Allison Janney

Biography

Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. Known for her performances across the screen and stage, she 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 in London 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 series The West Wing (1999–2006), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Awards.

 In 2014, for her guest role of Margaret Scully, a sexually repressed 1950s housewife on Showtime's period drama series Masters of Sex, she won a fifth Emmy. 

For her portrayal of Bonnie Plunkett, a cynical recovering addict on the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–2021), Janney won two more Emmys.

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).

Janney has also played character roles in various films, including Primary Colors (1998), American Beauty (1999), The Hours (2002), Juno (2007), Hairspray (2007), The Help (2011), Spy (2015), Bad Education (2019), and Bombshell (2019). 

For her portrayal of LaVona Golden in the black comedy I, Tonya (2017), Janney won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Janney was born on November 19, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Dayton, Ohio. She is the daughter of Macy Brooks Janney (née Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician.

She has an older brother, Jay, and a younger brother, Hal (1961–2011). Hal, who had battled depression and addiction for many years, died by suicide in 2011 at the age of 49.