Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jane Alexander (born October 28, 1939) is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film, and has committed herself to a variety of charitable causes.
Known For
Complete Filmography
The Man in the Woods
2020
as Vivien Waldorf
On a snowy night in 1963 Pennsylvania, a boarding school student goes missing in the woods. Her friends, a disgraced quarterback, a shunned ex-cop, an...
Alan Pakula: Going for Truth
2019
as Self
"Alan Pakula: Going for Truth" encompasses the personal and professional life of Alan J. Pakula, a lauded filmmaker and extremely private man, who was...
Christmas Around the Corner
2018
as Mrs. Tumulty
Claire (Alexandra Breckenridge), a savvy venture capitalist from New York City, escapes to a quaint town in Vermont for the holidays and becomes a gue...
Three Christs
2017
as Dr. Abraham
Dr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are...
Show Boat
2015
as Parthy Hawks
The landmark musical brought vividly to life by the New York Philharmonic, with an all-star cast led by Vanessa Williams, Julian Ovenden, Lauren Worsh...
Mr. Morgan's Last Love
2013
as Joan Morgan
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
William & Catherine: A Royal Romance
2012
as HM Queen Elizabeth II
The film is based on the story of William of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton. Shown in the same life of William of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleto...
Deck the Halls
2011
as Nora Regan Reilly
Detective Regan Reilly and cleaning-woman-turned-private-eye Alvirah Meegan, investigate the kidnapping of Regan's father and a young female driver ju...
Dream House
2011
as Dr. Greeley
Publisher Will Atenton quits a lucrative job in New York to relocate his wife, Libby, and their daughters to a quaint town in New England. However, as...
John Muir in the New World
2011
as Narrator (voice)
The life and the career of John Muir come to life through this inspiring and beautiful documentary set against the magnificent landscapes of the Ameri...
The Loving Story
2011
as Eleanor
This documentary film tells the dramatic story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1950s, and their landmar...
Terminator Salvation
2009
as Virginia
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But whe...
The Unborn
2009
as Sofi Kozma
A young woman fights the spirit that is slowly taking possession of her.
Gigantic
2008
as Barbara Weathersby
Young mattress salesman Brian decides to adopt a baby from China but is distracted when he forms a relationship with quirky, wealthy Harriet whom he m...
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women
2008
as Ednah Cheney
Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women," leads a literary double life, writing under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, an identity that remains until th...
Feast of Love
2007
as Esther Stevenson
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, myst...
The Powder & the Glory
2007
as Herself - Narrator
The story of pioneering entrepreneurs Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, who built cosmetics empires and competed against each other for more than...
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
2006
as Gertrude Nemerov
In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respe...
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
as Eleanor Bachman (segment "The Great White Hope") / Sara Goode (segment "The Sisters Rosensweig")
The Great White Way comes into your living room via this disc of rare performances from some of Broadway's brightest luminaries. Culled from clips fro...
Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of "All the President's Men"
2006
as Self
A short documentary on the making of "All the President's Men."
Warm Springs
2005
as Sara Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt, left a paraplegic from polio at 39 years of age, seeks out a miracle cure in the backwoods of Georgia.
The Ring
2002
as Dr. Grasnik
Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will...
Sunshine State
2002
as Delia Temple
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estat...
Jenifer
2001
as Marilyn Estess
The true story of three sisters who unite in the face of adversity when one of them is diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Finding the Truth: The Making of 'Kramer vs. Kramer'
2001
as Self
A behind-the-scenes look at this Oscar-winning classic about a man who finds himself a single parent after his wife walks out on him, then is forced t...
The Cider House Rules
1999
as Nurse Edna
Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer...
Le donne non vogliono più
1993
Stay the Night
1992
as Blanche Kettman
Based on a true story, Barbara Hershey and Morgan Weisser portray two star crossed lovers who will stop at nothing to be together without any ridicule...
Night of 100 Stars III
1990
as Self
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.
Glory
1989
as Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
Mountain View
1989
as Bartender
A dance drama work that, through movement and very little spoken text, details the interaction of several people residing at or visiting a motel or mo...
Building Bombs
1989
as Narrator
This Oscar-nominated documentary chronicles everyday life in Aiken, S.C. -- ground zero for America's hydrogen bomb-making facility, the Savannah Rive...
Open Admissions
1988
as Ginny Carlsen
An indifferent speech professor doing hack work in an urban college suddenly finds herself challenged by a ghetto youth with an intense desire to get ...
A Friendship in Vienna
1988
as Hannah Dournenvald
Inge Dournenvald and Lise Mueller are best friends in pre-WW2 Austria, despite the fact that Inge is Jewish and Lise is the daughter of a Nazi sympath...
