Who is Jean Louisa Kelly? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Age: 52 Years, 52 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: James Pitaro (m. 1997)

father: J. Joseph Kelly

mother: Wendy I. Kelly

children: Josey Pitaro, Sean Pitaro

Born Country: United States

Actors American Women

Height: 5'4" (163 cm), 5'4" Females

U.S. State: Massachusetts

City: Worcester, Massachusetts

More Facts

education: Columbia University

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Career

When she was 14, Jean Louisa Kelly won the ‘Talent America: New England contest. Soon she got her first major acting break as ‘Snow White’ in Academy Award winning lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim’s musical for Broadway ‘Into the Woods’ in 1988.

At 16, while she was in high school in Maryland, she auditioned and got the role of Tia Russel in the film ‘Uncle Buck’. She worked with one of Hollywood’s greatest actors late John Candy who played her uncle in the film. The film became the 20th highest grossing film of 1989.

Though her career had gotten off to a flying start Kelly decided to give acting a break and pursue her education. After getting her bachelor’s degree she got back into acting with the Academy award and Golden Globe nominated film ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ in 1995. She was cast as Rowena Morgan and the film was a perfect showcase for her talent as an actor and a singer. Her rendition of the song ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ was specially remarkable.

‘Mr. Fantastick’s’ was yet another musical film in which Kelly worked in. Though the work on the film started in 1995 it wasn’t released till 2000. Among her other major works was a leading role in the 2001 hit film ‘Landfall’.

Jean Louisa Kelly has also starred in several TV movies, such as ‘Breathing Lessons’ (1994), ‘Harvest of Fire’ (1996), ‘The Day Lincoln was Shot’ (1998) and ‘Cyberstalking’ (1999). She was also the voice of Princess Gwenevere in the second season fantasy animated series for children ‘Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders’ in 1996.

Kelly has made guest appearances in numerous well-known TV series some of which are Ally McBeal, Eli Stone, Law and Order, Grey’s Anatomy and CSI. But the series that she is most remembered for is ‘Yes Dear’. In this sitcom, Kelly had a recurring role as Kim Warner from 2000 to 2006. For their performance in this series Kelly and her co-star Anthony Clark got nominated for the ‘Young Artist Award’ in the ‘Most Popular Mom & Dad in a Television Series’ in 2004.

Jean Louisa Kelly has been a singer all her life. Her first album though just happened when she was getting overwhelmed as a parent trying to make her son eat. She says that she started banging on the piano belting out some music and lyrics and before long she had composed enough songs to make a complete album. This album of endearing and charming children’s songs ‘Colour of Your Heart’ came out in 2013. It talks about life and growing up. More albums followed, these were ‘Willing’ (2015), and ‘For My Folks’ (2017).

In 2020, Kelly will be seen in the sequel to the film ‘Top Gun’ called ’Top Gun: Maverick’ and also in the film ‘Call of the Wild’.

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Family & Personal Life

Jean Louisa Kelly was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on March 9, 1972, to J. Joseph III Kelly and Wendy Kelly. Her father taught English in a high school and her mother taught piano. Music was an organic part of her growing up years and Kelly recalls how she and her brother would sing around the house as children.

The family moved from Massachusetts to Maryland when Kelly was a teenager and she went to the Easton High School there. As she had been doing theater since she was a child, Kelly wasn’t keen on going to a theater school. Instead, she chose Columbia University to experience what a real college life was and graduated with a Bachelors in English in 1994.

In 1997 she married James Pitaro a media executive and attorney who became the president of ESPN Inc. in 2018. It was her husband who encouraged her to explore working in television.

The couple has two children; Sean born in 2003 and Josey born in 2006. Acting took a backseat for a while for Kelly when her children were young. Her kids were her only priority during their younger years and Kelly took up only those jobs where she could balance motherhood and her career.

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