Jane Alexander Biography

One of the great stage actors of our time, Ms. Alexander has worked extensively in theater, television and film for nearly four decades. Her acting honors include six Tony Award nominations (Honour, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Visit, First Monday in October, Find Your Home and 6 Rms Riv Vu), winning for The Great White Hope. Ms. Alexander also received four Academy Award nominations (Testament, Kramer vs. Kramer, All the President’s Men and The Great White Hope), and five Emmy Award nominations (Malice in Wonderland, Calamity Jane, Eleanor and Franklin and The White House Years). She won an Emmy for her performance in Playing for Time. She has also produced three films, including the critically acclaimed A Marriage: Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz for PBS’ American Playhouse. As Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1993 to 1997, Ms. Alexander succeeded in keeping the agency from being eliminated by a hostile Congress. For her leadership in the arts, she has been awarded The Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service, Sara Lee Frontrunner, and Montblanc de la Culture Awards, among others. She was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994. Ms. Alexander’s memoirs of her years in Washington, Command Performance: An Actress in the Theatre of Politics will be published in June.