Jessica Lange

Jessica Lange, a multi-award-winning stage and screen actress, returns to Broadway in spring 2024 in Paula Vogel's Mother Play.

Jessica Phyllis Lange was born April 20, 1949 in Cloquet, Minnesota. After studying art and photography at the University of Minnesota, she moved to Paris, where she first studied mime. She later studied acting in New York City at the HB Studio.

She made her film debut in the 1976 King Kong remake and went on to perform in some theatre-related films, including Bob Fosse's All That Jazz as the Angel of Death, a part Fosse wrote specifically for her. Her screen career hit a peak in 1982, when she became the first person in 40 years to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year. She won for her performance in Tootsie and was also nominated for Frances.

On screen, she also co-starred multiple times with the playwright/director/actor Sam Shepard, with whom she was also romantically involved for almost 30 years. In 1984, she made her TV debut in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and his play A Streetcar Named Desire marked her Broadway debut in 1992.

Lange became known for her performances in classic plays on TV and on stage: She reprised her role of Blanche for TV in 1995, and her other Broadway credits include Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night. Her performance as Mary won her the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.

At the turn of the 21st century, Lange starred in Titus, Julie Taymor's film adaptation of Titus Andronicus, and a London production of Long Day's Journey in which she reprised her role of Mary, making her the first American actress to earn an Olivier Award nomination. When she ventured back into TV in the 2010s, she earned three Emmy Awards — one for Grey Gardens and two for American Horror Story — making her one of only 24 people to receive the Triple Crown of Acting (Oscar, Emmy, Tony).

Lange returns to the Broadway stage as Phyllis in Mother Play, the latest world-premiere play by Paula Vogel, opposite Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger.