Age, Biography, and Wiki
Jean’s ancestry was highlighted in a 2019 episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" where she discovered she is a direct descendant of Dorcas Hoar, a woman convicted during the Salem witch trials. Today, she is best known for iconic roles on "Designing Women," "Frasier," and HBO’s "Hacks."
| Occupation | Stage Actress |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 13 September 1951 |
| Age | 73 Years |
| Birth Place | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Exact details about Jean Smart’s current height, weight, and measurements are not widely publicized. Based on available sources, she is approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall (about 175 cm), but this is an estimate and not confirmed by official records.
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches |
| Weight | |
| Body Measurements | |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Jean Smart is married to actor Richard Gilliland. They have two children together. She is known for valuing her family life and often chooses roles that allow her to spend more time at home. Despite her celebrity status, Jean leads a relatively private life, focusing on her family and close friendships.
She is the second of four children. Smart was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 13 years old. Her father was a first-generation Scottish-American. On Season 10 of the television show Who Do You Think You Are?, Smart discovered she is a maternal descendant of Dorcas Hoar, one of the last women convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.
The same year, she was in the company of the second Broadway revival production of The Man Who Came to Dinner, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. Soon after, she landed roles in several high-profile films including Sweet Home Alabama (2002), playing the mother-in-law of Reese Witherspoon, and in the comedy Bringing Down The House (2002), opposite Queen Latifah. She also had a supporting role in the independent drama Garden State (2004). Between 2000 and 2004, Smart played the role of Supervisor of Detectives and ex-wife to Chief Jack Mannion of the Metropolitan Police Department on The District. From 2002 to 2007, she voiced Dr. Ann Possible in Kim Possible, and also provided the voice of the alcoholic chain-smoking, Pickles Oblong, on The Oblongs. In 2004, she reprised her voice role as Reba Heyerdahl in an episode of the Nickelodeon series Hey Arnold!. The same year, she was cast in a lead role in the short-lived Center of the Universe. She also had a supporting role in David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees (2004).
In January 2006, Smart joined the cast of the Fox series 24, playing the mentally unstable First Lady of the United States, Martha Logan, to actor Gregory Itzin's President Charles Logan. She received back-to-back Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for the role in 2006 and 2007. She also appeared in several films between 2006 and 2010, including the Curtis Hanson drama, Lucky You (2007), opposite Drew Barrymore; Youth in Revolt (2009); and the independent comedy Barry Munday (2010). Smart won her third Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for portraying Samantha's overbearing mother in the sitcom Samantha Who?, opposite Christina Applegate, which she played from 2007 to 2009. She later was cast as Hawaii Governor Pat Jameson during the first season of the CBS-TV remake of Hawaii Five-0. In 2012, Smart was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Harry's Law. She then had a supporting role in the Lifetime film Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013).
In 2015, Smart starred in the second season of the FX television series Fargo as Floyd Gerhardt. Floyd's husband heads Fargo's most prominent organized crime syndicate, and she is forced to take over after her husband suffers a debilitating stroke. She later finds herself having to lead the Gerhardt dynasty and deal with her sons, who are vying to replace their father. For her performance, Smart won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. She worked with Hawley again on Legion, in which she played Melanie Bird, a therapist who works with the eponymous character. In 2016, Smart had a role in the thriller The Accountant, opposite Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, and John Lithgow. In 2018, Smart played a guardian angel, to co-star Candace Cameron, in the Hallmark Channel television film A Shoe Addict's Christmas, which aired Sunday November 25, 2018.
In 2021, Smart appeared in the seven-episode HBO crime drama limited series Mare of Easttown set in a small town in Pennsylvania. The series stars Kate Winslet as a grizzled detective with a supporting cast that includes Guy Pearce, Julianne Nicholson, and Evan Peters. Her role as Winslet's mother has earned her critical acclaim with Jackson McHenry of Variety writing, "It's one of those essential truths of TV, as Watchmen and Legion displayed recently, that if you need a tough-as-nails broad, you hire Jean Smart. Smart has the voice and the timing to play a stern matriarch, and whenever she's onscreen in Mare of Easttown, she wrenches away the spotlight like she's grabbing a juice box."
Smart was married to actor Richard Gilliland for 33 years until his death in March 2021 after a brief illness. They met while working on the set of Designing Women (1986–93) where he played J.D. Shackelford, the boyfriend of Annie Potts's character, Mary Jo Shively. Smart also worked with her husband in season 5 of 24; he played Captain Stan Cotter in one episode, while she starred in the main cast role of First Lady Martha Logan.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Richard Gilliland (m. 1987-2021) |
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Net Worth and Salary
Jean Smart maintains a relatively low profile on social media. She does not appear to be highly active on major platforms like Instagram or Twitter, preferring privacy and focusing on her professional work and family life.
Career, Business, and Investments
- Active involvement in charitable organizations, combining her business acumen with philanthropy.
After graduating from college, Smart began her career appearing in regional theater throughout the Pacific Northwest, including in Washington, Alaska, and Oregon. She performed with the Seattle Repertory Theater as well as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. In the mid-1970s, she moved to New York City with college friend and fellow actress, Elizabeth Wingate (Lavery), and began working in Off-Broadway and professional regional productions. In 1980, she appeared as Lady Macbeth at the Pittsburgh Public Theater opposite Tom Atkins as Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff. In 1981, Smart was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. In February 1981, Smart appeared in the Broadway production of Piaf playing Marlene Dietrich, a role which she later reprised for the 1984 television version.
Education
Jean Smart graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle in 1969. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the University of Washington’s Professional Actors Training Program, which laid the foundation for her illustrious acting career.
She is a 1969 graduate of Ballard High School in Seattle; it was there that she gained an interest in acting in the drama program. She graduated from the University of Washington Professional Actors Training Program with a BFA.
