Actors - Janet Jackson

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	Actors - Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, and the youngest child of the famed Jackson music family. She is the sister of pop icon Michael Jackson. Breaking away from the shadows of her siblings, Jackson now ranks as the ninth most successful artist in the history of rock and roll, and is the youngest artist in the top ten of that group, according to Billboard magazine in 2004. Jackson has gone to sell nearly 130 million albums and singles worldwide. Her high-octane choreography, music videos and pop appeal has influenced many of today's younger performers.

Biography

Early life and career

Janet was born the last of nine children in Gary, Indiana to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Living in a two-bedroom house with eight older siblings, Janet's father, Joseph, or Joe, worked as a crane operator in a steel mill and before she became a devout Jehovah's Witness, her mother Katherine worked as a store clerk for Sears. Before Janet's birth, her father decided to try a hand at a music career fronting the R&B band the Falcons, but never got as far as the top nightclubs in Indiana. According to reports, Janet's father was gregarious and stern while her mother was deeply religious and seemed saintly.

By the time she was a toddler, Janet's older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael had already begun to perform on stage at nightclubs and theaters as the Jackson 5. In March 1969, the group signed to Motown Records, and by the end of the year, the group recorded their first of their four consecutive number-one singles, "I Want You Back". By the time the Jackson 5 had achieved success when they became the first band to score their first four #1 singles, the entire family moved to Southern California, eventually settling in a gated mansion they named Hayvenhurst in 1971.

Aspired to be a horse jockey after a profound infatuation with horses at the age of seven, Janet had no intention of entering show business. However, her father thought otherwise, as he saw her potential early on. After the success of the Jackson 5 began to dwindle, Joseph decided to bring the rest of his children into the spotlight, including Janet. On April 9, 1974, Janet made her public debut performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with nearly all nine members of the Jackson family. Janet quickly became the star of the show, emulating and imitating various celebrities of the day such as Cher, Marie Osmond, Toni Tennille, and Mae West, in particular.

By 1976, Janet and the family's Vegas act had caught the attention of CBS' president Fred Silverman. The network was desperately trying to find a new variety act to replace the recently ended Sonny & Cher Show, since ABC had a competing show featuring Donny and Marie Osmond. Debuting on June 16, 1976, The Jacksons show became the first African-American family to have a variety show on TV. The show lasted only two seasons and was canceled in 1977.

1977-1981: Acting career

In 1977, 11-year-old Jackson's enthusiasm for acting caught television producer Norman Lear's ear. Lear was looking for someone to reawaken one of his groundbreaking shows from TV ruin - the family sitcom Good Times. Lear cast Jackson in Good Times as an abused child named Penny. The show's star, J.J. Evans, played by Jimmie Walker, was the apple of Penny's eye on the show, a fact the character would make known every time she saw him. Jackson became one of the show's starring cast members during the 1977-1978 season, and would remain in the show until it was canceled in 1979.

Jackson continued her acting career, appearing briefly in a short-lived but Emmy nominated sitcom titled A New Kind of Family which also starred Rob Lowe, but was cancelled in early 1980. In 1981, she landed a recurring role on another family sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes, playing Charlene Duprey, the love interest of Willis (played by Todd Bridges).

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Actors - Janet Jackson

Biography

Early life and career

1977-1981: Acting career

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