Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series 30 Rock (2006–2013), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Krakowski's other television roles have included Elaine Vassal in the Fox legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal (1997–2002) and Jacqueline White in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020). For the latter, she received another Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination.
A trained singer, Krakowski has also worked on the stage. At age 18, she played the role of Dinah the Dining Car in the Broadway production of Starlight Express (1987). She has since won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the revival of Nine (2003). Other Tony-nominated roles include Grand Hotel (1989) and She Loves Me (2016). She received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the West End revival of Guys and Dolls (2005). She received another nomination for her role in Here We Are (2025). In film roles, she has appeared as Cousin Vicki Johnson in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and as Betty Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000).
Early life Jane Krakowski was born on October 11, 1968 and raised in Parsippany, New Jersey, the daughter of Edward A. Krajkowski (1938–2016), a chemical engineer employed at Picatinny Arsenal and former recording artist, and Barbara (), a college theater instructor and producing artistic director for the Women's Theater Company."Obituaries – Beulah U. Dudley" Newsbank She has an older brother. Krakowski's father's family is Polish,Cała rodzina po stronie mojego ojca jest polska ("All my family from my father's side is Polish") (Polish) January 5, 2006, Mojawyspa and while she speaks very little Polish, her father and paternal grandparents were fluent.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
Krakowski grew up immersed in the local theater scene as a result of her parents' involvement, saying in one interview: "Instead of hiring baby sitters, they brought me along with them." She took ballet lessons at age four, but later stopped because she had the wrong body shape, instead moving more towards Broadway dancing. She attended Parsippany High SchoolFilichia, Peter. "Leave It to Jane Jane Krakowski claims that, when she was a child, some people thought she looked like a boy!", TheaterMania, March 9, 2006. Accessed January 4, 2021. "She never did a show at Parsippany High School in New Jersey 'because I was working professionally on [the soap opera] Search for Tomorrow,' says the blonde honeybunch." and then the Professional Children's School in New York City and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Career 1983–2005: Early work and theater roles
Following a 1981 television commercial at age 12 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 film Sleepaway Camp, but dropped out just before filming began because she felt her character Judy'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. 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 musical Grand Hotel as the typist and would-be film star Flaemmchen, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 44th Tony Awards. 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.
From 1997 to 2002, Krakowski played office assistant Elaine Vassal in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal; she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 56th Golden Globe Awards in 1999. She portrayed Betty Rubble in the 2000 film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. She also appeared in the music video for The Chicks's song "Goodbye Earl" in 2000, and in a recurring role on the drama series Everwood in 2003.
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; the song became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations. Brickman and Krakowski later recorded a Christmas-themed alternate version of the song.
In 2003, she starred as Carla Albanese in the Broadway revival of Nine, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 57th Tony Awards. Krakowski's performance was noted for a "breathtaking" aerial stunt she performed during the number "A Call from the Vatican". In 2005, Krakowski performed her own cabaret show, Better When It's Banned, at Lincoln Center, and starred as Miss Adelaide in Michael Grandage's West End revival of Guys and Dolls at London's Piccadilly Theatre, for which she received the 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
2006–2020: Breakthrough with 30 Rock From 2006 to 2013, Krakowski played the role of Jenna Maroney, a clueless and narcissistic actress, on the Tina Fey-created NBC comedy series 30 Rock. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Between 2007 and 2009, Krakowski performed in a workshop production of the musical Xanadu; a New York City Center production of Damn Yankees alongside Sean Hayes and Cheyenne Jackson; and a staged reading at Playwrights Horizons of the musical Mrs. Sharp.
Following 30 Rock conclusion, Krakowski joined the cast of Fey's follow-up series, the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in the role of the condescending socialite Jacqueline White. Schmidt ran from 2015 to 2020 and garnered Krakowski her fifth Primetime Emmy Award nomination at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Krakowski starred as Ilona Ritter in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2016 Broadway revival of Jerry Bock's and Sheldon Harnick's She Loves Me. For her performance, Krakowski won the 2016 Fred and Adele Astaire Award as Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show; the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical; and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for the Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical at the 70th Tony Awards.
2021–present Since 2021, Krakowski has hosted a Fox reboot of the 1950s game show Name That Tune, with former American Idol judge Randy Jackson as bandleader. Krakowski has said, "One of the reasons I wanted to do Name That Tune was to perform again in front of a live audience."
From 2021 to 2023, Krakowski portrayed The Countess/Bobbie Flanagan in the musical comedy television series Schmigadoon!, created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.
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.
Krakowski returned to the West End in 2025 for a 2-month run as Marianne Brink in Stephen Sondheim's final musical, Here We Are, earning a second nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
From October 2025 to January 2026, she portrayed the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the historical farce Oh, Mary!, written and originated by Cole Escola.
Personal life Krakowski became engaged to Robert Godley in 2009. They have a son, born in April 2011. The couple separated in 2013.
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.Lindell's libel suit against Daily Mail Retrieved February 13, 2021 The case was dismissed on the grounds that a "reasonable person" would not view anything in the Daily Mail article as defamatory.
Filmography Film + Film performances by Jane Krakowski Year Title Role Notes 1983 National Lampoon's Vacation Cousin Vicki Johnson 1987 Fatal Attraction Christine 1991 Stepping Out Lynne 1996 Mrs. Winterbourne Christine 1997 Hudson River Blues Diane 1998 Dance With Me Patricia Black 1999 Go Irene Halverson 2000 Betty O'Shale 2002 Ice Age Jennifer the Sloth Voice 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. 2003 Marci X Lauren Farb When Zachary Beaver Came to Town Heather Wilson 2004 Alfie Dorie 2005 Pretty Persuasion Emily Klein 2006 Open Season GiselleVoice 2007 Surf's Up Sheila Limberfin Voice, deleted scenes 2008 Carol Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Miss May Dooley Open Season 2 Giselle Voice 2009 Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Corma Limbs 2014 Adult Beginners Miss Jenn Big Stone Gap Sweet Sue Tinsley 2015 Pixels First Lady Jane Cooper 2018 Henchmen Jane Voice 2020 The Willoughbys Mother Willoughby Voice 2021 My Little Pony: A New Generation Queen Haven Voice 2023 Your Christmas or Mine 2 Diane 2026 The Man with the Bag Completed TBA Ellen Post-production
Television