This tall blonde Seattle native, born on 13th September 1951, was not your average-looking ingénue. Jean Smart earned her stardom taking another route. Attending the University of Washington after high school, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in fine arts. Jean's first professional job was at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she performed in "Much Ado About Nothing," among others. During this time she built up her resumé in regional theater with such companies as the Hartford Stage Company, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Alaska Repertory Theatre and Alliance Theatre. Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which won Jean an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She followed this with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 after repeating her triumph on the West Coast. Making her Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf," it was the subsequent TV taping of that show that brought Jean to Hollywood. She struggled for a time in unsuccessful sitcoms (Teachers Only, Reggie and Maximum Security) before hitting gold as the feather-brained Charlene Frazier on Designing Women. She met future husband and actor Richard Gilliland on the set of the hit show; Gilliland played the boyfriend of co-star Annie Potts' character for a few seasons. Jean and Richard's son Connor was born in 1989. Feeling typecast and confined to light material, Jean left the show in 1991 to branch out and earned acclaim in such mini-movies as Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story. Here she gave a chilling portrayal as the well-known serial killer; this was more than a decade before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her cinematic version. On the other side of the coin, Jean offered gentle, heartfelt perfs in The Yarn Princess, in which she played a mentally-disabled mom, and the TV remake of The Yearling, allowing audiences to rediscover her versatility. On stage she went earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Broadway farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane, and on TV won bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier. Films would never be a profitable venue for Jean, making her debut in Flashpoint. She did, however, receive an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her part in Guinevere. Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness.
Appeared in original cast of the Broadway show, "Piaf," 1979. Also appeared at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, same year. Left Designing Women in 1991 to pursue other projects and to focus on her family. She is the 2nd of 4 children. Her parents were a teacher and a homemaker. At age 13, Jean was diagnosed with diabetes. Originally planned to be a veterinarian, but got interested in theater during her senior year in high school. Studied theater at the University of Washington. Met her husband when he guest-starred on Designing Women. Delta Burke arranged for the two to meet. Was nominated for Broadway's 2001 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for the George S. Kaufman - Moss Hart comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner." Is a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle, Washington, in 1969.