Jane Krakowski

Jane Krakowski (born October 11, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her starring role as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series 30 Rock (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Her other notable television roles include Elaine Vassal in the Fox legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal (1997–2002) and Jacqueline White in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020).

Krakowski made her feature film debut as Cousin Vicki Johnson in the road comedy National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), which was followed by roles in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Ice Age (2002), Alfie (2004), Open Season (2006), Pixels (2015), and The Willoughbys (2020).

Krakowski regularly performs on stage, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Broadway revival of Nine (2003), as well as receiving Tony Award nominations for Grand Hotel (1989) and She Loves Me (2016). She received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the West End revival of Guys and Dolls (2005).

Early life
Krakowski was born and raised in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, the daughter of Ed Krajkowski, a chemical engineer, and Barbara (née Benoit), a college theater instructor and producing artistic director for the Women's Theater Company. She has an older brother. Her father's family is Polish, and while she speaks very little Polish, her father and grandparents are fluent. Her mother is of half Polish descent, with the rest of her ancestry being French Canadian and Scottish.

Krakowski grew up immersed in the local theater scene as a result of her parents' activities, saying in one interview: "Instead of hiring baby sitters, they brought me along with them." She took ballet lessons at age four, but later stopped because she had the wrong body shape, instead moving more towards Broadway dancing. She attended the Professional Children's School in New York City and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.