Co- Star Extraordinaire: How Judy Greer Became One

Who is Judy Greer?

American actress Judy Greer landed her first film role, 1998 romantic comedy Kissing a Fool, just days after graduating from college. Judy Greer made her TV debut on an episode of the fantasy-drama Early Edition. The first roommate in Los Angeles was a college classmate of Sean Gunn, who went on to play the town eccentric Kirk on Gilmore Girls. Took acting lessons from Jeffrey Tambor, and several months later, was cast as his mistress on the cult sitcom Arrested Development. Has lent her distinctive voice to the animated series Archer and Glenn Martin, DDS.

Often dubbed Hollywood’s famous co-star, it is likely you know Judy Greer’s face, or at least her voice. Judy Greer is a massively-talented and frequently-featured character actor. Aside from her best and most prominent roles below, she has given memorable performances in a number of films including What Women Want, Adaptation, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World. She has had guest spots in popular television shows like My Name is Earl, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family. Indeed, Greer seems to be everywhere and audiences are all the luckier for it. Here are her seven most noteworthy roles to date.

Recently, Judy Greer, Hollywood’s favorite co-Star has turned into a filmmaker. Beloved in the industry after more than 125 roles in TV and movies, the actress directed her first film and made her directorial debut with A Happening of Monumental Proportions (2017).

Though many actor-directors do, she wasn’t keen on the prospect of staring at her own face in the editing room. “I don’t have that kind of self-esteem,” she said. “I could not ever watch a performance of my own while doing it and be like: ‘Oh, that was an awesome take. We can move on, I really nailed that.’”

American actresses of her generation, like Elizabeth Banks and Reese Witherspoon have had to take up producing and directing out of frustration with the parts available for women. Judy Greer mostly wanted the challenge of making her own film — “really super-selfishly, just to see if I could do it,” she said.

Is Judy Greer related to Jane Greer?

No, Jane Greer is best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past and isn’t related to Judy Greer. Judy Greer was born and grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan, as Judith Therese Evans. She is the daughter of Mollie Ann (née Greer), a hospital administrator and former nun, and Richard Evans, a mechanical engineer. Did you know that Judy Greer has Scottish, German, Irish, English and Welsh ancestry?

Are Jane Krakowski and Judy Greer sisters?

Judy Greer and Jane Krakowski were both involved in the Tropicana Trop 50 Sisters Commercial which has led to many people believing they are sisters. However, the two are not related.

Does Judy Greer have children?

Moving to her personal life, Judy Greer is married to Dean E. Johnsen. He is the executive producer of the tv show Real Time with Bill Maher. She is a stepmother to Johnsen’s two children from his previous marriage. The couple resides in Los Angeles.

Where is Judy Greer from?

She is from Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Judy Greer was born Judith Therese Evans on July 20, 1975 in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother, Mollie Ann (néeGreer), is a hospital administrator, and her father, Rich Evans, is a mechanical engineer. Her mother was once a nun, who had left the convent after eight years, being “kicked out” for wild behavior, including owning a red bathing suit.

Judy Greer was raised Roman Catholic and grew up in Redford Township and Livonia.
Did you know that she has Irish, German, English, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry? After training for nearly ten years in classical Russian ballet, Judy Greer shifted her interest towards acting. She attended Churchill High School where she was a part of the Creative and Performing Arts Program and graduated from the Theatre School at DePaul University in 1997 with a bachelor of fine arts degree. She later adopted her mother’s maiden name for her stage name, as several other actresses are named Judy or Judi Evans.

After a variety of odd jobs during college, from telemarketer to oyster shucker, Judy Greer landed her first on-screen role just three days after graduation! She got a small role in the David Schwimmer comedy called Kissing a Fool (1998). Judy flew to Los Angeles for the film’s premiere and never left. Judy Greer quickly landed a role in the dark comedy Jawbreaker (1999), with Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart. Judy Greer starred as a school wallflower-turned-babe in a story about high school girls who accidentally kill their best friend and try to cover up the murder.

She went on to play a news correspondent in Three Kings (1999) and landed a memorable opening love scene with George Clooney. Judy Greer’s performance caught the eye of Hollywood, and Judy appeared next in Mike Nichols’s What Planet Are You From? (2000) as a flight attendant opposite Garry Shandling. Some of her best television credits include a recurring role as Jason Bateman’s assistant Kitty on Fox’s Arrested Development (2003), as well as guest-starring roles on Love & Money (1999), Maggie Winters (1998), and Early Edition (1996).

