Jean Smart

Biography

Jean Elizabeth Smart, born on September 13, 1951, is a renowned actress from the United States. Over her illustrious career, she has garnered a wealth of honors, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, four Critics' Choice Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, along with nominations for both a Tony Award and a Grammy Award.

Smart rose to fame with her prominent portrayal of Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women, where she was a cast member from 1986 to 1991. Her exceptional talent earned her five Primetime Emmy Awards for her performances as Lana Gardner on the NBC series Frasier (2000–01), Regina Newley in ABC's Samantha Who? (2007–09), and Deborah Vance in the HBO Max comedy Hacks (2021–present). Additionally, she received Emmy nominations for her work in The District (2000–04), 24 (2006–07), Harry's Law (2011), Fargo (2015), Watchmen (2019), and Mare of Easttown (2021). Smart also appeared in the FX series Legion (2017–2019) and lent her voice to Ann Possible in the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible (2002–2007).

Onstage, she made her Broadway debut as Marlene Dietrich in the play Piaf (1981) and later returned to Broadway in the revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. Her filmography includes notable titles such as The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Garden State (2004), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Accountant (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and Babylon (2022), and she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role in Guinevere (1999).