visitation with her dying long-time companion.
She became a writer for theAMCtelevision dramaMad Menfor the show's second season in 2008. She was nominated for aWriters Guild of America Awardfor Best Dramatic Series for her work on the second season.[2]
In 2015, Anderson wrote the documentaryPacked in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinsonabout her great aunt,Edith Lake Wilkinson,a lesbian and painter who was institutionalized in the 1920s and spent the rest of her life in an asylum for the mentally ill.[3]Anderson cites Wilkinson as an inspiration for own drawing.[3]
In 2017, Anderson wrote theGlenn Close-starringThe Wife.
Filmography
[edit]As writer / director
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | The Facts of Life | Writer | "The Apartment", "Ready or Not", "Write and Wrong" |
1988 | Raising Miranda | Writer | "Black Monday", "Home for the Holidays" |
1989 | The Wonder Years | Writer | "How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation" |
1991 | The Hidden Room | Writer | "Dream Child", "A Type of Love Story" |
1993 | The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom | Writer | TV film |
1994 | It Could Happen to You | Writer | |
1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Writer | |
1998 | The Baby Dance | Writer & director | TV film |
2000 | If These Walls Could Talk 2 | Writer & director | TV film, segment "1961" |
2001 | When Billie Beat Bobby | Writer & director | TV film |
2003 | Normal | Writer & director | TV film |
2005 | The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio | Writer & director | |
2008 | Mad Men | Writer | "The Gold Violin" |
2014 | Olive Kitteridge | Writer | TV miniseries |
2015 | Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson | Writer | Documentary |
2017 | The Wife | Writer |
As producer
[edit]Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1988 | Raising Miranda | 9 episodes |
2008 | Mad Men | "The Gold Violin", "A Night to Remember" |
2014 | Olive Kitteridge | TV miniseries |
2015 | Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson | Documentary |
As actress
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour | Regular performer | TV series |
1978 | Girlfriends | Omega Receptionist | Film |
1984 | P.O.P. | Dana McNeil | TV film |
1984 | E/R | Mrs. Grettie | "Only a Nurse" |
1985 | The Facts of Life | Karen | "We Get Letters" |
Other work
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1985–86 | The Facts of Life | Program consultant | 5 episodes |
1986 | Who's the Boss? | Program consultant | "Charmed Lives" |
1989 | The Wonder Years | Executive story editor | 7 episodes |
Plays
[edit]- The Baby Dance(1989)
- Looking for Normal(2001)[4]
- Defying Gravity
- The Quality of Life(2007)[5]
- The Escort: An Explicit Play for Discriminating People(2011)[6]
- The Baby Dance: Mixed(2018; revised version ofThe Baby Dance)[7]
Awards and nominations
[edit]- Emmy Awardfor writingThe Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom(1993)
- Emmy Awardnominations for writing and directingThe Baby Dance(1998)
- Emmy Awardnomination for writingNormal(2003)
- Emmy Awardnomination for writingIf These Walls Could Talk 2(2000) (For episode "1961" )
- Women in FilmLucy Award(2000) in recognition of excellence and innovation in a writing a creative work (If These Walls Could Talk 2) that has enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television[8]
- Directors Guild of America Awardnomination for directingNormal(2003)
- Writers Guild of America Awardfor Best Dramatic Series for her work on the second season ofMad Men(2008)[2]
- Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award (2008) for Outstanding World Premiere Play for writingThe Quality of Life[9]
- TwoOvation Awards(2008) for writingThe Quality of Life[10]
- Writers Guild of America Awardfor Best Long Form Adapted Series for writingOlive Kitteridge(2015)
- Emmy Awardfor writingOlive Kitteridge(2015)
See also
[edit]- List of female film and television directors
- List of lesbian filmmakers
- List of LGBT-related films directed by women
References
[edit]- ^Sepinwall, Alan;Seitz, Matt Zoller(September 2016).TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time(1st ed.). New York, NY:Grand Central Publishing.p. 372.ISBN9781455588190.
- ^ab"2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced".WGA. 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-12.Retrieved2008-12-12.
- ^ab"A Heartfelt Documentary Unpacks the Work of a Forgotten Lesbian Artist | Bitch Media".Bitch Media.Retrieved2016-11-03.
- ^Hirschorn, Joel (April 15, 2001)."Looking for Normal".Variety.
- ^Guthmann, Edward (October 29, 2008)."Jane Anderson's 'Quality of Life' at ACT".San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^Fernandez, Maria Elena (March 6, 2011)."Jane Anderson explores sexual conflict in 'The Escort'".Los Angeles Times.
- ^Grigware, Don (May 7, 2018)."Interview: Playwright Jane Anderson Discusses the Relevance of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED a the Rubicon".Broadway World.
- ^"Past Recipients".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-30.Retrieved2011-05-09.
- ^"Brown, Guirgis, Letscher, Metcalf, et al. Win LADCC Awards".18 March 2008.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^"2008 Ovation Award Winners Announced".Retrieved18 October2015.
External links
[edit]- 1950s births
- Living people
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American women writers
- Film directors from California
- American television actresses
- American television directors
- American television producers
- American lesbian writers
- American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
- American LGBTQ screenwriters
- American women dramatists and playwrights
- American women film directors
- American women screenwriters
- American lesbian artists
- American LGBTQ film directors
- Lesbian dramatists and playwrights
- Lesbian screenwriters
- American women television directors
- American women television producers
- American women television writers
- Actresses from New Jersey
- Artists from New Jersey
- Screenwriters from California
- Screenwriters from New Jersey
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Writers Guild of America Award winners
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- 21st-century American screenwriters
- 21st-century American women writers