Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television sitcom ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...

'' (2000–2006), which earned her three

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nominations and seven

Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations. She also appeared as Linda in ''

Equal Justice Equal justice under law is a phrase engraved on the West Pediment, above the front entrance of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. It is also a societal ideal that has influenced the American legal system. The phrase was ...

'' (1990–1991), Judge Trudy in '' Raising the Bar'' (2008–2009), Ann in ''

Falling in Love Falling in love is the development of strong feelings of attachment and love, usually towards another person. The term is metaphorical, emphasizing that the process, like the physical act of falling, is sudden, uncontrollable and leaves the ...

'' (1984), Emily in ''

The Heavenly Kid ''The Heavenly Kid'' is a 1985 American romantic comedy fantasy film directed by Cary Medoway and starring Lewis Smith, Jason Gedrick, Jane Kaczmarek and Richard Mulligan. Plot In the early 1960s, Bobby Fontana ( Lewis Smith), a young grease ...

'' (1985), and Gayle in '' 6 Balloons'' (2018).

Early life

Kaczmarek was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, the daughter of Evelyn (née Gregorska), a teacher, and Edward Kaczmarek, a

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

worker. Of Polish ancestry, she grew up in Greendale, where she was raised a Roman Catholic.

Career

''Malcolm in the Middle''

In 1999, Kaczmarek was cast to play

Lois Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English C ...

in the sitcom ''

'', which premiered on January 9, 2000. ''TV Guide'' dubbed her role in the series as a "true breakout; a female

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...

", and critics hailed her for her comic talents. Later, Kaczmarek would credit the show for bringing out her comedic side, saying, " efore ''Malcolm''I couldn't even get auditions for comedies. I played very unfunny people."

Later work

On July 22, 2011, it was confirmed that Kaczmarek would make a vocal appearance as Red Jessica in the television series ''

Jake and the Never Land Pirates ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'' (titled ''Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates'' for the fourth season and associated merchandise) is an American animated musical and interactive preschool children's television series shown on Disney Junior ...

'' during its second season early 2012. In November 2012, she made a guest appearance on ABC's '' The Middle'' as Frankie Heck's (Patricia Heaton) dental teacher. In 2013, Kaczmarek guest starred on NBC's long-running legal drama, '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', as Suffolk County D.A. Pamela "Pam" James. Kaczmarek and former ''Malcolm in the Middle'' co-star Bryan Cranston reprised their roles as Lois and Hal respectively in an "alternate ending"

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

on the ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'' DVD/Blu-ray box set that was released on November 26, 2013. In it, Hal wakes up from the nightmare that was the plot of ''Breaking Bad'', in a nod to the final scene from ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

''.

Personal life

Kaczmarek married fellow

native and actor

Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he w ...

on August 15, 1992. They lived in Los Angeles with their three children. Both were active with charity, and were seen attending major award shows together. In June 2009, the couple filed for divorce after almost 17 years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in October 2010. One of the last times they were seen together publicly was in September 2008, at the opening of a Los Angeles production of ''

The House of Blue Leaves ''The House of Blue Leaves'' is a play by American playwright John Guare which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Critic ...

'', in which Kaczmarek was starring. According to a June 2009 magazine interview with More.com conducted prior to announcement of the divorce, she replied "That's a big no comment" when asked to sum up her love life. She added that she used to believe that she could "go it alone and as long as I had some fabulous boy on my arm, or man, and my career was sailing, that's all I needed" whereas she now had grown to appreciate the support of her girlfriends "to talk about kids, to talk about marriages, to talk about just life". In 2010, they sold their 1924 villa in

San Marino, California San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househol ...

. Kaczmarek underwent a

hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...

in April 2004, due to chronic

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

. She recovered quickly, and used an

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

of her new hip for her

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

campaign the following summer, advertising herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip (except for

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

)".Jane Kaczmarek – Kaczmarek Explains Hip Emmy Ad
" ''contactmusic.com'', 29 August 2004.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Kaczmarek supports Milwaukee parks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarek, Jane 1955 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Milwaukee American film actresses American people of Polish descent American Roman Catholics American television actresses Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Yale School of Drama alumni People from San Marino, California People from Greendale, Wisconsin Catholics from California Catholics from Wisconsin Wisconsin Democrats California Democrats