Jean Smart made her acting debut in the 1979 television film ‘Before and After.’ She then appeared in television series like ‘Reggie’ (1983), ‘Teachers Only’ (1983), and ‘Maximum Security’ (1984), before making her film debut in the 1984 neo-western action thriller Flashpoint. It was the first theatrical film produced by HBO. In 1986, she joined the main cast of the television sitcom ‘Designing Women’ created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. She played the role of ‘Charlene Frazier-Stillfield’ and remained a part of the show until 1991. Smart next acted in television series like ‘Locked Up: A Mother's Rage’ (1991), ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ (1993), ‘Scarlett’ (1994), ‘High Society’ (1995-1996), ‘Hey Arnold!’ (1997), and ‘Static Shock’ (2000-2003).
In 2000, she became a part of the television sitcom ‘Frasier.’ Her performance as ‘Lana Gardner’ in the series earned her 2 ‘Primetime Emmy Awards’ for ‘Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.’ She next appeared in series like ‘The Oblongs’ (2001), ‘Kim Possible’ (2002-2007), ‘In-Laws’ (2002-2003), and ‘Center of the Universe’ (2004-2005). In 2006, Smart starred as ‘Martha Logan’ in the American action drama television series ‘24.’ She appeared in 35 episodes of the series. The following year, she joined the cast of the television sitcom ‘Samantha Who?’ created by Cecelia Ahern and Donald Todd. She played the role of ‘Regina Newly’ in the series which earned her a ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.’ The show aired its final episode in 2009.Â
In 2015, Smart portrayed ‘Floyd Gerhardt’ in the black comedy crime drama television series ‘Fargo’ for which she won the ‘Critics' Choice Television Award.’ She then acted in ‘Bad Internet’ (2016), ‘Legion’ (2017-2019), ‘Big Mouth’ (2018-2020), ‘Arrested Development’ (2019), ‘Watchmen’ (2019), and ‘Mare of Easttown’ (2021). In 2021, she joined the comedy-drama streaming television series ‘Hacks.’ The show completed its first season in June 2021.
Directed by Zach Braff, the film Garden State is based on his real-life experiences as a young man who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies. The movie received positive reviews and has garnered a cult following.
An intensely dark and thrilling film that follows the life of Christian Wolff, a certified public accountant who works with criminal and terrorist organizations, The Accountant is also known for its action sequences featuring Pencak silat, an Indonesian martial art.
A Simple Favor is a black comedy mystery thriller film which revolves around Stephanie, a young single mother, who befriends an upper-class woman named Emily, whose child studies in the same elementary school as Stephanie’s. However, when Emily suddenly vanishes, Stephanie decides to investigate her disappearance.
When a family goes on vacation, their pets, Chance—a bulldog, Shadow—a retriever, and Sassy—a cat, are left with a friend. Anxious about never seeing their owners again, they embark on a journey to find their family. Risking their lives, they travel through the Sierra mountains wilderness, open countryside, and learn to keep their differences aside to reach their owners.
Albert Markovski heads the local chapter of an environmental group trying to stop the building of a new Huckabees store. Soon, local Huckabees executive and Albert’s rival, Brad Stand, infiltrates the group and replaces him. After strange coincidences start happening Albert hires existential detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe and things get hilariously complicated.
Life as We Know It centres around a man and a woman who dislike each other but end up with the responsibility of taking care of their best friends' baby after their friends die in an accident. It stars Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as the baby's godparents whose mutual hate turns into acceptance after the arrival of the baby.
Socially inept teenager, Nick Twisp, meets Sheeni Saunders who shares his taste for French culture and music. In spite of Sheeni having a boyfriend, the two start a relationship. Later, when Sheeni is shipped off to a boarding school, Nick starts a hilarious personal quest to win her heart and to sleep with her.
It has been seventeen years since Oscar and Felix saw each other. Things take a turn when they bump into each other at the airport and travel together in a rented car, for the wedding of their children. However, nothing goes as expected as their journey gets filled with misadventures.
Life Itself is a romantic drama film which tells the story of multiple couples from different parts of the world, and their connection to a single event.
