Krakowski was born and raised in Parsippany, New Jersey,[4] 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.[5][6] She has an older brother.[7] Krakowski's father's family is Polish,[8] and while she speaks very little Polish, her father and paternal grandparents are fluent.[9]
Krakowski at the 2007 Red Dress Collection for The Heart Truth
Following a 1981 television commercial for the video game Solar Fox, Krakowski's first major role and feature film debut came at the age of 14, when she played Cousin Vicki Johnson in the 1983 road comedy National Lampoon's Vacation. Krakowski was originally cast in the 1983 horror filmSleepaway Camp, but dropped out just before filming began because she felt her character's death scene with a curling iron was too violent. In 1984, she began appearing as Theresa Rebecca "T.R." Kendall in the NBC soap opera Search for Tomorrow, part of the NBC Daytime programming block; she continued the role until the show ended in 1986 and was nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards in 1986 and 1987.[citation needed] She also appeared in several episodes of the soap opera Another World in 1989.
At age 18, Krakowski originated the role of Dinah the Dining Car in the 1987 Broadway production of Starlight Express. She appeared in the 1989 Broadway musicalGrand Hotel as the typist and would-be film star Flaemmchen, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.[13] Her solo number, "I Want to Go to Hollywood," is included on the original cast recording. In 1995, she played the ditzy flight attendant April in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Company, followed by a starring role alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1996 Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress.
At the 2000 American Comedy Awards, Krakowski won rave reviews when she performed a sexually charged musical tribute and love letter to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The following year, Krakowski appeared on the album Broadway Cares: Home for the Holidays, singing the song "Santa Baby". She also collaborated with Jim Brickman on the song "You" for Brickman's 2002 album Love Songs & Lullabies;[14] the song became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations. Brickman and Krakowski later recorded a Christmas-themed alternate version of the song.
Krakowski signing autographs after a performance of Guys and Dolls
Since 2021, Krakowski has hosted a Fox reboot of the 1950s gameshowName That Tune, with former American Idol judge Randy Jackson as bandleader.[26][27] Krakowski has said, "One of the reasons I wanted to do Name That Tune was to perform again in front of a live audience."[28][29]
Personal life
Krakowski became engaged to Robert Godley in 2009. They have a son,[30] born in April 2011.[31] The couple separated in 2013.[32]
In January 2021, the Daily Mail alleged that Krakowski had a nine-month relationship with Mike Lindell, the inventor of My Pillow, between late 2019 and the summer of 2020. Both Krakowski and Lindell denied the allegation, and Lindell sued the Daily Mail for libel.[33][34][35][36][37] The case was dismissed on the grounds that a "reasonable person" would not view anything in the Daily Mail article as defamatory.[38]
In November 2021, Krakowski contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from NBC's Annie Live! where she was to play Lily St. Regis.[39]
^Jane Krakowski: Z Krakowa do "Ally McBeal"Polish(...) mój tata rozmawiał po polsku. Moi dziadkowie rozmawiali na co dzień po angielsku, ale kłócili się tylko po polsku, żebyśmy ich nie zrozumieli! ("(...) my dad spoke Polish, and my grandparents spoke English at home, but they argued only in Polish, because they didn't want to be understood by us.") January 5, 2006, Mojayspa
^ abcdefgh"Jane Krakowski (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 4, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
