Early life and education

Hecht was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of Lenore, a psychotherapist, and Richard Hecht, a physicist. When she was three, Jessica moved with her parents and her sister to Bloomfield, Connecticut. Following the divorce of her parents, her mother remarried when Jessica was twelve and her sister Elizabeth was fourteen. They were brought up by her mother and her step-father Howard Iger, a psychiatrist, who had custody of his children, Andrea, age five, and Russell, age 3.

In 1987, Hecht graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.

Career

Hecht has made appearances in television shows such as Lois & Clark, ER, Seinfeld, Friends, Once and Again, Law & Order, Breaking Bad, Bored to Death and The Good Wife; and in movies such as Sideways, Anarchy TV, and Kicking and Screaming. Hecht is known for her recurring role on Friends as Susan Bunch, the wife of Ross Geller's ex-wife, Carol Willick.

She was also a featured cast member in the Jonathan Silverman sitcom The Single Guy.

Hecht had the supporting role of Amy Burns in the comedy-drama Dan in Real Life (2007), with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, and in Whatever Works (2009) directed by Woody Allen.

In 2012, she performed on Broadway with Jim Parsons in Harvey. Hecht was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her role in A View From The Bridge on Broadway with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schrieber, which wrapped on April 4, 2010. She also had a semi-recurring role as Gretchen Schwartz on the popular AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and appeared in a guest role on Desperate Housewives in 2011.

In the TV drama Person of Interest, she played the role of Elizabeth Bridges in Season 4 Episodes 6 and 18. As of 2015, she appeared in Marvel's Jessica Jones on Netflix.

Hecht is currently performing the role of Golde in the 2015 Bartlett Sher-directed revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theatre.

Personal life

She has been married to Adam Bernstein, a film director, since 1995. They have two children together, Stella and Carlo Bernstein. Hecht was raised in a "pretty secular" Jewish household; she has stated that she is "Reconstructionist Jewish and I'm fairly spiritual".

[ Source: Wikipedia ]