Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy, born on the 25th of November in 1968 is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role on the American television series Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and Crossing Jordan, on which she played the lead character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She has also acted as an actress in films such RoboCop 3: Most Wanted as well as the independent films Chutney Popcorn (which she also co-directed) and The Acting Class (which was written by her). Hennessy was a native of Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy, her father, was a meat-salesman and a marketing/sales executive. His job required extensive travel, which resulted in numerous changes for the entire family. The mother of her child, Maxine, a secretary who left the family in 1982, leaving her daughter partially taken care of by her paternal grandmother Eleanor and her family located in Kitchener, Ontario. She has a younger brother named John Paul "J.P." Hennessy, Jr., and an identical twin sister named Jacqueline She is a magazine writer and TV host in Canada. Hennessy is a mixture of Irish, French French, Swedish and Italian roots on her father's side and most Ukrainian Roma on the mother's. She was a student at Stanley Park Senior Public School. Grand River Collegiate Institute was her graduation. She would busk in the subway system of Toronto. Hennessy along with her sister and her first performance was as twin call-girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. The actress was nominated to play Dana Scully on The X-Files according to Gillian Anderson, the actress who eventually got the role.She made an appearance on Broadway in the musical Buddy the Musical - The Buddy Holly Story in 1990.In 1993, she starred as Dr. Marie Lazarus in RoboCop 3.In 1993, Dick Wolf signed Hennessy as an assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. The role was occupied for three seasons until she quit the show in 1996.