Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander

Birth : 1939-10-28, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jane Alexander (born October 28, 1939) is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film, and has committed herself to a variety of charitable causes.

Profile

Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander

Movies

Backstage - Dietro le quinte
Serena
9 young performers participate in a difficult selection process for a new musical by a gifted director with a dark past. They come from different backgrounds with differing motivations, but all have the same dream: to make it.
The Man in the Woods
Vivien Waldorf
On a snowy night in 1963 Pennsylvania, a boarding school student goes missing in the woods. Her friends, a disgraced quarterback, a shunned ex-cop, and the headmaster's wife, agree to go search for her. As they do, they confront the lies, ghost stories, and demonization that their idyllic school was built on.
Alan Pakula: Going for Truth
Self
"Alan Pakula: Going for Truth" encompasses the personal and professional life of Alan J. Pakula, a lauded filmmaker and extremely private man, who was unflinching in his commitment to bringing some of the most memorable movies of the last half of the 20th century to the big screen. Always placing story first and going for truth, with anonymity being his preferred style of directing, this elusive artist finally gets his spotlight. Select cast and crew members from his wide ranging filmography including To Kill A Mockingbird, Klute, All the President's Men, Sophie's Choice, Presumed Innocent, and The Pelican Brief bring Pakula to life once more after he was lost so tragically; while family and friends share their memories of knowing him as an artist, a husband, and a stepfather.
Christmas Around the Corner
Mrs. Tumulty
Claire (Alexandra Breckenridge), a savvy venture capitalist from New York City, escapes to a quaint town in Vermont for the holidays and becomes a guest of the Fortenbury Bookstore. Upon arrival, Claire finds Christmas celebrations have been canceled by the town after a flood and the bookstore is in a dire state of disrepair. She immediately takes on the challenge to revitalize the store, but clashes with the owner, Andrew (Jamie Spilchuk), who initially rejects all her proposed improvements. Eventually, sparks fly as the two begin a budding romance, and Claire’s infectious optimism inspires Andrew to join her in reviving the yuletide spirit. But everything comes to a screeching halt when Claire discovers that Andrew is planning to sell the bookstore in the New Year. Will the spirit of Christmas be enough to change Andrew’s mind and encourage him to follow his heart?
Three Christs
Dr. Abraham
Dr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.
Show Boat
Parthy Hawks
The landmark musical brought vividly to life by the New York Philharmonic, with an all-star cast led by Vanessa Williams, Julian Ovenden, Lauren Worsham, Norm Lewis, Jane Alexander and Fred Willard.
Mr. Morgan's Last Love
Joan Morgan
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
William & Catherine: A Royal Romance
HM Queen Elizabeth II
The film is based on the story of William of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton. Shown in the same life of William of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton met at the University of Saint Andrews, besides the romance that they maintained, the break of it and commitment.
Deck the Halls
Nora Regan Reilly
Detective Regan Reilly and cleaning-woman-turned-private-eye Alvirah Meegan, investigate the kidnapping of Regan's father and a young female driver just before the holidays. The race is on to rescue the pair and get them home in time for Christmas.
Dream House
Dr. Greeley
Publisher Will Atenton quits a lucrative job in New York to relocate his wife, Libby, and their daughters to a quaint town in New England. However, as they settle into their home the Atentons discover that a woman and her children were murdered there, and the surviving husband is the town's prime suspect. With help from a neighbor who was close to the murdered family, Will pieces together a horrifying chain of events.
John Muir in the New World
Narrator (voice)
The life and the career of John Muir come to life through this inspiring and beautiful documentary set against the magnificent landscapes of the American West. The Scottish-born naturalist was one of the first nature preservationists in American history, inspiring others through his writing and his advocacy to keep the wilderness wild. Shot in high definition in the spectacular landscapes that shaped Muir - and were, in turn, shaped by his devotion.
Terminator Salvation
Virginia
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
The Unborn
Sofi Kozma
A young woman fights the spirit that is slowly taking possession of her.
Gigantic
Barbara Weathersby
Young mattress salesman Brian decides to adopt a baby from China but is distracted when he forms a relationship with quirky, wealthy Harriet whom he meets at his mattress store. As their relationship flourishes, unbeknownst to them, a hitman is trying to kill Brian.
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women
Ednah Cheney
Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women," leads a literary double life, writing under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, an identity that remains until the 1940s.
Feast of Love
Esther Stevenson
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.
The Powder & the Glory
Herself - Narrator
The story of pioneering entrepreneurs Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, who built cosmetics empires and competed against each other for more than fifty years. Starting from nothing, they became household names and business icons.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
Gertrude Nemerov
