Biography
Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards.
Born in Boston and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Janney received a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art following her graduation from Kenyon College. After years of minor and uncredited film and television appearances, Janney's breakthrough came with the role of C. J. Cregg in the NBC political drama The West Wing (1999–2006), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2014, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Margaret Scully on the Showtime period drama Masters of Sex. For her portrayal of Bonnie Plunkett, a cynical recovering addict on the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–2021), Janney received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won twice for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Janney made her professional stage debut with the Off-Broadway production Ladies (1989), and followed with numerous bit parts in various similar productions, before making her Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of Present Laughter. She won two Drama Desk Awards and has been nominated for two Tony Awards: for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway revival of A View from the Bridge (1997), and for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical 9 to 5 (2009).
Her film roles include Private Parts (1997), Primary Colors (1998), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), American Beauty (1999), Nurse Betty (2000), The Hours (2002), Hairspray (2007), Juno (2007), The Help (2011), The Way, Way Back (2013), Tammy (2014), The Rewrite (2014), Spy (2015), Tallulah (2016), The Girl on the Train (2016), Bad Education (2019) and Bombshell (2019). She voiced roles in Finding Nemo (2003), Over the Hedge (2006), Minions (2015), and The Addams Family (2019). For her performance in the black comedy I, Tonya (2017), Janney won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award, all for Best Supporting Actress.
Filmography (168)
Miss You, Love You
2026
Minions & Monsters
2026
The Dog Stars
2026
Everything's Going to Be Great
2025
Another Simple Favor
2025
The Roses
2025
Palm Royale
2024
The Creator
2023
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
2023
True Love: Making The Creator
2023
The Diplomat
2023
Minions & More 2
2022
Lou
2022
The People We Hate at the Wedding
2022
To Leslie
2022
Still Working 9 to 5
2022
Be My Guest with Ina Garten
2022
Breaking News in Yuba County
2021
Lazy Susan
2020
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
2020
Celebrity IOU
2020
The Addams Family
2019
Troop Zero
2019
Bad Education
2019
Bombshell
2019
Ma
2019
Expedition Amelia
2019
Human Discoveries
2019
The Night Is Young
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
The Kominsky Method
2018
Sun Dogs
2017
A Happening of Monumental Proportions
2017
I, Tonya
2017
DuckTales
2017
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
2016
Tallulah
2016
The Girl on the Train
2016
Finding Dory
2016
Chelsea
2016
Spy
2015
The DUFF
2015
Minions
2015
Binky Nelson Unpacified
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
2014
Tammy
2014
Days and Nights
2014
The Rewrite
2014
Get On Up
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014
Struck by Lightning
2013
Touchy Feely
2013
The Way Way Back
2013
Trust Me
2013
Bad Words
2013
Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy
2013
Brightest Star
2013
Mom
2013
Hollywood Game Night
2013
Masters of Sex
2013
The Arsenio Hall Show
2013
A Thousand Words
2012
Liberal Arts
2012
Celia
2012
Comedy Bang! Bang!
2012
Veep
2012
Margaret
2011
The Help
2011
The Oranges
2011
Mr. Sunshine
2011
Life During Wartime
2010
Love and Distrust
2010
Who Do You Think You Are?
2010
Away We Go
2009
It's Still Me!
2009
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
Prop 8: The Musical
2008
Pretty Ugly People
2008
The Bonnie Hunt Show
2008
Web Therapy
2008
In Plain Sight
2008
Hairspray
2007
Juno
2007
You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray"
2007
It's 'Hairspray'!
2007
The EcoZone Project
2007
Phineas and Ferb
2007
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Over the Hedge
2006
Strangers with Candy
2006
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
2006
The Megan Mullally Show
2006
The Chumscrubber
2005
Our Very Own
2005
Weeds
2005
American Dad!
2005
Winter Solstice
2004
Piccadilly Jim
2004
Lost
2004
The Soup
2004
Finding Nemo
2003
How to Deal
2003
Chicken Party
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
Two and a Half Men
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Celebrity Poker Showdown
2003
The Hours
2002
Rooftop Kisses
2002
A Girl Thing
2001
Nurse Betty
2000
Auto Motives
2000
Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000
American Beauty
1999
Drop Dead Gorgeous
1999
10 Things I Hate About You
1999
The Debtors
1999
Family Guy
1999
The West Wing
1999
Six Days Seven Nights
1998
Primary Colors
1998
Celebrity
1998
The Object of My Affection
1998
The Impostors
1998
David and Lisa
1998
LateLine
1998
...First Do No Harm
1997
Julian Po
1997
Anita Liberty
1997
Private Parts
1997
The Ice Storm
1997
Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing
1997
King of the Hill
1997
The View
1997
The Associate
1996
Walking and Talking
1996
Big Night
1996
Faithful
1996
Flux
1996
Rescuing Desire
1996
The Daily Show
1996
Aliens in the Family
1996
Heading Home
1995
The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA
1995
Wolf
1994
Dead Funny
1994
The Cowboy Way
1994
Miracle on 34th Street
1994
New York Undercover
1994
Blind Spot
1993
Frasier
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Intimate Portrait
1993
Law & Order
1990
Who Shot Pat?
1989
The Simpsons
1989
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
People's Choice Awards
1975
Saturday Night Live
1975
Tony Awards
1956
The Oscars
1953
Golden Globe Awards
1944
The Heart
Fonda
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