Jane Sibbett

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Jane Sibbett
Born
Jane Moore Sibbett

(1962-11-28) November 28, 1962 (age 61)[1][2]
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
OccupationActress
Years active1985–present
Spouse
Karl Fink
(m. 1992; div. 2016)
Children3

Jane Moore Sibbett (born November 28, 1962) is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Heddy Newman on the Fox television series Herman's Head and Carol Willick on the television series Friends.

Early life[edit]

Sibbett was born in Berkeley, California, the youngest of five children. She was raised on Alameda Island,[3] in the San Francisco Bay.[4] She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she became a member of the California Delta chapter of Pi Beta Phi, an international women's fraternity.[5]

Career[edit]

Sibbett started her acting career as Jane Wilson on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara in 1986–87, for which she was nominated for a Best Newcomer Soap Opera Digest Awards.[6][failed verification] In 1989, she won the role of Laurie Parr on the CBS comedy The Famous Teddy Z, co-starring with Jon Cryer and Alex Rocco. The series lasted one season. In 1991, Sibbett was cast as status-conscious bombshell Heddy Newman on the Fox sitcom Herman's Head,[7] which quickly gained a cult following on the young broadcast network and lasted three seasons. Beginning in 1994, she played the occasional role of Carol Willick on Friends, a part-time stint that lasted until the end of the show's seventh season in 2001. During her Friends association, Sibbett had regular roles on the short-lived CBS sitcom If Not for You (1995), playing the jilted fiancée of her former Herman's Head co-star Hank Azaria, and in the second season of The WB's Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (1997–98), playing school headmaster Dr. Katherine Emerson.

Sibbett has appeared in more than 200 episodes of multiple TV series, including 21 Jump Street and The Nanny. She starred in the 1998 movie Noah alongside Tony Danza and Wallace Shawn as well as in 1998's The Second Arrival, alongside Patrick Muldoon and Michael Sarrazin. She appeared in Dan O'Bannon's 1992 film The Resurrected. She co-starred with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in It Takes Two (1995),[8][9] and the telefilm, Au Pair (1999).[10][11]

In 1996, Sibbett was offered the role of Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. CBS executives felt that she was right for the role and Sibbett signed a deal for the show; however, she turned down the role upon learning that star Ray Romano and other key staff members were unaware that she had been cast in the part. The role went to Patricia Heaton, who had been the first choice of Romano and show creator Philip Rosenthal. [12][13]

Sibbett produced and starred in NY Film Festival Best Romantic Comedy indie award winner, A One Time Thing, produced medical infotainment pilot Doc in a Box (2009), a reality pilot Edge of Reality (2009) with medium David Edge, co-produced four documentaries on Braco, a Croatian faith healer, with her company, Wild Aloha Studios, in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The latest, Evolution, was released on August 30, 2013.

With hopes to resurrect a theater that had gone dark due to financial straits as well as help women everywhere suffering from intimate violence, Sibbett began directing theater in Hawaii, and with two sold out years of One Billion Rising and Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues at The Kahilu Theatre on Hawaii Island the theater was saved and all raised funds for the play were donated to resources for women's health and safety. Sibbett's new play, SHE'ISLAND, co-written by the women of Hawaii Island staged April 2016, also at the Kahilu Theatre. Sibbett served on the Board of Directors for the 490-seat Kahilu Theatre helping launch a major renovation campaign with her Board colleagues and generous donors to the life-changing arts.[citation needed]

Since returning to the mainland, Sibbett has co-starred in the movies Jessica Darling's It List (2016), Winter Wedding (2017), A Date By Christmas Eve (2019), the pilot Manopause (2020) and the 27th Annual Critics' Choice 2022 nominee List of a Lifetime (2021) directed by indie director Roxy Shih.[14][15]

In 2019, she won the Michael D Publishers Award, a non-fiction writing scholarship to the Story Summit Writer's School, to complete the manuscript of her memoirs, About Jane.[16] As part of the scholarship, she also joined the Story Summit's group of faculty, supporting other burgeoning writers.[17]

Philanthropy[edit]

Sibbett has long been an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, working with the nine shelters of 1736 Family Crisis Center in Los Angeles.[18]

In March 2022, Sibbett assumed Chairperson of The Storyteller Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, dedicated to supporting, elevating, and amplifying diverse stories and the writers who tell them all around the world with Story Summit and The Story Summit Writers School. In December 2022 Sibbett stepped down from her duties as Chairperson of the Storyteller Foundation, with the Board of Directors following suit in January and February 2023.

