For the World War II broadcaster known as the "Georgia Peach", see Jane Anderson (journalist).
Jane Anderson
OccupationPlaywright, screenwriter, filmmaker, actress
Years active1982–present

Jane Anderson is an American playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and actress. She wrote and directed the feature film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005), and wrote the film It Could Happen to You (1994), starring Nicolas Cage. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her work on the miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014).

Career

Jane Anderson got her start as an actress, before getting her first writing job as a writer and consultant on the sitcom The Facts of Life (on which she had also appeared). She followed this up by creating the short-lived sitcom Raising 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 1993 HBO film The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, starring Holly Hunter; the film was critically acclaimed, and TV critics Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in their 2016 book TV (The Book) named it the 2nd greatest American TV movie of all time, behind Steven Spielberg's Duel.[1] She later wrote and directed several other critically acclaimed television movies, including The Baby Dance (1998), based on her play and starring Stockard Channing and Laura Dern; When Billie Beat Bobby (2001) starring Holly Hunter and Ron Silver; and Normal (2003), based on her play Looking for Normal and starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson. She also wrote the segment "1961" of the 2000 HBO film If These Walls Could Talk 2, which won Vanessa Redgrave an Emmy Award for her portrayal of an elderly lesbian prevented from hospital visitation with her dying long-time companion.

She became a writer for the AMC television drama Mad Men for the show's second season in 2008. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series for her work on the second season.[2]

In 2015, Anderson wrote the documentary Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson about 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 her own drawing.[3]

In 2017, Anderson wrote the Glenn Close-starring The Wife.

Works and performances

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
1994It Could Happen to You
1995How to Make an American Quilt
2005The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
2015Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake WilkinsonDocumentary
2017The Wife

Television

YearTitleWriterProducerNotes
1986The Facts of LifeEpisodes "The Apartment", "Ready or Not" and "Write and Wrong"
1988Raising MirandaEpisodes "Black Monday" and "Home for the Holidays"
1989The Wonder YearsEpisode "How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation"
1991The Hidden RoomEpisodes "Dream Child" and "A Type of Love Story"
2008Mad MenEpisode "The Gold Violin"
2014Olive KitteridgeMiniseries

TV movies

YearTitleDirectorWriterNotes
1993The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom
1998The Baby Dance
2000If These Walls Could Talk 2Segment "1961"
2001When Billie Beat Bobby
2003Normal

Plays

  • 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 of The Baby Dance)[7]

Other credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985–86The Facts of LifeProgram consultant5 episodes
1986Who's the Boss?Episode "Charmed Lives"
1989The Wonder YearsExecutive story editor7 episodes

Acting roles

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978The Billy Crystal Comedy HourRegular performerTV series
1978GirlfriendsOmega ReceptionistFilm
1984P.O.P.Dana McNeilTV film
1984E/RMrs. Grettie"Only a Nurse"
1985The Facts of LifeKaren"We Get Letters"

Awards and nominations

See also

References

  1. ^ 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. ISBN 9781455588190.
  2. ^ "2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". WGA. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  3. ^ "A Heartfelt Documentary Unpacks the Work of a Forgotten Lesbian Artist | Bitch Media". Bitch Media. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  4. ^ Hirschorn, Joel (April 15, 2001). "Looking for Normal". Variety
  5. ^ Guthmann, Edward (October 29, 2008). "Jane Anderson's 'Quality of Life' at ACT". San Francisco Chronicle
  6. ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (March 6, 2011). "Jane Anderson explores sexual conflict in 'The Escort'". Los Angeles Times
  7. ^ Grigware, Don (May 7, 2018). "Interview: Playwright Jane Anderson Discusses the Relevance of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED a the Rubicon". Broadway World
  8. ^ "Past Recipients". Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  9. ^ "Brown, Guirgis, Letscher, Metcalf, et al. Win LADCC Awards". 18 March 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. ^ "2008 Ovation Award Winners Announced". Retrieved 18 October 2015.