Jean Louisa Kelly (born March 9, 1972) is an American actress and singer. After making her film debut as Tia Russell in '' Uncle Buck'' (1989) alongside

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...

, she appeared in a wide range of other films including ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'' (1995) and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'' (1995). From 2000 to 2006, she portrayed Kim Warner on the CBS sitcom '' Yes, Dear''.

Early career and education

Her first professional paying job was as a kid, starring in "Annie" at the Theater by the Sea in Mantunuck, Rhode Island. She reprised her "Annie" role the following summer at the Candlewood Playhouse in New Fairfield, Connecticut. Before attending college, she already had roles in the original Broadway cast of Sondheim's ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'' (as

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

) at the age of 15 and understudy to

Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( ; ; or ) is a German fairy tale most notably recorded by the Brothers Grimm and it was published in 1812 as part of '' Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Grimms' story was developed from the French literary fairy tale ...

and Little Red Ridinghood, and as Tia Russell in the film '' Uncle Buck'' with

. She also took roles in college productions, including with the

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

Society.

Later acting roles

In the mid-1990s, after graduating from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, Kelly became well known for a series of television commercials for MCI long distance in which she played a telephone operator who challenged

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. In 1995, she starred as Luisa in the musical film ''

'' with

Joey McIntyre Joseph Mulrey McIntyre (born December 31, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He is best known as the youngest member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. He has sold over one million records worldwide as a solo artist and work ...

and

Joel Grey Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical ''Cabaret (musical), Cabaret'' on Broadway theatre, ...

, although the film was shelved until 2000. Also in 1995, she played Rowena Morgan, the

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

for the title character of '' Mr. Holland's Opus''; she was cast while the movie was already in production, replacing another actress. Other films followed, including "Origin of the Species," "The Day Lincoln was Shot" and ''Landfall'' (2001). Kelly appeared

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

York Theatre The York Theatre Company is an Off-Broadway theatre company based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Established in 1969, The York is the only theater in New York City, and one of the few in the world, whose two-fold missio ...

in the title role in Paul McKibbins and B. T. McNicholl's ''The It Girl'', based on the 1927 movie ''It''. She also appeared in the York's "Musicals in Mufti" series as

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...

in '' It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman''. In 1996, Kelly voiced the title role in the second season of the animated series ''

Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders ''Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders'', known outside of North America as ''Starla & the Jewel Riders'' and sometimes spelled as the more traditionally Arthurian "Guinevere", is an American fantasy animated television series aimed at the p ...

''. After several made-for-TV movies, Kelly's broadest exposure came from her roles in

situation comedies A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

, first guest starring in such shows as '' Mad About You'', and then as a cast member of the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

version of ''

Cold Feet ''Cold Feet'' is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his 1997 Comedy Premieres, Comedy ...

''. From 2000 to 2006, she starred as Kim Warner on the long-running sitcom '' Yes, Dear''. In 2006 she guest starred in the ABC drama ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

''. After her series ended, she guest starred on numerous television shows and starred in movies of the week. She recurred as Bernice Pope in the

Yahoo Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, an ...

production of '' Sin City Saints''. She played opposite William Fichtner in the movie "The Neighbor" and opposite John Diehl in "Out of the Wild" in 2015. In 2019 she played opposite Bradley Whitford in "Call of the Wild," and played Jane Doe/Serena May in the James Wan movie "Malignant." Kelly appeared as Sarah Kazansky, the wife of Val Kilmer's character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, in the 2022 film '' Top Gun: Maverick''.

Music

She released an album of children's music called ''Color of Your Heart'' in 2013. In 2015, she released a five-song EP called ''Willing'', and in 2017 she released an album titled "For My Folks", which features a collection of standards.

Personal life

Kelly was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, the daughter of J. Joseph Kelly III and Wendy Kelly. Her father was a high school English teacher, and her mother taught piano. She grew up in Boylston, Massachusetts, eventually moving to Maryland when she was a junior in high school, and attended Easton High School in Easton, Maryland."College Grad Is Someone to Watch"
''Columbia University Record'', Vol. 21, No. 19, March 8, 1996

/ref> In 1994, Kelly graduated from

's Columbia College with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in English. In 1997, she married attorney James Pitaro. They have two children. She is close friends with

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Company ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
March 1996 article
in the ''Columbia University Record'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jean Louisa 1972 births Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from Massachusetts Actresses from Worcester, Massachusetts American child actresses American Congregationalists American women singers American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses Columbia College (New York) alumni Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses