Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (19 November 1975) is a Canadian singer and actor from Canada. Most well-known for her roles in American television series Law & Order (where she played Claire Kincaid, a prosecutor) and Crossing Jordan (where she played Jordan Cavanaugh for six seasons). She also appeared in films like RoboCop 3 (most wanted) and Crossing Jordan (which she also wrote and directed). Hennessy was born and raised in Edmonton. John Hennessy was her father. He was a meat marketer and a sales/marketing executive. The job involved a lot of travel and caused frequent family changes. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary, left the family in 1982 leaving her daughter to be partially raised by her paternal grandmother, Eleanor, in Kitchener, Ontario. John Paul Hennessy Jr. is her younger brother. Jacqueline is her identical twin sister. She is a writer for a Canadian magazine and host. Hennessy is from Irish, French and Swedish origin, and has Ukrainian Roma and Austrian ancestry. After graduation from Grand River Collegiate Institute (both in Kitchener) She then went to Stanley Park Senior Public School. She also took part in the Toronto subway. She and her sister made their acting debut as twin callgirls in 1988's Dead Ringers. According to Gillian Anderson (the actress who played the part) she was a finalist for the role of Dana Scully in The X-Files. In 1993, Hennessy was signed by Dick Wolf as Claire Kincaid, assistant district attorney in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. She portrayed the role for three seasons, and then leaving the series as an actor in 1996.