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Jennifer Elise Cox

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Jennifer Elise Cox
Born (1969-11-29) November 29, 1969 (age 55)
New York City, U.S.
EducationCalifornia Institute of the Arts (BFA)
Years active1995–present
SpouseLee Brownstein

Jennifer Elise Cox (born November 29, 1969)[1] is an American actress known for her satirical portrayal of Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel.

Life and career

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Cox was born in New York City, where she played in two operas, Don Giovanni and Madam Butterfly.[2][3]

After graduating from a performing arts high school Cox moved to Los Angeles with her mother, Kate.[4] She attended the California Institute of the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting. While getting into acting, Cox scooped ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, and made money by playing cards when she was struggling.[citation needed]

She married director/producer Lee Bronstein, and starred in his 2013 film Out West.[5]

Jan Brady

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In 1995, Cox won the role she became widely known for, middle-child Jan Brady in the film The Brady Bunch Movie. Speaking of the cast, "We instantly bonded", said Cox. "We instantly thought of each other as family, as The Brady Bunch."[6]

The film opened at #1 at the box office with $14,827,066 and grossed $46,576,136, in the U.S. and Canada and $7,500,000 overseas making a total gross of $54,076,136 worldwide. Although the film received a mixed reception, Cox's performance was praised.[7] Patrick Phillips from Pop Culture Tonight called her performance "excellent, yet underrated".[8]

While a reviewer from The Motion Pictures stated "Cox pulls off all of [The] nuttiness perfectly. She is without a doubt the best part of the movie."[9] A week after The Brady Bunch Movie's opening she had a guest spot on The George Wendt Show.[4] The same year she reprised her role as Jan Brady for the TV series Wings, and portrayed Shannon, a student at the women's studies program, on the TV series Murphy Brown.

In 1996, she costarred alongside Michael Gross and Hilary Swank in the horror film Sometimes They Come Back... Again, reprised her role of Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch sequel A Very Brady Sequel, and guest starred on an episode of The Parent 'Hood.[citation needed]

In 1998, she had a recurring role as social outcast Felice on the sitcom Clueless, and reprised her role of Jan Brady on the TV series Moesha. That year she also had small bits in the films Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Can't Hardly Wait.[citation needed]

Later career

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In 1999, she signed on to star alongside Jean Smart in Tiara Tango, later retitled Forever Fabulous.[10] The film went through a troubled history while being made, as actresses Cathy Moriarty and Suzanne Pleshette both had parts before quitting due to massive rewrites of the script. The film struggled with money and due to budget constraints, an entire scene had to be eliminated and rewritten. Cox stated she didn't even receive a salary for recording the film's voice-over narration. The film premiered at the 1999 Austin Film Festival. Cox had a small role in the film EdTV.

In 2000, she guest starred on an episode of Sex and the City, and on an episode of Will & Grace. It took several takes just for Will & Grace star Debra Messing to get past the first line of Cox's character, Nurse Pitman. Messing would later tell US Weekly this was because she couldn't "look at her without seeing Jan Brady."[11][12]

Cox then became a main cast member on Hype, an American sketch comedy television series on The WB,[13]

However, due to low ratings the show was canceled. The next year it was announced Cox would reunite with The Brady Bunch Movie co-star and friend Alanna Ubach, in Life After Donna Dell. Described as a dark, campy, 1950s musical, it was written by Ubach herself. However, the film was later scrapped.[10]

In 2005, she appeared on three episodes of Six Feet Under, two episodes of Twins, and one episode of The Comeback.[citation needed]

In August 2006, she began playing the recurring role of receptionist Tiffany Riley Clarke on Lovespring International. However, the show was cancelled months later.[14] Soon after, she was cast as Amy Anderson, a recurring role on the improvised American comedy series 10 Items or Less. She would go on to play the character till 2009, when this show was cancelled.[15]

In 2009, she made five appearances on the Lifetime original sitcom Rita Rocks. She was in talks to play the character more for the next season, however Lifetime canceled the series.[16] The next year she played a small role in the film The Back-Up Plan.

In 2011, she had roles on multiple films, Balls to the Wall, Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury, Eating Out: The Open Weekend, A Holiday Engagement and Spooky Buddies. She also had a recurring role on Pretty the Series, and she joined the cast of Web Therapy as the recurring role of Gina Spinks. She would play Gina until August 11, 2015, when Showtime cancelled the series after four seasons.[17]

In 2013, she made three guest appearances as Gina on Web Therapy, the Web series on which Web Therapy is based.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 The Brady Bunch Movie Jan Brady
1996 Sometimes They Come Back... Again Jules Martin
1996 A Very Brady Sequel Jan Brady
1999 EDtv College girl
1999 Forever Fabulous Corinne Daly
2000 Dropping Out Mellissa
2001 Hitclown Clown Short film
2003 Testosterone Sharon
2004 Straight-Jacket Betty Bright
2005 Rainbow's End Boss Short film
2005 Hard Pill Tanya
2006 The Enigma with a Stigma Theresa Herman
2007 Cook Off! Cassandra Dougherty
2009 Jesus People: The Movie Trinity Celeste
2010 Evil Shrink Molly Short film
2010 The Back-up Plan Sales assistant
2011 Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury Rita
2011 Spooky Buddies Mrs. Carroll
2011 Eating Out: The Open Weekend Hotel Clerk
2012 Love or Whatever Kelsey
2012 Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups Blue Bright
2013 Playdate Fran
2013 Platypus the Musical Patti Johnson Short film
2013 Out West Prissy Alcott

