Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy was born on November 25, 1968. She is a Canadian singer, actress and musician. Her most well-known work is her character on Law & Order as Claire Kincaid, a US prosecutor in the television show Law & Order for three seasons. Crossing Jordan was six seasons. Jordan Cavanaugh, the lead character on Crossing Jordan, lasted six seasons. She also appeared in movies such as RoboCop 3 and Most Wanted as well as the indie films Chutney Popcorn and The Acting Class The Acting Class, which she also wrote and co-directed. Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy was her father. He was a meat vendor and an executive in sales and marketing. The job involved many trips and led to frequent family moves. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary, left the family in 1982 leaving her daughter partially raised by her paternal grandmother, Eleanor who lives in Kitchener, Ontario. John Paul Hennessy Jr. is her younger brother. Jacqueline is her identical twin sister and is a Canadian magazine writer and host. Hennessy is of Irish and French, Swedish, Italian, and Swedish ancestry from her father, and predominantly Ukrainian Roma and Austrian heritage from her mother. She attended Stanley Park Senior Public School. Grand River Collegiate Institute was her graduation. She would busk in the subway system of Toronto. She and her sister made their acting debut as twin callgirls on 1988's Dead Ringers. She was short listed for the role of Dana Scully on The X-Files according to Gillian Anderson, the actress who ultimately got the role.She made an appearance in Broadway in the musical Buddy The Buddy Holly Story in 1990. The Buddy Holly Story in 1990.In 1993, she appeared in the role of Dr. Marie Lazarus in RoboCop 3.In 1993, Dick Wolf signed Hennessy as assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. She played the character for three seasons before leaving the show in the year 1996.