Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy was born on November 25, 1968. She is a Canadian actress, singer and musician. She is best known for her roles on the American television show Law & Order, on which she played the prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons as well as Crossing Jordan, on which she was the main character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She has also acted as an actress in films such RoboCop 3: Most Wanted and the indie film Chutney Popcorn (which she also co-directed) and The Acting Class (which was written by her). Hennessy was raised in Edmonton. John Hennessy, John's father, was a meat and marketing sales/marketing executive. The position required a lot of traveling and the family was required to relocate frequently. Maxine, her mother, was secretary. Her daughter was abandoned by Eleanor, her paternal grandmother who lived in Kitchener, Ontario. John Paul Hennessy Jr. Her younger brother is Jacqueline Hennessy who is an identical twin who is a magazine journalist and a TV host in Canada. Hennessy is a mix of Irish, French French, Swedish and Italian origins on her father's side and predominantly Ukrainian Roma on the mother's. She attended Stanley Park Senior Public School and graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute, both of which are located in Kitchener, Ontario, and used to busk on the Toronto subway. Hennessy as well as her sister were the first to act as twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. Gillian Anderson, who was the actress chosen to play the role, said she was a finalist to portray Dana Scully in The X-Files. She played the role for three seasons, leaving the show in 1996.