Personal life[edit]

In 1989, Sibbett began dating Jon Cryer after working with him for some time on The Famous Teddy Z. [19]

In 1992, Sibbett married Karl Fink, a TV writer and producer who worked on the first two seasons of Herman's Head. Fink and Sibbett divorced in January 2016. They have three children, Ruby, Kai, and Violet.[20]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Going to the Chapel Jude
1990 Fear Newscaster
1991 The Resurrected Claire Ward
1995 It Takes Two Clarice Kensington
1998 Noah Angela
1998 Arrival II Bridget Riordan Direct-to-video (a.k.a. Second Arrival)
2002 Snow Dogs Nana Voice
2004 A One Time Thing Casey Hill
2005 Once Upon a Christmas
2006 The Town that Banned Christmas Madeline Bridges
2008 Legacy Mrs. Whittington Direct-to-video (a.k.a. Pretty Little Devils)
2016 Jessica Darling's It List Mrs. Darling
2017 Winter Wedding Marilyn Pierce

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Shawna 1 episode
1985 Promises to Keep Libby TV movie
1986 One Terrific Guy Donna Cumberland TV movie
1986 The Fall Guy Girl 1 episode
1986–1987 Santa Barbara Jane Wilson Recurring, 118 episodes
1988 Miracle at Beekman's Place Alex Peterson TV movie
1988 Valerie Melanie 1 episode
1988 My Two Dads Ashley Bokowski 1 episode
1988 Cheers Kim Cooperman 1 episode
1989 21 Jump Street Louise 1 episode
1989–1990 The Famous Teddy Z Laurie Parr Main cast
1990 Jake and the Fatman Dana Ashford 1 episode
1991 Quantum Leap Diane Frost 1 episode
1991–1994 Herman's Head Heddy Newman Main cast
1992 Likely Suspects - 1 episode
1994 Burke's Law Meg Harden 1 episode
1994–2001 Friends Carol Willick 15 episodes
1994 The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Dianna Grayson 1 episode
1995 Matlock A.D.A. Katie Clark 1 episode
1995 If Not for You Melanie Main cast
1996 Touched by an Angel Emily Houghton 1 episode
1997 Just in Time Brenda Hyatt TV movie
1997 The Nanny Morgan Faulkner/Marcy Feldman 1 episode
1997–1998 Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Dr. Katherine Emerson Main cast, season 2
1999 Au Pair Vivian Berger TV movie
1999 Sealed with a Kiss Christina Ethridge TV movie (a.k.a. First Comes Love)
1999 It's Like, You Know... Erika 1 episode
2001 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Robin Davis 1 episode
2002 Generation Gap TV movie
2002 Ally McBeal Beth Herman 1 episode
2002 Once and Again Jeannine Blue 2 episodes
2005 Buffalo Dreams Blaine Townsend TV movie
2006 What About Brian Tracy 1 episode
2007 Out of Jimmy's Head Ms. Shank 1 episode
2019 A Date by Christmas Eve Didi Dougherty TV movie (a.k.a. The Naughty List)
2021 List of a Lifetime Dr. Brenda Boyer Lifetime TV movie

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jane Sibbett Found Relief on 'Friends' after 1st Miscarriage — Inside Her Personal Life". 12 June 2021.
  2. ^ https://www.facebook.com/jane.sibbett/about_contact_and_basic_info[user-generated source]
  3. ^ "Jane Sibbett parents: Meet Gaines Sibbett, William Ryan Sibbett IV". 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  4. ^ "Jane Sibbett Biography". Metacritic. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "Famous members". Pi Beta Phi. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  6. ^ List of Soap Opera Digest Awards
  7. ^ Jicha, Tom (September 7, 1991). "Fox Network Should Hang 'Herman's Head' In Shame". Sun-Sentinel. Ft. Lauderdale. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  8. ^ Hinson, Hal (November 17, 1995). "It Takes Two". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  9. ^ Klady, Leonard (November 19, 1995). "Review: 'It Takes Two'". Variety. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  10. ^ "Au Pair (1999)". AllRovi. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "Jane Sibbett: Credits". TV Guide. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  12. ^ "'Everybody Loves Raymond': Two 'Friends' Stars Almost Played Debra Before Patricia Heaton Snagged the Role". 22 June 2020.
  13. ^ "16 Things You Never Knew About 'Everybody Loves Raymond' - Page 4 of 16". 20 April 2016.
  14. ^ Schneider, Michael (2021-12-06). "Succession, Mare of Easttown, Evil Lead 27th Annual Critics' Choice Awards TV Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  15. ^ Rose, Karen (October 23, 2015). "SHE'ISLAND producer offers staged reading". West Hawaii Today. Kailua-Kona. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  16. ^ Kirkpatrick, David Paul (Dec 12, 2019). "Jocelyn Jones and Jane Sibbett Win Best Non-Fiction Writing Scholarships for Their Memoirs". thegoodage.medium.com. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Story Summit Writers School | MENTORS & SPEAKERS". www.storysummit.us. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  18. ^ "About". Jane's Dancing Hands. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  19. ^ Shales, Tom (1989-10-23). "JON CRYER, THE ZING IN 'TEDDY Z'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  20. ^ "Jane Sibbett was offered to test for Jennifer Aniston's Friends role, Rachel, but when the producers learned she was pregnant, they couldn't go forward with a test deal. Sibbett took over the role of Carol two days after giving birth to her son, Kai. It all worked out perfectly". Contactmusic.com. September 24, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

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