Judy Greer starred opposite Jennifer Garner in Columbia Pictures’ romantic comedy 13 Going on 30 (2004), directed by Gary Winick. Judy Greer’s role was that of an office colleague alongside Garner’s character, with whom she shares a checkered past.

Is Judy Greer married?

Yes. Judy Greer is married to Dean E. Johnsen.

Judy Greer married the executive producer of Real Time with Bill Maher, Dean E. Johnsen, She is a stepmother to Johnsen’s two children from his previous marriage. The couple resides in Los Angeles.
Greer grew up Catholic, although at the age of 10, she convinced her parents to let her go to a Presbyterian church, claiming that she thought she would be closer to God over there. The real reason was that she thought the boys were cuter at that church. During a 2014 interview, Greer stated that she is no longer a practicing Catholic. Maybe it has a little something to do with the fact that Judy Green’s husband works alongside Bill Maher a proud Atheist.

In 2014, she told Glamour, “I had been wanting to try and learn how to meditate, and I did research on the different types of meditation. Transcendental Meditation seemed the easiest, and I liked that it wasn’t religious in any way.”

How much is Judy Greer worth?

Judy Greer is an American actress who has a net worth of 5 million dollars. Judy Greer is an actress who was born in Detroit, Michigan, and began dancing as a child. She went on to graduate from The Theater School at DePaul University in the late 90s.

Judy began her professional on-camera career just after graduating, appearing in a guest-starring role on the television series, “Early Edition”. From there, Judy Greer went on to find steady work in both film and television projects. She has played guest starring, recurring, and starring roles on such television shows as “Maggie Winters”, “Love & Money”, “Two and a Half Men”, “How I Met Your Mother”, “Just Shoot Me”, “Arrested Development”, “My Name is Earl”, “ER”, “Mad Love”, and “Royal Pains”. She has also appeared in films such as “13 Going on 30”, “Kissing a Fool”, “The Village”, “Elizabethtown”, “27 Dresses”, “Love and Other Drugs”, and “The Descendants”. She has also provided voices for various animated series, including “Glenn Martin, DDS” and “Archer”.

Judy Greer turned in a scene-stealing comedic performance in The Wedding Planner (2001), with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, in which she played Penny, Lopez’s sweet but ditzy assistant who tries hard, but often falls a little short. Judy Greer is blessed with the gift of comedy but she is also equally adept at more dramatic roles. Her pivotal performance opposite Mel Gibson in What Women Want (2000), playing a suicidal file clerk rescued by the one man who can hear women’s thoughts. Her outstanding scene with Gibson is the heart of the film.

Is just being a co-star enough for Judy Greer?

Blessed with a genuine gift for comedy and an engaging on-screen presence, Judy Greer has become one of Hollywood’s most evergreen, captivating talents. Having appeared in such diverse films as Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Adaptation. (2002), and Wilson (2017) as well as a number of upcoming feature film projects, Greer turns in scene-stealing performances opposite some of the industry’s biggest stars.

Ms. Garner, her friend since they made the 2004 rom-com “13 Going on 30,” remains in awe of Ms. Greer as a professional.

“She hustles,” she said. “It’s not easy to do what she does, to always be working, saying yes, to be so sought after in the kinds of roles that she does, and to bring an inventiveness to them.” Almost as a rule, critics say she is terrific but underused on screen.

She’s beloved within the industry, said Paul Rudd, a fellow Hollywood M.V.P., who appeared with her in the “Ant-Man” movies (she’s the ex-Mrs. Ant-Man). “Judy is one of those people whom you’d always rather have around than not,” he said. “Because one, she’s hilarious. And two, her energy improves the energy of everyone else in the room.” (She had a different explanation for her good reputation: “When you’re a co-star,” she wrote in her book, “you’re not really around long enough to get any good dirt.”)

Judy Greer at 44, doesn’t personally want more stardom, but she does want the attention that opens doors professionally. In Hollywood’s crude eyes, she is hardly famous enough to get a movie made, sadly, even her own. Her feature directorial debut, “A Happening of Monumental Proportions,” a dark comedy, puts Judy Garner in the part she might have otherwise taken.

(Photo credit ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

“Why would I play that role if I can get Jennifer Garner to play it, you know what I mean?” she said, brightly enough. “A Happening of Monumental Proportions,” out Sept. 21, is an ensemble film with a half-dozen storylines and Judy Greer who’s usually here or there in most movies, does not appear in it at all.

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