In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respectable though her life is, she cannot help but feel uncomfortable in her privileged world. One night, a new neighbor catches Diane's eye, and the enigmatic man inspires her to set forth on the path to discovering her own artistry.
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Eleanor Bachman (segment "The Great White Hope") / Sara Goode (segment "The Sisters Rosensweig")
The Great White Way comes into your living room via this disc of rare performances from some of Broadway's brightest luminaries. Culled from clips from the Tony Awards shows, this unique collection features acting powerhouses James Earl Jones, Annette Bening, Joan Allen, Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise and Maggie Smith, among others, performing works by such playwrights as August Wilson, David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein and more.
Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of
Self
A short documentary on the making of "All the President's Men."
Warm Springs
Sara Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt, left a paraplegic from polio at 39 years of age, seeks out a miracle cure in the backwoods of Georgia.
The Ring
Dr. Grasnik
Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video... and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring so she can save herself and her son.
Sunshine State
Delia Temple
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Jenifer
Marilyn Estess
The true story of three sisters who unite in the face of adversity when one of them is diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Finding the Truth: The Making of 'Kramer vs. Kramer'
Self
A behind-the-scenes look at this Oscar-winning classic about a man who finds himself a single parent after his wife walks out on him, then is forced to fight for custody of his child in court. Includes interviews with the stars of the film, including Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, giving their views of what it was like to make this picture.
The Cider House Rules
Nurse Edna
Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
The Legend of the Titanic
Elizabeth Camden
Old Grandpa mouse tells to his grandchildren the "real" story of the Titanic disaster, including evil sharks, a giant octopus, and an evil whaling scheme.
Le donne non vogliono più
Stay the Night
Blanche Kettman
Based on a true story, Barbara Hershey and Morgan Weisser portray two star crossed lovers who will stop at nothing to be together without any ridicule. "Stay the Night" tells the dark tale of the controversial romance of a small town teenage boy named Michael Kettman and a free-spirited older woman named Jimmie Sue Finger, who suffers from an abusive marriage. Jimmie Sue and her younger lover plot to murder her husband, which leads to either eternal bliss for the both of them or a curse on their relationship.
Night Of 100 Stars III
Self
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Glory
Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
Mountain View
Bartender
A dance drama work which, through movement and very little spoken text, details the interaction of several people residing at or visiting a motel or motor inn named Mountain View. Choreographer Marta Renzi and independent film director John Sayles were invited to collaborate on writing and directing this half-hour for public television.
Building Bombs
Narrator
This Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles everyday life in Aiken, S.C. -- ground zero for America's hydrogen bomb-making facility, the Savannah River Plant. Through interviews with residents, politicians, activists and factory workers, the incisive film looks at the consequences of living in the shadow of nuclear weapons and the illegal dumping of radioactive waste. Actress Jane Alexander narrates.
Open Admissions
Ginny Carlsen
An indifferent speech professor doing hack work in an urban college suddenly finds herself challenged by a ghetto youth with an intense desire to get a good education in this issue-oriented drama.
A Friendship in Vienna
Hannah Dournenvald
Inge Dournenvald and Lise Mueller are best friends in pre-WW2 Austria, despite the fact that Inge is Jewish and Lise is the daughter of a Nazi sympathizer. When they are forbidden to see each other, they meet secretly. After the Germans invade Austria in 1938, Inge and her family escape to America with the help of Lise
Drug Free Kids: A Parents' Guide
Self
Ken Howard hosts a series of role-playing vignettes (featuring some of Hollywood's top stars) to help parents and children deal with typical family situations involving the use of illegal drugs.
Square Dance
Executive Producer
An awkward 13-year-old leaves her cranky grandfather in rural Texas, to live with her mother in Fort Worth.
Square Dance
Juanelle
An awkward 13-year-old leaves her cranky grandfather in rural Texas, to live with her mother in Fort Worth.
Sweet Country
Anna
An American couple in Chile is drawn into the turmoil that followed President Salvador Allende's 1973 overthrow.
In Love and War
Sybil Stockdale
This movie is an account of US Navy Commander James Stockdale's 8 year imprisonment in North Vietnam. During his confinement in such camps as the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", Stockdale, among other senior officers, led a resistance group against the North Vietnamese, facing torture, isolation, and starvation in attempts to break their wills. Back in the US, Stockdale's wife, Sybil, begins working with other POW wives to try to get information on their husbands and to inform the world on their treatment.
Blood & Orchids
Doris Ashley
