Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy is a Canadian singer and actress. She is best known for her roles in the American television series Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons as well as Crossing Jordan, on which she played the lead character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She also appeared in films such as RoboCop 3 and Most Wanted and also in the indie film Chutney Popcorn and The Acting Class, the latter of which she co-wrote and directed. Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy, her father was a meat salesman as well as a marketing/sales executive. His job required extensive travel, which resulted in several moves for the entire family. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary who left the family in 1982 leaving her daughter partially taken care of by her paternal grandmother Eleanor who lives located in Kitchener, Ontario. Her younger brother named John Paul "J.P." Hennessy, Jr., and a identical twin sister, Jacqueline She is a journalist for magazines and a television host in Canada. Hennessy is of Irish as well as French, Swedish, Italian, and Swedish heritage from her father, and most of her Ukrainian Roma and Austrian heritage from her mother. She went to Stanley Park Senior Public School and graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute, both in Kitchener, Ontario, and utilized to be a busker on the Toronto subway. Hennessy as well as her sister, and her first role on stage was as twin call-girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. According to Gillian Anderson (the actress who got the role) she was a finalist for Dana Scully's role in The X-Files. In 1993, Hennessy was signed by Dick Wolf as Claire Kincaid as the assistant district attorney on the NBC crime drama Law & Order. The show ran for three seasons. She left the show in 1996.