Samantha Who?:

Not happy with being hilarious as Sam's mom in Samantha Who,, Jean Smart also has a crack at theater, television and film. Since completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Washington and before heading to Hollywood, she made her Broadway debut in Piaf and originated the role of Lil in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove Off-Broadway, which earned her a Drama Desk nomination.

In January 2006, Smart received her fourth Emmy nomination for her role as the troubled and medicated First Lady Martha Logan on 24. That same year the show won the Emmy for Best Drama and received a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Ensemble Cast.

She also snaffled an Emmy Award for her guest-starring role on Frasier, and was nominated for Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role on The District. She also got an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her critically acclaimed performance in the film Guinevere,opposite Sarah Polley, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her starring role on Broadway, opposite Nathan Lane, in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She starred in the drama series Maximum Security, before starring in the popular sitcom Designing Women. Several TV series and television films followed, including Overkill, the critically acclaimed story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, High Society, in which she played neurotic novelist Ellie Walker, opposite Mary McDonnell (an Americanized version of Ab Fab), Peter Tolan’s comedy Style and Substance, In-Laws, opposite Dennis Farina, and Center of the Universe, opposite John Goodman. In 2003 Smart starred with her husband Richard Gilliland in the film Audrey’s Rain.

Smart was recently seen in director Curtis Hanson’s Lucky You, opposite Eric Bana and Robert Duvall, and also appeared in Garden State for first-time director and writer Zach Braff, opposite Braff, Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard, as well as Mistress, with Danny Aiello and Robert DeNiro, and Flashpoint, with Kris Kristofferson. She co-starred with Steve Martin and Queen Latifa in Bringing Down the House, with Bruce Willis in Disney’s The Kid and with Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. She also appeared in David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees.