Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (19 November 1975) is a Canadian singer and actor from Canada. She is best known for her roles on the American television series Law & Order, on where she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons and Crossing Jordan, on which she played the lead character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She has also acted as an actress in films such as RoboCop 3: Most Wanted, as well the independent film Chutney Popcorn (which she also co-directed) and The Acting Class (which was written by her). Hennessy was a native of Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy was her father. He was a meat vendor and an executive in sales and marketing. The job involved lots of travel, which resulted in frequent family relocations. Maxine Hernnessy was Maxine's mother and secretary, died in the year 1982. Eleanor her paternal grandmother who lived in Kitchener (Ontario) played a part in the raising of her daughter. Her younger brother, John Paul "J.P." Hennessy, Jr., and an identical twin sister named Jacqueline, who is a journalist for magazines and a television host in Canada. Hennessy is a mix of Irish, French French, Swedish and Italian heritage from her father's side and most Ukrainian Roma on the mother's. She graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute and Stanley Park Senior Public School. Hennessy and her sister made their acting debut as twins in the 1988 film Dead Ringers. Gillian Anderson, Gillian Anderson's actress, claims she was shortlisted for Dana Scully, The X-Files role. She also appeared on 1988's Dead Ringers as twin call girls. Dick Wolf signed Hennessy in 1993 as Claire Kincaid, an assistant district attorney, in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. The role lasted for three seasons, and then ending the show as an actor in 1996.