Drug Free Kids: A Parents' Guide
1988
as Self
Ken Howard hosts a series of role-playing vignettes (featuring some of Hollywood's top stars) to help parents and children deal with typical family si...
In Love and War
1987
as Sybil Stockdale
This movie is an account of US Navy Commander James Stockdale's 8 year imprisonment in North Vietnam. During his confinement in such camps as the infa...
Square Dance
1987
as Juanelle
An awkward 13-year-old leaves her cranky grandfather in rural Texas, to live with her mother in Fort Worth.
Square Dance
1987
Executive Producer
An awkward 13-year-old leaves her cranky grandfather in rural Texas, to live with her mother in Fort Worth.
Sweet Country
1987
as Anna
An American couple in Chile is drawn into the turmoil that followed President Salvador Allende's 1973 overthrow.
Blood & Orchids
1986
as Doris Ashley
Hester Murdoch is found naked and nearly beaten to death by four young Hawaiian men on the beach and taken to the hospital. Some of the men didn't wan...
Malice in Wonderland
1985
as Hedda Hopper
Struggling actress Hedda Hopper can't get a break in Hollywood, even though an acquaintence of hers is the extremely powerful gossip monger Louella Pa...
City Heat
1984
as Addy
Set in Kansas City in 1933, Eastwood plays a police lieutenant known simply by his last name, Speer. Reynolds plays a former cop turned private eye na...
Calamity Jane
1984
as Calamity Jane
An exploration of the myths surrounding the colorful Western heroine and both the legendary Wild Bill Hickock, with whom she had an unorthodox courtsh...
Calamity Jane
1984
Producer
An exploration of the myths surrounding the colorful Western heroine and both the legendary Wild Bill Hickock, with whom she had an unorthodox courtsh...
When She Says No
1984
as Nora Strangis
After divorced college professor Rose Michaels invites three of her male colleagues to her room during a teacher's convention, she later accuses them ...
Testament
1983
as Carol Wetherly
It is just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has bee...
In the Custody of Strangers
1982
as Sandy Caldwell
A teenage delinquent who goes on a drunken joyride is left in jail overnight by his parents in the hope that he might learn a lesson from it. But even...
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City ...
Kennedy's Children
1982
as Wanda
In 1974, five former activists from the 1960s meet in a bar, but do not relate. Each is lost in his or her own memories of more hopeful, revolutionary...
Night Crossing
1982
as Doris Strelzyk
Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story...
Playing for Time
1980
as Alma Rose
When a Jewish songstress is plucked from the stage and sent to Auschwitz, she and other musicians find themselves assigned to a terrible task—using th...
Brubaker
1980
as Lillian Gray
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Kramer vs. Kramer
1979
as Margaret Phelps
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is no...
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978
as Mary MacCracken
A sequel to "A Circle of Children" (1977). A teacher of "emotionally disturbed" children takes on a new student who is considered to be "untrainable" ...
A Question of Love
1978
as Barbara Moreland
A lesbian mother fights to keep her son when a custody suit is brought by her ex-husband.
The Betsy
1978
as Alicia Hardeman
Ruthless patriarch Loren hires racecar driver Angelo to build a more efficient vehicle against the wishes of his grandson. But things get even messier...
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years
1977
as Eleanor Roosevelt
The story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during their 12-year stay at the White House.
All the President's Men
1976
as Bookkeeper
During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from...
Pressure and the Press: The Making of 'All the President's Men'
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Hoffman, Redford, Bernstein, Woodward, Pakula and Bradlee. Creators and creatures involved in one way or another with 'All the President's Men', wheth...
Death Be Not Proud
1975
as Frances Gunther
Based on the book by famed author John Gunther about the life and early death of his teenage son Johnny, who died from a brain tumor.
This Is the West That Was
1974
as Sarah Shaw
A lighthearted look at the saga of Wild Bill Hickok and his relationship with Calamity Jane as he is targeted for revenge by some tough gunfighters.
Miracle on 34th Street
1973
as Karen Walker
A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to pro...
The New Centurions
1972
as Dorothy Fehler
An idealistic rookie cop joins the LAPD to make ends meet while finishing law school, and is indoctrinated by a seasoned veteran. As time goes on, he ...
Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol
1972
as Anne Palmer
An American soldier manages to endure his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp by keeping alive the memories of life in his home town. When he is finall...
A Gunfight
1971
as Nora Tenneray
Will Tenneray and Abe Cross are two aging, famous gunfighters, both in need of money. Tenneray comes up with the idea to stage a duel to the death in ...
The Great White Hope
1970
as Eleanor
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Testament at 20
N/A
Interviews with crew and cast look back 20 years to the filming and release of "Testament" in 1983.