Early life and education

Jones was born in Paris, Tennessee, to a high school teacher mother and a flower shop owner father. She is a 1978 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. While at CMU, she was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre.

Career

Jones may be best known for her role as U.S. President Allison Taylor on the Fox series 24, for which she won an Emmy. However, most of her career has been in the theatre on Broadway, including her Tony-winning lead performances in Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress and John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt, a role which earned her the 2005 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. The play opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre in March 2005.

Other Broadway credits include Nora Ephron's play Imaginary Friends (with Swoosie Kurtz); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, the 2000 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good, for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States.

She has narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series including, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie. In recent years, Jones has ventured into feature films. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock, The Perfect Storm, Signs, Ocean's Twelve and The Village.

Jones played President Taylor on the Fox series 24, a role for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She played the role in the seventh season as well as eighth season, which began airing in January 2010 and concluded in May 2010.

In 2012, Jones starred in the NBC drama series Awake as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Evans.

Also in 2012, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in the Loeb Drama Center's revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie alongside Zachary Quinto, Brian J. Smith and Celia Keenan-Bolger.

In 2014, Cherry Jones was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

In 2015, Jones had a recurring role on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent, for which she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.

Personal life

Jones is openly lesbian. In 1995, when Jones accepted her first Tony Award, she thanked her then-partner, architect Mary O'Connor, with whom she had an 18-year relationship.

She started dating actress Sarah Paulson in 2004. When she accepted her Best Actress Tony in 2005 for her work in Doubt, she thanked "Laura Wingfield," the Glass Menagerie character being played in the Broadway revival by Paulson. In 2007, Paulson and Jones declared their love for each other in an interview with Velvetpark at Women's Event 10 for the LGBT Center of New York. Paulson and Jones ended their relationship amicably in 2009.

In mid-2015, Jones married her girlfriend, filmmaker Sophie Huber.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Alex: The Life of a Child	Tina Crawford	Television movie
1987	Light of Day	Cindy Montgomery
1987	The Big Town	Ginger McDonald
1992	Housesitter	Patty
1995	Polio Water	Virginia	Short film
1997	Julian Po	Lucy
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Liz Hammond
1999	Murder in a Small Town	Mimi	Television movie
1999	Cradle Will Rock	Hallie Flanagan
1999	The Lady in Question	Mimi Barnes
2000	Erin Brockovich	Pamela Duncan
2000	The Perfect Storm	Edie Bailey
2000	Cora Unashamed	Lizbeth Studevant	Television movie
2001	What Makes a Family	Sandy Cataldi	Television movie
2002	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Buggy Abbott
2002	Signs	Officer Paski
2004	The Village	Mrs. Clack
2004	Ocean's Twelve	Molly Star/Mrs. Caldwell
2005	Swimmers	Julia Tyler
2008	24: Redemption	President-Elect Allison Taylor	Television movie
2009	Amelia	Eleanor Roosevelt
2009	Mother and Child	Sister Joanne
2011	The Beaver	Vice President
2011	New Year's Eve	Mrs. Rose Ahern
2013	Days and Nights	Mary
2015	Knight of Cups	Ruth
2015	I Saw the Light	Lillie Williams
2016	Whiskey Tango Foxtrot	Geri Taub

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Spenser: For Hire	Tracy Kincaid	Episode: "Sleepless Dream"
1992	Loving	Frankie	Unknown episodes
1993	Tribeca	Tough Woman	Episode: "The Loft"
2001	Frasier	Janet	Episode: "Junior Agent"
2002	The American Experience	Narrator	Episode: "Miss America"
2004	The West Wing	Barbara Layton	Episode: "Eppur Si Muove"
2004-05	Clubhouse	Sister Marie	3 episodes
2008-10	24	President Allison Taylor	43 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2012	Awake	Dr. Judith Evans	11 episodes
2015	Transparent	Leslie	6 episodes Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2016	Mercy Street	Dorothea Dix	2 episodes
2016	11.22.63	Marquerite Oswald	5 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	The Philanthropist	Liz
1984	The Ballad of Soapy Smith	Kitty Chase
1985-96	The Importance of Being Earnest	Cecily Cardew
1987	Claptrap	Sarah Littlefield
1987	Stepping Out	Lynne
1988	Macbeth	Lady Macduff
1991	Our Country's Good	Reverend Johnson/Liz Morden	Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1991	Light Shining in Buckinghamshire	N/A
1992	The Baltimore Waltz	Anna
1992	Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)	Constance Ledbelly
1993-94	Angels in America: Millennium Approaches	Various replacements
1993-94	Angels in America: Perestroika	Various replacements
1993	And Baby Makes Seven	Anna
1993	Desdemona	Bianca
1995	The Heiress	Catherine Sloper	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1996	The Night of the Iguana	Hannah Jelkes
1997-98	Pride's Crossing	Mabel Tidings/Bigelow	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Play
1999	Tongue of a Bird	Maxine
2000	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan	Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
2001	Major Barbara	Barbara Undershaft
2002-03	Imaginary Friends	Mary McCarthy
2003	Flesh and Blood	Mary Stassos
2005-06	Doubt	Sister Aloysius	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
2006	Faith Healer	Grace	Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
2010	Mrs. Warren's Profession	Mrs. Kitty Warren
2013-14	The Glass Menagerie	Amanda Wingfield	Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Play Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
2014	When We Were Young and Unafraid	Agnes

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1991	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	Our Country's Good	Nominated
1995	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	The Heiress	Won
1995	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	The Heiress	Won
1998	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Pride's Crossing	Won
2000	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Nominated
2004	GLAAD Media Awards	Vito Russo Award	Herself	Won
2005	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Doubt	Won
2005	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	Doubt	Won
2006	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Faith Healer	Nominated
2009	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	24	Won
2009	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	24	Nominated
2014	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	The Glass Menagerie	Won
2014	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	The Glass Menagerie	Nominated
2016	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Transparent	Nominated
2016	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Transparent	Nominated

Charities

Cherry Jones supports the following charitable cause: Gay Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]