Cherry Jones

Early life and education

Jones was born in Paris, Tennessee. Her mother was a high school teacher, and her father owned a flower shop. Her parents were very supportive of her theatrical ambitions, encouraging her interest by sending her to classes with local drama teacher, Ruby Krider. Jones takes great pains to credit her high school speech teacher, Linda Wilson, with her first real preparatory work. She is a 1978 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre, a fixture of Pittsburgh theatre.

Career

Most of her career has been in theater, beginning in 1980 as a founding member of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her Broadway performances include Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress and also a 2005 production of John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt at the Walter Kerr Theatre. For both roles, she earned a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.

Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron's play Imaginary Friends (with Swoosie Kurtz), the 2000 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good, for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States. In 1994, she also appeared in the Broadway run of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika as the Angel, replacing Ellen McLaughlin, who had originated the role.

She has narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's *Little House * series including, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, and Little Town on the Prairie. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock, The Perfect Storm, Signs, Ocean's Twelve, and The Village.

Jones played President Taylor on the Fox series 24, a role for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She played the role in the seventh season, from January to May 2009, as well as eighth season, which aired from January to May 2010.

In 2012, Jones starred in the NBC drama series Awake as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Evans.

Also in 2012, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in the Loeb Drama Center's revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie alongside Zachary Quinto, Brian J. Smith and Celia Keenan-Bolger.

In 2014, Cherry Jones was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

In 2015 and 2016 Jones had a recurring role on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent in its second and third seasons. She was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for her work in the 2015 season.

In 2016, she appeared in "Nosedive", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.

In 2018, Jones played Holly, the feminist mother to June/Offred in The Handmaid's Tale. She won an Emmy for her performance.

In 2019, Jones played the role of a grouchy psychic and tarot card reader in the comedy Wine Country, directed by Amy Poehler.

Personal life

In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked Mary O'Connor, with whom she had an 18-year relationship.

She started dating Sarah Paulson in 2004. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work in Doubt, she thanked "Laura Wingfield", the Glass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Paulson. In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview with Velvetpark at Women's Event 10 for the LGBTQ Center of New York. Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.

In mid-2015, Jones married filmmaker Sophie Huber.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Cherry Jones

References

References

1. Internet Broadway Database Cherry Jones [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/cherry-jones-47147] at the Internet Broadway Database
2. Pollet, Alison. (September 1, 2003). "When I Was a Girl". [[Gallery Books]].
3. Rapp, Linda. "Jones, Cherry (b. 1956)".
4. (May 26, 2018). "Women in American Theatre". Theatre Communications Grou.
5. Conner, Lynne (2007). ''Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater''. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 247. {{ISBN. 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
6. Hartigan, Patti. (May 11, 2017). "Cherry Jones returns to the city where she launched her career". Boston Globe.
7. Internet Broadway Database {{IBDB name
8. Brantley, Ben. (February 14, 2013). "'The Glass Menagerie,' at Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA". New York Times.
9. Joyce Eng. (September 20, 2009). "Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Cryer Win First Emmys". TVGuide.com.
10. Hetrick, Adam. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/171309-Zachary-Quinto-Celia-Keenan-Bolger-and-Brian-J-Smith-Join-Cherry-Jones-for-ARTs-Glass-Menagerie "Zachary Quinto, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith Join Cherry Jones for A.R.T.'s Glass Menagerie"] {{webarchive. link. (October 19, 2012 playbill.com, October 18, 2012)
11. "Cherry Jones, Ellen Burstyn, Cameron Mackintosh and More Inducted Into Broadway's Theater Hall of Fame".
12. (October 7, 2016). "'Black Mirror' Season 3 Trailer: "No One Is This Happy'". Deadline.
13. (January 25, 2018). "'The Handmaid's Tale' Enlists Cherry Jones for Pivotal Season 2 Role (Exclusive)".
14. (May 6, 2019). "'Wine Country': Film Review".
15. "A Benefit of 'Doubt'". Washington Post.
16. (September 20, 2013). "Cherry Jones, at the Peak of Her Powers".
17. . (February 11, 2009). ["Cherry Jones: Prop 8 Supporters 'Will Be Ashamed of Themselves'"](https://www.queerty.com/cherry-jones-prop-8-supporters-will-be-ashamed-of-themselves-20090211).
18. AfterEllen.com [http://www.afterellen.com/People/2005/6/sarahpaulson.html Sarah Paulson] {{webarchive. link. (June 9, 2005)
19. "Velvetpark – Art Thought Culture".
20. (October 9, 2009). "Cherry Jones & Sarah Paulson Call It Quits With 'Happiest Break-Up'". Access Online.
21. (November 10, 2015). "Cherry Jones on getting married and playing a lesbian feminist in Season 2 of "Transparent"".
22. (November 7, 2014). "Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones Cast in Upcoming Hank Williams Movie".