Allison Brooks Janney is a world-renowned actress with a successful career spanning over thirty years on the stage, in film, and on television.
She was born on November 19, 1959 in at the Lying-In Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, the second child of Macy Brooks Putnam Janney and Jervis Spencer Janney Jr. Scroll through this section for a timeline and summary of Allison’s life and career.
Allison’s birth announcement, November 1959
Allison and her mother, Macy Janney - Spring 1960
In the spring of 1960, after her father Jervis, already a Princeton grad, completed his Masters at Harvard Business School, Allison’s parents relocated from Boston to Cincinnati. When Allison was five, the family settled for good in Dayton, Ohio, residing in the house built in 1911 by her paternal great-grandfather, Frank Hill Smith. For a deep-dive into Allison’s lineage, in 2022 the celebrity ancestry series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ aired a comprehensive episode tracing Allison’s maternal roots back to the Mayflower.
Toddler Allison and her first dog, Duffy.
Hal, Allison, & Jay
Allison grew up with two brothers, Henry (Hal) who was 18 months younger and Jervis III (Jay), who was 18 months older than Allison. The children were all educated at the Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio and later at the Connecticut boarding academy where their father had also attended: The Hotchkiss School.
Allison’s first stage role came courtesy of the Miami Valley School theater production of Oliver! when at age 12, she was cast as the undertaker’s son. Allison has often said she assumes she was asked to play a boy because of her great height – foreshadowing many frustrating casting decisions that would be made in her 20s.
In addition to drama, field hockey and dancing, Allison was a dedicated ice skater; her first dream as a girl was to become an Olympic figure skater and she trained seriously towards her goal, skating sometimes twice a day, before and after school. Watch a brief video of Allison ice skating as a teenager, below. Unfortunately her skating dreams were curtailed by her height and by a serious accident involving a plate glass door in the summer of 1977. However, Allison’s ice skating skills remained and would later be put on display in a 2011 episode of her television show ‘Mr. Sunshine’.
Hotchkiss was a family tradition and Allison began attending in 1975, the year the school first began to accept female students. Allison was a proctor in Buehler, a left fullback on the varsity field hockey team, and a regular in School theater productions. See below for a link to a podcast on which Allison speaks at length about her high school experience.
Allison and her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ackermann Putnam.
Allison as a teenager.
1978-1984
Allison entered college in the fall of 1978 at Kenyon College in Gambier Ohio; following her graduation, she attended famed acting school The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City until 1984. Click here to see a video of one of Allison’s 1983 performances at The Neighborhood Playhouse; more rare videos of Allison at the Playhouse can be found here and here! Expand the accordion section here for more details on Allison’s education >>
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Gambier, Ohio. 1978-1982. Bachelor of Arts in Theatre History.
Allison began her education in the theater as a freshman in Kenyon’s drama program. In the fall of 1978, she auditioned for Paul Newman, an alumni who had returned to the college to direct Michael Cristofer’s “C.C. Pyle and the Bunion Derby” and christen the school’s new theater. Allison was cast in the chorus after telling a compelling tale about her speedy driving.
Encouraged from then on by Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward, Allison forged a path in acting throughout her time at Kenyon. Click here to read the 2019 Kenyon Alumni Bulletin profile on Allison, which provides great background into her time at the college.
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New York, New York. Encouraged to attend by Paul Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward, Allison’s application was actually sent in by her Kenyon friend and drama-mate, Allison Mackie. Allison completed the Playhouse’s two-year course, studying the famed Meisner acting technique from Stanford Meisner himself.
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London. Allison attended a two-week summer program at RADA through her enrollment at the Neighborhood Playhouse; the school awarded one fellowship for this program and Allison was the selected actor. The experience left a lasting impression; with humor, in her 2018 BAFTA acceptance speech, Allison said the following about RADA:
“I want to thank BAFTA, and I want to clear up a little lie that I've perpetrated for the past thirty years. I did not in fact graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. I did, however, attend a two-week summer programme, which is probably the reason I'm standing here right now. It is certainly the reason I fell in love with London and fell in love with the theatre. So this means a great deal to me.”
Allison in her Kenyon College years.
Allison in her Kenyon College years.