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 The George Wendt Show Ashley Episode: "Prom Night: The Return"
1995 Wings Jan Brady Episode: "A House to Die For"
1995 Murphy Brown Shannon Episode: "The Feminine Critique"
1996 The Parent 'Hood Chris Episode: "Labor Daze"
1996 A Weekend in the Country Arista Farrell Television film
1997 Clueless Felice Lesser 2 episodes
1998 Moesha Jan Brady Episode: "Hello, What's This?"
1999 Sagamore Shelly Television film
2000 Will & Grace Nurse Pittman Episode: "The Hospital Show"
2000 Sex & the City P.R. Girl Episode: "Sex and another city"
2000–2001 Hype Various 16 episodes
2003 The Gavin Crawford Show Tandy Episode: "1.21"
2003 Greetings from Tucson Gabby Episode: "The Breakup"
2003 Rock Me, Baby Kate Episode: "Pilot"
2004 Wanda Does It Jen Episode: "Wanda Does Repo"
2005 My Wife and Kids Nancy Episode: "Silence Is Golden"
2005 Six Feet Under Mary 3 episodes
2005 The Comeback Miss Hollywood Episode: "Valerie Relaxes in Palm Springs"
2005 Twins Cara Episode: "Sister's Keeper"
2005 Todd's Coma Trina Television film
2006 Twins Cara Episode: "Blast from the Past"
2006 The New Adventures of Old Christine Natalie Episode: "A Long Day's Journey Into Stan"
2006 CSI: NY Melanie Stefano Episode: "Run Silent, Run Deep"
2006 Lovespring International Tiffany Riley Clark 13 episodes
2006 Nip/Tuck Annie McNamara (2026) Episode: "Conor McNamara, 2026"
2006–2008 10 Items or Less Amy Anderson 13 episodes
2007 Mind of Mencia Chelsea Clinton Episode: "Sensitivity Training"
2008 Pushing Daisies Elise Hofer Episode: "Robbing Hood"
2009 Privileged Jennifer Episode: "All About Betrayal"
2009 Rita Rocks Miss Ricker 5 episodes
2009 Eastwick Karen Episode: "Magic Snow and Creepy Gene"
2010 Svetlana Krystal 2 episodes
2010 Pair of Kings Lady of the Cave Episode: "Kings of Legend: Part Two"
2010–2011 Pretty Lucy Devonshire 5 episodes
2011 Holiday Engagement Connie Television film
2011–2015 Web Therapy Gina Spinks 21 episodes
2012 In Plain Sight Beth Wilcox / Beth Webb Episode: "Four Marshals and a Baby"
2013 The Client List Olivia Episode: "I Ain't Broke But I'm Badly Bent"
2013 2 Broke Girls Miss Trudy Episode: "And the Window of Opportunity"
2014 Back to Christmas Ginny Television film
2015 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Lizzie Episode: "The Gang Beats Boggs"
2016 Idiotsitter Tanzy Russell 10 Episodes

References

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  1. ^ "Celebrity Birthdays: Nov. 29". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023. "Actor Jennifer Elise Cox is 54. Movie director Joel Coen is 69. Blues singer-musician John Mayall is 90." See also:
    • "Today in History : Today's birthdays". The Journal News. November 29, 2009. p. 25. ProQuest 2040128989. Blues singer-musician John Mayall is 76. [...] Movie director Joel Coen is 55. [...] Actress Jennifer Elise Cox is 40.
  2. ^ "Jennifer Elise Cox Biography". Fandango. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  3. ^ "See the kids from 'The Brady Bunch Movie' Then and now". The Fw. January 15, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Beth Pinkser (March 10, 1995). "Channeling Jan in the new 'Brady Bunch' movie". Entertainment Weekly.
  5. ^ Tate, Allison (29 April 2016). "8 Revealing Things We Discovered About the Couple Behind 'Out West'". The Advocate.
  6. ^ "FLASHBACK: 'The Brady Bunch Movie' Turns 20! On Set With the Grooviest Cast of '94". Entertainment Weekly. February 17, 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Actor's Dialogue: Jennifer Elise Cox and Alanna Ubach". Backstage. In which Cox pulled off a great Jan Brady
  8. ^ "We're celebrating THE BRADY BUNCH with actress Jennifer Elise Cox ("The Brady Bunch Movie") & the executive producer ("The Brady Bunch") Lloyd Schwartz". Pop Culture Tonight. August 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Lindsey (October 8, 2013). "Classics Of The Corn: The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)". The Motion Pictures. "Cox pulls off all of that nuttiness perfectly. She is without a doubt the best part of the movie.
  10. ^ a b "Actor's Dialogue: Jennifer Elise Cox and Alanna Ubach". Backstage.
  11. ^ "'Sex and The City': Guest Stars Of Season 3". Access Hollywood. May 30, 2008.
  12. ^ "Jennifer Elise Cox - Will and Grace - Nurse Pittman Outtake". Youtube. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  13. ^ "WB buys into ‘Hype,’ orders pilot", Variety, January 16, 2000.
  14. ^ Renewals and cancellations for basic cable series, TVSquad.com, December 1, 2006.
  15. ^ "TV Q&A with Rob Owen". Post-Gazette.com. November 13, 2009. Archived from the original on November 16, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
  16. ^ Lifetime Cancels "Rita Rocks" Archived 2010-01-14 at the Wayback Machine, Entertainment Weekly, January 11, 2010.
  17. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (11 August 2015). "Lisa Kudrow's 'Web Therapy' Cancelled By Showtime After 4 Seasons". Archived from the original on August 11, 2015.
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