Kay and Arnold have been married for a long time, but they eventually find themselves losing the spark they had in their marriage. Things change when Kay decides to attend an intense, week-long counseling session to improve their relationship.
Even though Jake Perry and his wife Melanie Smooter are estranged, he still hopes for a reconciliation. Melanie wants to divorce and marry Andrew Hennings, a wealthy man. However, things don’t work out according to her plans, and she ends up falling in love with Jake once again.
He is an image consultant, successful, but coarse and therefore disliked and unhappy. One day he comes home to find a toy plane on his porch and a strange boy inside his house. Although he chases him out he finds the boy sitting on his couch when he comes home the next day. Very soon, he begins to see a resemblance between them.
Project X is a science fiction thriller film which tells the story of Jimmy Garrett, a pilot, who is assigned to watch over a group of chimpanzees used for military experiments. Over time, Jimmy starts to bond with Virgil, a chimp who is capable of communicating in sign language. However, when Jimmy learns that they are planning to kill the animals with radiation, he decides to help them escape.
Huck Cheever is a talented poker player living in Las Vegas, who is trying to secure a seat in a tournament. However, at the same time, he also has to deal with his personal problems.
This comedy film is based on the characters of a sitcom named The Brady Bunch. However, instead of the 1970s, the characters are now placed in the 1990s, where they seem totally out of place.
Sunny Ann Davis is a young woman working as a cocktail waitress who lives a lousy life in Washington. Her life takes a turn when due to a series of comic misadventures, she becomes famous overnight, which leads her to becoming a protocol official for the State Department.
An American comedy about a promiscuous man who goes through a transition in life after encountering a woman alleging him to be the father of her child.
Hero Wanted is an action crime drama thriller film which tells the story of a man who is injured in a bank robbery. However, he hunts down and kills the robber who had left him and a girl for dead. But, he soon finds himself being hunted by his gang, and it seems that they will not stop until they have avenged their man.
Miss Meadows is a black comedy thriller film which revolves around Miss Mary Meadows, a young woman who works as a substitute teacher at an elementary school. She is also a secret vigilante who kills local criminals whom she witnesses committing crimes, but nobody is aware of this fact due to her innocent and mild behavior. The local sheriff begins to investigate the case, and although Miss Meadows is a suspect, he finds himself drawn to her. He is unsure whether he should arrest her or provide her protection.
Bringing Down the House is a romantic comedy film, which revolves around a lonely man who meets a woman on the internet. However, she happens to be in prison. She eventually escapes from the prison and comes to his house, and proceeds to wreak havoc on his middle-class life.
Superintelligence is a science fiction romantic comedy film which tells the story of Carol Peters, who gave up her lucrative job to work for the environment. Her life takes a turn after she is labeled as the most average person on Earth while being interviewed for a dating site, which is heard by an artificial intelligence entity. The supercomputer which has become sentient informs her the next day that it is trying to determine if it should save humanity or enslave them, or obliterate humanity completely. It informs Carol that it is her actions which are going to determine the future of the human race.
An unexpected snowfall closes a town in New York. A group of elementary school kids led by Natalia Brandston hijack a plow truck to make sure that the schools remain closed.
Bruce Wayne is a millionaire businessman who lives in Gotham City, but people are unaware that at night, he assumes the role of a crime-fighting vigilante superhero: the caped crusader Batman. With the assistance of Robin and Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon, he works to protect Gotham City from various criminals and lunatics such as The Joker and Killer Croc.
This animated romantic drama film tells the story of a young girl, Shizuku, who loves reading and aims to be a writer in the future. When one day, she notices that all the library books she had chosen to borrow were previously borrowed by one boy, she aims to find this mysterious person, who might even be her soul mate.
This animated comedy film tells the story of Arnold who hits Harold using a baseball bat. Harold swears that he will beat him the next day to take revenge, and therefore, the next day, Arnold acts crazy to prevent getting beaten.
Jean Smart Awards
| Samantha Who? | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 2008 |
| Frasier | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | 2001 |
| Frasier | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | 2000 |