Kenyon College year book photo, 1982 >>
Allison Janney / Drama
The Neighborhood Playhouse
1984-1994
Allison spent a decade post-Playhouse in the New York City region trying to make it as a working stage actor. She put on plays in various ensembles and off-Broadway theater companies, growing her exposure in New York. Her work was often mentioned in The New York Times to glowing and impressed reviews.
Allison’s entrance to the television and film words would soon follow with appearances in shows like ‘Morton and Hayes’ (1991), and soap operas ‘As the World Turns’ and ‘Guiding Light’ (1993-1995). Also in this period, Allison gave two memorable appearances on ‘Law and Order’ (1992 and 1994).
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“Ladies” – Music-Theater Group / Women’s Project - 1989. St. Clement’s Theater 423 West 46th Street, New York, NY.
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"Breaking Up" - American Stage Company - December 1990. Becton Theater at Farleigh Dickinson University - Teaneck, NJ
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Rob Reiner’s short-lived 1991 television series featured six episodes of black and white ‘newly discovered’ content from the forties. Allison appeared in two episodes.
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“Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” – Manhattan Class Company. 120 West 28th Street Theater. February 3 to March 21, 1993.
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“Fat Men in Skirts” – Naked Angels Theater Company – Naked Angels theater on West 17th Street, New York, NY. March 6 to 16, 1994.
Play by Nicky Silver. Directed by Joe Mantello. With Stanley Tucci and Marissa Tomei.
Allison’s off-Broadway career began to thrive in the early and mid-1990s, leading to increased exposure in the television and film industry >>
1995 - 1998
This three-year period marked a turning point for Allison’s career; into her mid-thirties, she began to find success being cast into small film roles and even greater recognition on the stage in New York. Allison made her Broadway debut in 1996 to a slew of rave reviews and award nominations with ‘Present Laughter’. The very next season, she was nominated for her first Tony Award after excellence in Arthur Miller’s ‘A View from the Bridge’. In between these stage endeavors, Allison was also appearing in more and more significant film roles, including ‘Big Night’ with Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci, Ang Lee’s ‘The Ice Storm’, and in memorable parts like Alan Alda’s wife in ‘Object of my Affection’.
Visit the Film and Stage tabs for more in depth content from this period of Allison’s career.
Allison with Brittany Murphy in ‘A View from the Bridge’ (1997)
Allison in Noel Coward’s ‘Present Laughter’ (1996)
Allison in the 1997 film ‘The Ice Storm’’
Allison in the film ‘Six Days, Seven Nights’ (1998)
1999 - 2006
1999 was a banner year in Allison’s career; she stole scenes with small character roles in films like ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ and ‘10 Things About You’ and shot the pilot for NBC’s ‘The West Wing’ in the crucial role of C.J. Cregg, White House Press Secretary. Following the success of ‘The West Wing’, Allison shot to mainstream fame and won three Emmy Awards in a row between 2000 and 2002. This led to more prominent film roles and casting in projects of greater significance like ‘American Beauty,’ and ‘The Hours’, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Our Very Own’.
2007 - 2009
In 2006, at the conclusion of seven years on ‘The West Wing’, Allison was tasked with finding her next focus. Instead of immediately pursuing more opportunities on television, Allison took a major pivot into the world of musical theater. And pivot she did: right onto Broadway and into another Tony nomination. When Joe Mantello, Allison’s director on early shows like ‘Fat Men In Skirts’, called her and asked her to join the cast of Dolly Parton’s upcoming production ‘9 to 5’, Allison’s initial instinct was to decline. Having never sung in a musical, but possessing the voice to do so, Allison tiptoed into the project by participating in the show’s week-long January 2007 workshop. The rest is literally history, with Allison’s memorable and iconic performance on stage as Violet Newstead a feather in her career cap. Also during this period, it is of note that Allison found time to perform in two movies that also became staples in her long list of memorable work: Juno and Hairspray.
2010 - 2013
By 2010, Allison was back in LA fresh off the Broadway run of ‘9 to 5’ and ready to seek her next steps back into television. Alongside her old West Wing cast compadre Matthew Perry, Allison starred in the short-lived but memorably funny ABC single camera comedy, “Mr. Sunshine”. An ensemble focused on the day-to-day operations of a sports and performance arena, the show featured quirky characters and humorous scenarios; it also saw Allison perform on ice skates likely for the first time since her childhood. Allison also used these years to make several high quality films like ‘Liberal Arts’ and ‘The Way, Way Back’, and in January of 2013, Chuck Lorre had come calling. Allison was set to co-star in the Anna Faris multi-camera comedy about life with addiction and recovery. Premiering in September 2013 to great ratings and rave reviews, Allison’s television path was set for the next eight years.
