Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy was born on November 25, 1968. She is a Canadian actress, singer and musician. Her appearances on American television shows Law & Order were three-seasons long. Crossing Jordan lasted six seasons. Jordan Cavanaugh was her main character. She also appeared as an actress in films such RoboCop 3: Most Wanted as well as the independent film Chutney Popcorn (which she also co-directed) and The Acting Class (which was written by her). Hennessy was born and was raised in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy, her father was a meat salesman as well as an executive in marketing and sales. His work required a lot of travel, which led to many relocations for the entire family. Maxine the secretary mother of Maxine was the last to leave the family in 1982. Eleanor, Eleanor's paternal grandmother, took care of her daughter in Kitchener. John Paul Hennessy Jr., her younger brother, is Jacqueline Hennessy who is an identical twin who works as a journalist for a magazine and a TV host in Canada. Hennessy has Irish and French, Swedish, Italian, and Swedish heritage from her father, and most of her Ukrainian Roma and Austrian heritage from her mother. She was a student at Stanley Park Senior Public School and graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute, both of which are located in Kitchener, Ontario, and was busking in the Toronto subway. Hennessy and her sister were among the first actors to be cast as twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. She was short listed to play Dana Scully on The X-Files according to Gillian Anderson, the actress who was eventually offered the role.She was on Broadway in the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story in 1990.In 1993, she starred 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. The show ran for three seasons. She left the show after 1996.