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Jane Kaczmarek |
| Jane Kaczmarek | |||||||
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 Kaczmarek attends an event at the Griffith Observatory to honor Air Force members during Air Force Week Los Angeles, CA on November 17, 2008. |
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| Born | Jane Frances Kaczmarek December 21, 1955 Greendale, Wisconsin, United States |
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| Spouse(s) | Bradley Whitford (1992-present) 3 children | ||||||
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Jane Frances Kaczmarek (born December 21, 1955, in Greendale, Wisconsin) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. She lives in San Marino, California.
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Kaczmarek, a Polish American, majored in theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She later studied at the Yale School of Drama for her graduate degree and was a part of its theater company. She has had several Broadway hits, including Lost In Yonkers and Raised In Captivity, where she won an LA Drama Critics’ Award. Her first television role was that of Margie Spoletto on For Lovers Only (1982). Her first major role was that of Linda Bauer on Equal Justice from 1990-1991.1
Kaczmarek has also appeared in over forty television roles, the most notable including:1
In 2000, Kaczmarek was cast to play Lois in the FOX mid-season replacement Malcolm in the Middle.2
This role proved to be a wise career choice for Kaczmarek, as the show was a hit and made Lois a household name. TV Guide dubbed her a "true breakout; a female Homer Simpson", and critics hailed her for her comic talents.3 Later, Kaczmarek would credit the show for bringing out her comedic side, claiming, "[Before Malcolm I couldn’t even get auditions for comedies. I played very unfunny people." 4
Kaczmarek was nominated seven times for an Emmy for her performance on the show, one for every year. She also earned three Golden Globe nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, was honored with a Television Critics Association Award in 2000 and 2001, plus an American Comedy Award and a Family Television Award in 2001.
Following the cancellation of Malcolm in the Middle, Kaczmarek went on to star in the short-lived series Help Me Help You co-starring Ted Danson.
Starting Fall 2008, she is starring in the hour long TNT series Raising the Bar as Judge Trudy Kessler. She also continues to voice Judge Constance Harm on several Simpsons episodes as mentioned above.
Kaczmarek married West Wing actor and fellow Wisconsin native Bradley Whitford on August 15, 1992. They live in Los Angeles with their three children: Frances (born 1997), George (born December 23, 1999), and Mary Louisa (born November 25, 2002). Both are very active with charity, and are seen attending many major award shows together. She is the founder of “Clothes Off Our Back” which auctions celebrity clothing for children’s charities.
Kaczmarek underwent a hip replacement in April 2004, due to chronic arthritis.5 She recovered quickly, and used an X-ray of her new hip for her Emmy campaign the following summer, advertising herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip (except for Anthony LaPaglia).6
In 2006, Kaczmarek and Malcolm in the Middle co-star Erik Per Sullivan contributed the afterword for the children’s book, Together, that shows the importance of domestic animals to impoverished people in the world, and was inspired by the mission of the nonprofit charitable organization, Heifer International.
She was nominated for the same award every year during the show's run.
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