Jeanne Tripplehorn

Actor

• Born: June 10, 1963
• Place of Birth: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Contribution: Jeanne Tripplehorn is an Emmy Award–nominated American actor best known for her roles in the films Basic Instinct (1992) and Grey Gardens (2009) and the television shows Big Love and Criminal Minds.

Background

Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn was born to Tom and Suzanne Tripplehorn on June 10, 1963, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her father was a guitarist in the pop band Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Tripplehorn’s parents divorced when she was very young, and she was raised by her mother. As a teenager, Tripplehorn hosted a comedic radio show and appeared in a local television program called Creature Feature.

After graduating from Tulsa’s Edison Preparatory School in 1981, Tripplehorn attended the University of Tulsa for one semester before moving to New York to further her dream of becoming a professional actor. She enrolled in the acting program of the prestigious Juilliard School, where she studied and performed in numerous productions of works by renowned playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and Anton Chekhov. While attending Juilliard, she supported herself by working as a model and a voice actor.

Career

After graduating from Julliard, Tripplehorn performed in the 1990 Off-Broadway production of playwright John Patrick Shanley’s The Big Funk. The next year, she had a small role in the television film The Perfect Tribute (1991), and she went on to make comedic appearances in several 1992 episodes of The Ben Stiller Show. Also in 1992, Tripplehorn played a supporting character in the film Basic Instinct, a controversial thriller starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. Her performance in the film captured the attention of a wider audience, and she soon began to be offered numerous film roles.

In 1993 Tripplehorn played a supporting role in director Sydney Pollack’s legal thriller The Firm, starring Tom Cruise and based on the 1991 John Grisham novel. She then acted with Kevin Costner in the science-fiction film Waterworld (1995). Two years later, Tripplehorn made her Broadway debut in a production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, in which she had previously performed at Juilliard. Later in 1997, she appeared in her first starring role in the romance film ’Til There Was You. She went on to costar with Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and appear in supporting roles in films such as Steal This Movie (2000), Relative Values (2000), and The Amateurs (2005).

In 2006, Tripplehorn took on a costarring role in the HBO drama series Big Love. The show follows the lives of a polygamous family consisting of patriarch Bill Henrickson, played by Bill Paxton, and his three wives and many children. Tripplehorn played Barb Henrickson, Bill’s first and oldest wife. Big Love was well received by critics upon its premiere in 2006, and Tripplehorn remained part of the main cast until the show ended in 2011.

Tripplehorn continued to work on various other projects throughout Big Love’s five-season run. In 2009 she played a supporting role in the HBO biopic Grey Gardens, which dramatizes the lives of the mid-twentieth-century socialite Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Edie) and her mother, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie). Tripplehorn portrays Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Little Edie’s cousin and a former First Lady of the United States. In recognition of her performance, Tripplehorn was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or movie.

In 2012, Tripplehorn guest starred in two episodes of the Fox comedy series New Girl and lent her voice to the animated web series Electric City. She next joined the main cast of the police procedural show Criminal Minds, playing linguistics expert Alex Blake through 2014.

Tripplehorn appeared in films and television series during the 2010s. These included the films A Perfect Man (2013), Little Pink House (2017), Only Know So Much (2018), and Gloria Bell (2018), and the television series Undone (2019) and BoJack Horseman (2019).

In 2020, she appeared in nine episodes of the Emmy-winning television miniseries Mrs. America, portraying Eleanor Schlafly. In 2022, she appeared in two series, playing Sylvia Chamberlain in six episodes of The Gilded Age and Secretary Lorraine Hartley in eight episodes of The Terminal List. Tripplehorn also appeared in twenty-two episodes of the podcast series Exeter, where she was the voice of Colleen Clayton.

Impact

A classically trained actor, Tripplehorn has demonstrated her talents on the big and small screens as well as the stage. She contributed significantly to the success of Big Love and Grey Gardens, both of which earned critical acclaim and numerous award nominations.

Personal Life

Tripplehorn is married to actor Leland Orser, whom she met in 1998 on the set of the film Very Bad Things. They have a son, August Tripplehorn Orser.

Bibliography

Goldberg, Lesley. “New Girl Enlists Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dermot Mulroney’s Ex.” Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.

Harnick, Chris. “Criminal Minds Season 8: Jeanne Tripplehorn Is Alex Blake.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 July 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.

O’Connell, Michael. “New Girl: Jeanne Tripplehorn on Ouli’s Awkward Return, Finding Humor after Big Love.” Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.

Rochlin, Margy. “Jeanne Tripplehorn and the Joys of Polygamy.” More. Meredith, 2009. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.

Tripplehorn, Jeanne. IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000675/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.

Weingus, Leigh. “Jeanne Tripplehorn on Criminal Minds, New Girl and More.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.