Profile of Jane Curtin on Famous Like Me

Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian, from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds an associate degree from Elizabeth Seton Junior College in New York City.

In 1968, Curtin decided to pursue comedy as a career and dropped out of college. She joined a comedy group, "The Proposition", and performed with them until 1972. She starred in "Pretzels", an off-Broadway play written by Curtin and Fred Grandy, in 1974.

One of the original "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" for NBC's Saturday Night Live (1975), Curtin remained on the show through the 1979-1980 season. A practicing Catholic, she did not participate in SNL's notorious backstage party scene.

On "Saturday Night Live", Curtin often played straight-woman characters driven to frustration by the antics of John Belushi or Chevy Chase. She was particularly well known for SNL bits that included "Prymaat Conehead" (mother of the Conehead family), and "Enid Loopner" (in sketches with Gilda Radner and Bill Murray). Curtin anchored SNL's "Weekend Update" segment in 1976-77, and was paired with Dan Aykroyd in 1977-78 and Bill Murray in 1978-80. In a parody of the 1970's news program "60 Minutes", Curtin portrayed the liberal viewpoint vs. right-wing conservative Dan Aykroyd.

Curtin: "Dan, only a reactionary ass such as yourself could oppose full diplomatic relations with China. As President Carter said, it's a simple recognition of reality. How can we ignore eight hundred million people? But, then again, I guess it's your habit to ignore reality. You're a paranoid schizophrenic, Dan, whose politics are obviously born out of some buried infantile trauma. You hide from reality, constructing a hostile world to justify your own incapacity for love and compassion. Go ahead, Dan, live in your dark, lonely world..."

Aykroyd: "Jane, you ignorant slut. My personality profile is not at issue here, any more than is your inability to achieve orgasm. The issue is Taiwan. How can we expect to have the confidence of any free nation when we stab one of our most faithful allies in the back? I suppose you'd like to conduct our foreign policy the way you conduct your private life, hopping from bed to bed with anyone who can do you some good. Then what do you have? An old, dried-out scuz that no decent man would be seen with. Is that what you want for America? It's too late for you, Jane, but our country still has some dignity left, you hosebag!" (Dialog: "Saturday Night Live" .)

Curtin later starred in two long-running television sitcoms. In "Kate & Allie", with Susan Saint James (1984-89), she played single mother "Allie Lowell" and received two Emmys for her performance. She also joined the cast of "Third Rock from the Sun" (1996-2001) playing the "human" "Dr. Mary Albright" opposite the "alien family" composed of John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

In 1993, Curtin and Aykroyd were reuinited in Coneheads, a full length motion picture based on their popular SNL characters.

Curtin lives in Connecticut with her husband, Patrick Lynch. The couple has one daughter, Tess Lynch. Curtin has served as a U.S. Committee National Ambassador for UNICEF.

Curtin has a cousin in the industry, actress and writer, Valerie Curtin.

Filmography

Television

• Saturday Night Live (1975-80)
• Kate & Allie as Allie Lowell (1984-89)
• Third Rock from the Sun as Professor Mary Albright (1996-2001)
• Cyberchase (voice) as Lady Ada Lovelace in episode #201 "Hugs and Witches" (2003)

Films

• Antz (1998) [voice]
• Coneheads (1993)
• O.C. and Stiggs (1987)
• How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1981)
• Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)

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