Actors - Allison Janney

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	Actors - Allison Janney

Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1960 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American actress, most famous for her portrayal of C.J. Cregg on the American television series The West Wing.

Biography

Early life

She aspired to be an Olympic skater, but a freak accident, in which she clashed with a closed, glass door, resulted in a change of ambition. She attended The Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio, where she was named a distinguished alum in 2004 and the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. After which she attended Kenyon College, where she was first discovered by Joanne Woodward and director Paul Newman. She went on to study drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Her first roles on television were as comedic foils on soap operas: she first played Vi Kaminski for a short time on As the World Turns, following up with a two-year stint as one of the Spaulding maids, Ginger on Guiding Light.

On May 17, 2004, Janney's boyfriend of two years, Richard Jenik, proposed to her in San Francisco.

:"Years ago, one casting agent told me that the only roles I could play were lesbians and aliens." -- Janney speaking of her height, which is 6 ft tall

On The West Wing

In 1999 she was cast in the role of presidential press secretary C.J. Cregg on the television drama The West Wing, for which she has won four Emmy Awards. Two of the Emmy's were for Best Supporting Actress in 2000 and 2001, and two were for Best Actress in the years 2002 and 2004. Janney was honorably nominated, in 2002, for the American Film Institute's (AFI), Actor of the Year. A nomination of Actor/Actress of the Year from the AFI is regarded as a very high honor in Acting. In a change of The West Wing plot, she was promoted to White House Chief of Staff after her predecessor, played by the late John Spencer, suffered a severe, scripted heart attack.

Several weekend trips to Washington, D.C. were frequent to Janney's schedule, and for the rest of the cast as well. Many outdoor scenes on The West Wing were actually filmed in the nation's capital. Janney also met several times with former White House Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers, who served in the Clinton Administration from 1993-1994. Janney met with Myers in New York City to accurately display the character she performed. The West Wing's political accuracy was also the target of critics who considered the West Wing's portrayal to be exaggerated. The West Wing has since then established with the media the accuracy of its television program, which has been declared by former West Wing staff workers to be a very close similarity to the actual West Wing of the White House. Janney's meeting with Myers were part of that step to reaffirm the credibility and accuracy portrayed by The West Wing

Janney's starting salary according to The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), was $70,000/episode in 1999. Since that date, negotiations were made for increased salaries for all the critically acclaimed actors on The West Wing. It is suggested that Janney's salary per episode for the later years of the show increased significantly.

:"One out of forty American men wears women's clothing. We've had more than forty presidents. One of these guys has been dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress." -- a famous quote of Janney's on the West Wing

The West Wing cancellation

The cancellation of The West Wing was announced on Sunday January 22, 2006. The cancellation was mainly attributed to the drop in ratings, perhaps due to the show's move from the primetime slot of Wednesday night to Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST on NBC. Even though the last seasons of The West Wing were plagued by decreasing viewer ratings, the overall rating of Janney remained a relatively positive one, touted by Entertainment Weekly as “one to watch”, “uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive”.

On January 29, 2006, shortly after the cancellation of The West Wing was announced, the cast was nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast. Janney, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, and other members of the cast appeared at the SAG Awards to honor their late castmate and friend, John Spencer.

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