Jane Krakowski

Jane Krakowski (née Krajkowski) is an American actress and singer born on October 11, 1968, in Parsippany, New Jersey. The daughter of Edward A. Krajkowski (1938–2016), a chemical engineer at Picatinny Arsenal and former recording artist, and Barbara (née Benoit), a college theater instructor and producing artistic director for the Women's Theater Company, Krakowski grew up surrounded by the performing arts. Her parents frequently brought her along to theater productions rather than leaving her with babysitters. She began ballet lessons at age four before shifting her focus toward Broadway-style dance. Her education included Parsippany High School, the Professional Children's School in New York City, and the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Krakowski's professional career began early. At age 12, she appeared in a television commercial for the video game Solar Fox, and at 14 she made her feature film debut playing Cousin Vicki Johnson in the 1983 road comedy National Lampoon's Vacation. She had been cast in the 1983 horror film Sleepaway Camp but withdrew before filming began, citing the violence of her character's death scene. In 1984, she joined the NBC soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Theresa Rebecca "T.R." Kendall, a role she held until the show ended in 1986, earning Daytime Emmy Award nominations in both 1986 and 1987. She also appeared in several episodes of Another World in 1989.

Her Broadway career began in 1987, when, at age 18, she originated the role of Dinah the Dining Car in the Broadway production of Starlight Express. Two years later, she appeared in the Broadway musical Grand Hotel as Flaemmchen, a typist and aspiring film star whose solo number "I Want to Go to Hollywood" was included on the original cast recording. That performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 44th Tony Awards. In 1995, she played the flight attendant April in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Company, and in 1996 she starred alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress.

Krakowski's television profile rose significantly when she joined the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal in 1997, playing office assistant Elaine Vassal through 2002. The role brought her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 56th Golden Globe Awards in 1999. During this period she also portrayed Betty Rubble in the 2000 film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas and appeared in the music video for The Chicks's "Goodbye Earl" that same year. She took on a recurring role in the drama series Everwood in 2003.

In 2003, Krakowski returned to Broadway to star as Carla Albanese in the revival of Nine, a performance that included a widely noted aerial stunt during the number "A Call from the Vatican." The role earned her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 57th Tony Awards as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2005, she presented her own cabaret show, Better When It's Banned, at Lincoln Center, and then crossed the Atlantic to star as Miss Adelaide in Michael Grandage's West End revival of Guys and Dolls at London's Piccadilly Theatre. That performance brought her the 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

From 2006 to 2013, Krakowski played Jenna Maroney, a self-absorbed actress, on the Tina Fey-created NBC comedy series 30 Rock, receiving four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013. The series returned briefly in 2020. Between those years she also participated in a workshop production of Xanadu, a New York City Center production of Damn Yankees alongside Sean Hayes and Cheyenne Jackson, and a staged reading of Mrs. Sharp at Playwrights Horizons.

Following 30 Rock, Krakowski joined Fey's Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, running from 2015 to 2020, as the socialite Jacqueline White. The role generated a fifth Primetime Emmy Award nomination at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.

In 2016, Krakowski starred as Ilona Ritter in the Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of She Loves Me, the musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The performance earned her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and the Fred and Adele Astaire Award as Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show, along with a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical at the 70th Tony Awards.

From 2021 to 2023, Krakowski portrayed The Countess/Bobbie Flanagan in the Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon!, created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. In November 2021, a breakthrough COVID-19 infection forced her to withdraw from NBC's Annie Live!, where she had been set to play Lily St. Regis. That same year she began hosting a Fox reboot of the game show Name That Tune, with Randy Jackson serving as bandleader.

Krakowski returned to the West End in 2025 for a two-month run as Marianne Brink in Stephen Sondheim's final musical, Here We Are, earning a second nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. From October 2025 to January 2026, she played Mary Todd Lincoln in the historical farce Oh, Mary!, written and originated by Cole Escola.

In her personal life, Krakowski became engaged to Robert Godley in 2009. The couple have a son, born in April 2011. Krakowski's father's family is of Polish heritage; while she speaks little Polish herself, her father and paternal grandparents were fluent in the language.