Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actor and singer. She is best known for her roles in the American television show Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and Crossing Jordan, on which she played the lead character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She also appeared in films such as RoboCop 3 (most wanted) and Crossing Jordan (which she wrote and directed). Hennessy was raised in Edmonton. John Hennessy her father was an executive in sales and marketing. It required frequent travel that led to numerous family relocations. Maxine, Maxine's secretary mother had to leave the family in 1982. Eleanor, Eleanor's paternal grandmother, cared for her daughter in Kitchener. John Paul Hennessy Jr. is her younger brother. Jacqueline is her identical twin sister. She is a journalist from Canada and host. Hennessy is of Irish and French, Swedish, Italian, and Swedish ancestry from her father. She also has most of her Ukrainian Roma and Austrian heritage from her mother. She attended Stanley Park Senior Public School. Grand River Collegiate Institute was her graduation. She used to busk in the subway system of Toronto. Hennessy and her sister were among the first to act as twin call girls on 1988's Dead Ringers. According to Gillian Anderson (the actress who played the part) she was a finalist for the role of Dana Scully on The X-Files. In 1993, Hennessy was signed by Dick Wolf as Claire Kincaid, assistant district attorney in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. The role lasted three seasons. She left the show in 1996.