Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25 on the 25th of November, 1968) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her roles on the American television show Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and Crossing Jordan, on which she was the main character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She was also an actor in films like RoboCop 3 or Most Wanted as well as independent films Chutney Popcorn, which she co-directed. 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 numerous changes for the family. The mother of her child, Maxine, a secretary was a divorcee in 1982, leaving her daughter partially taken care of by her maternal grandmother, Eleanor and her family located in Kitchener, Ontario. Her younger brother named John Paul "J.P." Hennessy, Jr., and a identical twin sister, Jacqueline, who is a journalist for magazines and a television show host in Canada. Her ancestry is comprised of Irish, French, Swedish and Italian descendents from her father's and most Ukrainian Roma on her mother's. She was educated at Stanley Park Senior Public School and then graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario and busked in the Toronto subway. Hennessy as well as her sister were among the first actors to be cast as twin call girls on 1988's Dead Ringers. Gillian Anderson, who was the actress who was ultimately chosen for the role, said she was selected to play Dana Scully in The X-Files. She played the character for three seasons, leaving the show in the year 1996.