2014 - 2017
Having premiered to great success, the multi-camera MOM offered Allison a stable and comfortable working schedule; it also also turned out to be an awards vehicle in her first two seasons. Gathering the Supporting Actress Emmy in both 2014 and 2015, Allison also found time during this period to shoot guest appearances on the Showtime drama ‘Masters of Sex’. Night and day from the work she was doing on MOM, this performance drew her another Emmy still, for her stunning portrayal of the repressed 1950s housewife Margaret Scully. Allison was now more awarded than nearly any of her historical television counterparts - and she was also reaping greater success in other aspects of her career as well. In October 2016 she received a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; then shooting her part in ‘I, Tonya’ in just a week in January of 2017, Allison was also off to New York for a spring / summer limited run on Broadway with the revival of Guare’s ‘Six Degrees of Separation’. By the end of 2017, Allison was nominated for yet another Emmy and doors were opening for more: with the film festival premiere of I, Tonya in the fall, the critics were raving and the Academy was calling.
2018
2018 may go down as Allison’s greatest career year, if measured by the success of her performance in ‘I, Tonya’. Having premiered in late December of 2017, Allison kicked off the new year in January with win after win at the annual circuit of film award programs. The Golden Globe, the Critics’ Choice, the SAG, the BAFTA, the Independent Spirit, and finally, the Academy Award, were hers. Week after week, Allison was being photographed or seen on television to promote the film and her nominations for all of the major awards. At the same time, MOM was concluding its fifth season. In the summer following her awards success, Allison spent time in Louisiana to shoot Troop Zero and in the fall, as MOM continued for a sixth year running, Allison also found time to complete Bad Education with Hugh Jackman.
2019 - present
In 2019, Allison continued to work on MOM as it entered into a 7th season. She also spent her summer shooting the lead role in Tate Taylor’s ‘Breaking News in Yuba County’. That fall, ‘Bad Education’ premiered at the Toronto International Film Fest to rave reviews and a record-setting price for purchase by HBO. As 2019 faded out and 2020 turned to a global pandemic, MOM shut down its production early in March 2020; Bad Education premiered on HBO a month later to a virtual world. When it was safe for film crews to resume operations, Allison was right back to work with the 8th season of MOM (now, sans-Anna Faris) and an exciting ‘West Wing’ reunion special to benefit ‘When We All Vote’. In early 2021, ‘Breaking News in Yuba County’ was released with lots of fan fare, and the fans were saddened to learn that MOM would air its final episode in May 2021. For that stellar turn in the series finale of MOM, Allison garnered her 15th Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy series.
Allison lost no time regrouping following the conclusion of her series, with a summer spent in Vancouver shooting the lead in an action flick for Netflix called LOU. Also completed in 2021 was the Amazon comedy ‘People We Hate at the Wedding’. Both LOU and ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding’ debuted in the fall of 2022 to significant success. In March 2022, Allison shot a film in Thailand, a sci-fi flick for Gareth Edwards called ‘The Creator’ and then from May 2022-November 2022, Allison spent time shooting a supporting role in an upcoming ten-episode series for Apple TV+ based on the novel ‘Mrs. American Pie.’ The series, now titled ‘Palm Royale’ is expected to debut in March 2024.
In Spring 2023, Allison spent time in North Bay, Canada reuniting with her ‘I, Tonya’ writer & close friend Steven Rogers. His script, “Everything’s Going to be Great” was shot from March to May 2023 with Allison playing alongside Bryan Cranston. The SAG-AFTRA / WGA strikes from May to November 2023 put a pause on Hollywood productions; Allison was regularly seen on the picket lines over the summer in staunch support of her fellow actors. Following the strike resolution, in early 2024, Allison has been announced to star in two upcoming projects: a feature film to be directed by Jim Rash called “Miss You, Love You” and a Netflix series guest role in the upcoming season 2 of ‘The Diplomat’. More to come!
