Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25 in 1968) is a Canadian actor and a singer. Most well-known for her roles in American television shows Law & Order (where she was Claire Kincaid, a prosecutor) and Crossing Jordan (where she played Jordan Cavanaugh for six seasons). She has also acted as an actress in films like RoboCop 3: Most Wanted, as well the independent films Chutney Popcorn (which she also co-directed) and The Acting Class (which was written by her). Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy was her father. He was a meat vendor and a sales/marketing executive. The job involved a lot of travel and led to frequent family moves. Maxine Hernnessy, Maxine's mother and secretary, passed away in 1982. Eleanor her paternal grandmother who lived in Kitchener (Ontario) took part in raising her daughter. John Paul Hennessy Jr. has a younger brother, as well as Jacqueline, a twin sister. Jacqueline is a journalist and host on a Canadian TV program. Hennessy is a mix of Irish, French French, Swedish and Italian roots on her father's side as well as most Ukrainian Roma on the mother's. She was a graduate of Grand River Collegiate Institute and Stanley Park Senior Public School. Hennessy and her sister were among the first actors to be cast as twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. Gillian Anderson, Gillian Anderson's actress, claims she was shortlisted for Dana Scully, The X-Files role. She also appeared in the 1988 film Dead Ringers as twin call girls. Dick Wolf signed Hennessy in 1993 for the role of Claire Kincaid, an assistant district attorney, in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. She played the character for three seasons before leaving the show in 1996.