Happy 50th, Jane Lynch!

I took note of her, well actually I went crazy for her ,when I witnessed her comic brilliance opposite Jennifer Coolidge in the sublime- Best Of Show. I don’t realize at the moment that I already knew her work as a supporting roles in a series of films & TV shows, often the best thing in these projects. I had just not a had a chance to be washed over with the comic magic of Jane Lynch, I know who she is now, with 2 Emmy nominations this year.Only a decade ago, she was a 40 year old lesbian trying to make in show biz after a stint with the legendary 2nd City Troupe in Chicago.. Jane was cast is a commercial directed by Christopher Guest, & he found a place for her in the cast of Best in Show ( one of the few movies that I own). I will never, ever recover from the comic genius of Jennifer Coolidge as a rich trophy wife of a very old gentleman & Jane as her dog trainer/lover who publish the magazine- American Bitch, a publication for “lesbian purebred dog owner."

Just as I did, Jane did the whole routine of commercials & small parts in TV & film: L.A. Law, Judging Amy, The West Wing, 7th Heaven, Friends, Felicity, Arrested Development, Two and a Half Men, Weeds, Boston Legal, The L Word, Criminal Minds, Help Me Help You, Gilmore Girls, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Psych, Monk & Party Down . thing worked out better for Jane Lynch. After graduate school at Cornell, she returned to her native Chicago, & starred on stage as Carol Brady in a stage of the Brady Bunch. Post-Best in Show she has portrayed a parade of zany & inspired roles: a porn star turned folk singer in A Mighty Wind, the horny & insistent boss in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Ricky Bobby' mother in Talladega Nights, the clueless Cindy in For Your Consideration. I think Jane was robbed of an Oscar nomination for her work as Julia Child's sister in 2009’s Julie & Julia ( still a favorite). Now I have to share her with 100s of millions of Gleeks where she inhabits one of the best characters in TV history- cherrleading coach- Sue Sylvester on Glee, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe & the Emmy. She is also nominated for an Emmy for Best Guest Star on Two & A Half Men. The most sublime moment of 2010, for me: Jane Lynch doing Madonna's Vogue on Glee.

 This spring she married her partner, Dr. Lara Embry in Massachusetts. Beautiful, talented, celebrated & out. How times have changed. I love her! She turns 50 today.