Hester Murdoch is found naked and nearly beaten to death by four young Hawaiian men on the beach and taken to the hospital. Some of the men didn't want to get involved, fearing they might be blamed, because she was white, but do so anyway. Almost immediately everyone suspects they are to blame. When Hester's politically influential mother Doris finds out what really happened, she fearing a scandal, forces her daughter to blame the men who rescued her, of raping and beating her. It's up to detective Curt Maddox, to find out what really happened, and their Hawaiian lawyer to do the impossible. Convince a white court of law, that they are innocent.
Malice in Wonderland
Hedda Hopper
Struggling actress Hedda Hopper can't get a break in Hollywood, even though an acquaintence of hers is the extremely powerful gossip monger Louella Parsons - maker and breaker of careers (and lives) through her daily syndicated newspaper column. The big movie moguls, fed up with Parson's power over their stars, decide to de-claw her by setting up gossip Hopper as a competitor in the rumour industry. What they couldn't forsee was that Hopper would become as big as Parsons -- and every bit as much of a pain. Based on the true life stories of two of the most powerful (and arguably dangerous) women of Hollywood's hay-day.
City Heat
Addy
Set in Kansas City in 1933, Eastwood plays a police lieutenant known simply by his last name, Speer. Reynolds plays a former cop turned private eye named Mike Murphy. Both Speer and Murphy served on the force together and were once good friends, but are now bitter enemies. When Murphy's partner is slain they team up again to fight the mob.
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
The story of Martha Jane Canary aka Calamity Jane.
When She Says No
Nora Strangis
After divorced college professor Rose Michaels invites three of her male colleagues to her room during a teacher's convention, she later accuses them of rape, but the men say otherwise.
Testament
Carol Wetherly
It is just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
In the Custody of Strangers
Sandy Caldwell
A teenage delinquent who goes on a drunken joyride is left in jail overnight by his parents in the hope that he might learn a lesson from it. But events follow which result in the boy spending far longer behind bars than anyone had foreseen.
Night of 100 Stars
Self
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers payed up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.
Kennedy's Children
Wanda
In 1974, five former activists from the 1960s meet in a bar, but do not relate. Each is lost in his or her own memories of more hopeful, revolutionary days.
Night Crossing
Doris Strelzyk
Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story.
Playing for Time
Alma Rose
When a Jewish songstress is plucked from the stage and sent to Auschwitz, she and other musicians find themselves assigned to a terrible task—using their talents to soothe fellow prisoners who are sentenced to die in the gas chambers.
Brubaker
Lillian Gray
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Kramer vs. Kramer
Margaret Phelps
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
Mary MacCracken
A sequel to "A Circle of Children" (1977). A teacher of "emotionally disturbed" children takes on a new student who is considered to be "untrainable" by public school authorities, psychiatrists, and medical doctors. Even the child's own mother, who is very loving, does not have the tools to reach her "hopeless" child. This is the further story of a teacher who understood what it was like to be eight years old and hurt and angry and confused; a teacher who saw these children for who they were, rather than who they seemed to be.
A Question of Love
Barbara Moreland
A lesbian mother fights to keep her son when a custody suit is brought by her ex-husband.
The Betsy
Alicia Hardeman
Ruthless patriarch Loren hires racecar driver Angelo to build a more efficient vehicle against the wishes of his grandson. But things get even messier when Angelo romances two women in Loren's life -- his great-granddaughter and his mistress.
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
Eleanor Roosevelt
The story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during their 12-year stay at the White House.
All the President's Men
Bookkeeper
During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.
Pressure and the Press: The Making of 'All the President's Men'
Self (archive footage)
Hoffman, Redford, Bernstein, Woodward, Pakula and Bradlee. Creators and creatures involved in one way or another with 'All the President's Men', whether being the novel or the movie, appear in this documentary to talk about the challenge of both medias and how one was successfully transformed into another.
Death Be Not Proud
Frances Gunther
Based on the book by famed author John Gunther about the life and early death of his teenage son Johnny, who died from a brain tumor.
This Is the West That Was
Sarah Shaw
A lighthearted look at the saga of Wild Bill Hickok and his relationship with Calamity Jane as he is targeted for revenge by some tough gunfighters.
Miracle on 34th Street
Karen Walker
A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to prove who he is.
The New Centurions
Dorothy Fehler
An idealistic rookie cop joins the LAPD to make ends meet while finishing law school, and is indoctrinated by a seasoned veteran. As time goes on, he loses his ambitions and family as police work becomes his entire life.
Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol
Anne Palmer
An American soldier manages to endure his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp by keeping alive the memories of life in his home town. When he is finally released from the camp, and is discharged from the military, he goes back to his town - but he can find no trace whatsoever of it.
A Gunfight
Nora Tenneray
Will Tenneray and Abe Cross are two aging, famous gunfighters, both in need of money. Tenneray comes up with the idea to stage a duel to the death in a bullfight arena, with the ticket proceeds going to the winner.
The Great White Hope
Eleanor
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.