Jennifer Irwin


Actor

About

Birth Place
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Born
June 17, 1975

Biography

A dark-haired comedic actress with pixieish looks and the ability to dramatically alter her appearance with small facial manipulations, Toronto-native Jennifer Irwin did some child acting work in Canadian productions like "Anne of Green Gables" (PBS, 1986) and the horror feature "The Gate" (1987) before joining the Second City comedy troupe. A graduate of Montreal's McGill University, Ir...

Biography

A dark-haired comedic actress with pixieish looks and the ability to dramatically alter her appearance with small facial manipulations, Toronto-native Jennifer Irwin did some child acting work in Canadian productions like "Anne of Green Gables" (PBS, 1986) and the horror feature "The Gate" (1987) before joining the Second City comedy troupe. A graduate of Montreal's McGill University, Irwin worked with Second City from the mid-1990s, appearing in dozens of varied comedic stage performances including challenging improvisational pieces. With Canada as a hotbed of film production, Irwin landed supporting roles in many features, including 1996's "Mrs. Winterbourne" and 1998's "Blues Brothers 2000" while her performance in "Superstar," the 1999 feature adaptation of Molly Shannon's "Saturday Night Live" favorite Mary Katherine Gallagher merited a Canadian Comedy Award nomination. Other credits included a role in the Showtime TV-movie "Harlan County War," a dramatization based on Barbara Kopple's groundbreaking documentary "Harlan County USA," and supporting parts in the 2001 E! Entertainment Television original TV-movie comedy "Spinning Out of Control," starring a skewed Kathie Lee Gifford, and the action feature "Exit Wounds," starring Steven Seagal and DMX in a Detroit setting that bore all the landmarks of Toronto. Having made it in her hometown. Irwin set her sights on Los Angeles, where she hoped to launch a career as a comedic actress. Within weeks of arriving, she was cast on the NBC sitcom landed a guest role on CBS' "The Ellen Show" (2001) and a regular spot on the sitcom "Inside Schwartz" (NBC, 2001-02), where she portrayed Emily, the ambitious wife of David Cobert (Bryan Callen), the edgy best friend of Breckin Meyer's titular character.

Life Events

1986

Had early television credit in the Canadian miniseries adaptation "Anne of Green Gables" (PBS)

1987

Had early feature credit in the horror thriller "The Gate"

1996

Appeared in the comedy "Mrs. Winterbourne", directed by Richard Benjamin

1996

Acted in the ABC TV-movie "Easy Prey"

1997

Had a cameo as a DEA secretary in the fact-based TV-movie "Elvis Meets Nixon" (Showtime)

1998

Played a nun in the sequel "Blues Brothers 2000"

1999

Acted in the Canadian four-part series "More Tears", aired on PBS in the US

1999

Featured in the Catholic school-set comedy "Superstar", based on Molly Shannon's "Saturday Night Live" character Mary Katherine Gallagher; nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for her performance

2000

Appeared in the Showtime TV-movie "Harlan County War", a dramatized adaptation of Barbara Kopple's famed documentary "Harlan County USA"

2001

Was a regular on the NBC sitcom "Inside Schwartz", playing the ambitious wife of the title character's best friend

2001

Had a featured role in the E! Entertainment Television TV-movie comedy "Spinning Out of Control"

2001

Moved to Los Angeles

2001

Acted in the action feature "Exit Wounds"

2001

Made guest appearance on the CBS sitcom "The Ellen Show"

Bibliography