Jane Anderson Biography

Fast Facts

• Won an Outfest Achievement Award at the 2003 L․A․ Outfest
• Won two Writers Guild of America Awards, one for Original Long Form for "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom" in 1994 and one for Dramatic Series for "Mad Men" in 2009
• Won a Women in Film Lucy Award for writing "If These Walls Could Talk 2," which explored the difficulties of an elderly lesbian who was prevented from visiting her dying companion in the hospital
• Her father was one of the early entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley
• When she first started writing, she would perform her own material in cabarets and comedy clubs across New York
• Dropped out of college to move to New York and pursue her dream of becoming a stage actress, appearing in David Mamet's breakout play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" in 1975
• Quote: "Why do we make theater? Why do we create movies or TV series? It's because people need an outlet when times are difficult or complex․"
• Though she moved to New York City to become involved in theater, it wasn't until she moved back to Los Angeles that she became a serious playwright, with her first play, "Defying Gravity," inspired by the Challenger space shuttle disaster
• Has written and directed several television movies that have won critical acclaim, including "Normal" and "The Baby Dance․"