Jessica_Hecht

Jessica Hecht

Jessica Hecht

American actress, singer (born 1965)

Jessica Hecht (born June 28, 1965)[1]is an American actress and singer known for her roles as Gretchen Schwartz on Breaking Bad, Susan Bunch on Friends, Carol on The Boys, and Karen on Special. She is also known for her expansive work on Broadway, earning Tony Award nominations for her roles in A View from the Bridge (2010) and Summer, 1976 (2023).

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Early life and education

Hecht was born in Princeton, New Jersey. When she was three, she moved with her parents and sister to Bloomfield, Connecticut. After her parents divorced, her mother married psychiatrist Howard Iger, and they raised Jessica and her sisters Elizabeth and Andrea, and her brother, Russell. Hecht attended Connecticut College for a year and a half before graduating from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1987 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama.[2][3]

Hecht was raised in a culturally Jewish family, with a secular socialist father, but nonetheless expressed interest in religion and had a Bat Mitzvah.[4][5] She has stated that she is Reconstructionist Jewish and "fairly spiritual".[6]

Career

Hecht has appeared in numerous television series, including Dickinson, Bored to Death, Red Oaks, Jessica Jones, The Loudest Voice, and Succession. In 2020 she played Sonya Barzel on The Sinner, and was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Series in 2019 for her role as Karen in the Netflix series Special.[7] She is known for her roles as Gretchen Schwartz on Breaking Bad (5 episodes) and Susan Bunch, the wife of Ross Geller's ex-wife Carol Willick, on Friends (12 episodes).[8] She was also a featured cast member in the Jonathan Silverman sitcom The Single Guy.[2][9]

Hecht had the supporting role of Amy Burns in the comedy drama Dan in Real Life (2007), with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. She also appeared in Whatever Works, Sideways, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

At the 2010 Tony Awards, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, for her role in A View from the Bridge. In 2012, she performed on Broadway with Jim Parsons in Harvey.[10] In 2016, she played Golde in the 2015 Bartlett Sher-directed revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theatre, and was in The Price with Mark Ruffalo, in 2017. At the 2018 Obie Awards for Off-Broadway productions, she won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance in Admissions at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.[11] At the 2023 Tony Awards, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, for her role in Summer, 1976.[12]

In 2017, she and producer Jenny Gersten founded The Campfire Project, a theatre based wellness project that creates plays in refugee camps.[13]

Personal life

Hecht has been married to director Adam Bernstein since August 1995.[2] The couple has two children together, Stella and Carlo, who were both teenagers as of 2013.[4][5]

Theatre roles

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Filmography

Film

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Television

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Video games

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References

  1. [1]
    "Almanac: Today's Birthdays". Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. June 28, 2023. p. A3. ProQuest 2830448618. Actor Kathy Bates is 75. Actor Alice Krige is 69. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 63. Jazz singer Tierney Sutton is 60. Actor Jessica Hecht is 58. Rock musician Saul Davies (James) is 58. Actor Mary Stuart Masterson is 57. Actor John Cusack is 57. See also:
    • "ALMANAC: [ALL EDITIONS]". Newsday. June 28, 1998. ProQuest 279065090. Kathy Bates, 50, Jessica Hecht ("Friends"), 33, Mary Stuart Masterson, 32, John Cusack, 32
  2. [2]
    Keveney, Bill (January 17, 1996). "A Single Goes Double". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  3. [3]
    Lefkowitz, David (January 18, 2000). "Playbill On-Line's Brief Encounter with Jessica Hecht". Playbill. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  4. [4]
    Elkin, Michael (January 14, 2010). "'Bridge' Works". The Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  5. [5]
    Schleier, Curt (April 16, 2013). "Jessica Hecht Talks Broadway vs. Hollywood". The Jewish Daily Forward. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Jessica Hecht on Broadway's 'The Assembled Parties'". The Wall Street Journal. April 17, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  7. [7]
    Schaffstall, Katherine (August 30, 2019). "Emmys: 46 of This Year's First-Time Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  8. [8]
    "Jessica Hecht Buys Flat in Landmark Building". The New York Times. May 20, 2010. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  9. [9]
    Kolson, Ann (September 28, 1997). "Up & Coming: Jessica Hecht; Working All the Time Is Her Idea of Fun". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  10. [10]
    Isherwood, Charles (June 14, 2012). "Hope Is a Thing With Long, Fuzzy Ears". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  11. [11]
    "2018 Obies Winners and Performances". obieawards.com (Press release). American Theatre Wing. May 19, 2018. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  12. [12]
    Rubin, Rebecca; Lang, Brent (May 2, 2023). "Tony Award Nominations 2023: 'Some Like It Hot' Dominates, Followed by '& Juliet,' 'Shucked,' 'New York, New York'". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  13. [13]
    "The Campfire Project". campfire-project.org. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
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