Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25 in 1968) is a Canadian actor and a singer from Canada. Her most notable roles include those on American television's Law & Order where she was the prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons and Crossing Jordan for six. She was also acting in movies like RoboCop 3 or Most Wanted as well as independent films Chutney Popcorn, which she co-directed. Hennessy was brought up in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy, her father was a meat-salesman, as well as a marketing/sales executive. His job required extensive traveling, which meant many changes for the family. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary was a divorcee in 1982 and left her daughter to be partially taken care of by her paternal grandmother Eleanor and her family in Kitchener, Ontario. John Paul Hennessy Jr., her younger brother, is Jacqueline Hennessy who is an identical twin, who is a journalist in a magazine as well as a host on TV in Canada. Hennessy is from Irish, French and Swedish descent, with some Ukrainian Roma and Austrian ancestry. She attended Stanley Park Senior Public School and graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute, both of which are located in Kitchener, Ontario, and used to busk on the Toronto subway. Hennessy as well as her sister, and their first acting role was as twin call-girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. Gillian Anderson, Gillian Anderson's sister, revealed that she was chosen for The X-Files for Dana Scully's role. Hennessy also played the character of Dr. Marie Lazarus on RoboCop 3. In 1993 Dick Wolf signed Hennessy to the role of Claire Kincaid assistant district attorney in the show Law & Order. She played this role for three seasons, before ending the series as an actress in 1996.