Lynch is also known for her stage work including her role in Nora Ephron's off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore in 2009. She made her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in the revival of Annie in 2013. She returned to Broadway as Mrs. Brice in another revival, Funny Girl, in 2022.
Lynch got her start in films in 1988, playing a small role in the film Vice Versa. In 1993, she had a secondary role as a doctor alongside Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.[17] She also appeared, that same year, as a reporter in Fatal Instinct.
During the 1990s, she made numerous television commercials, including one for Frosted Flakes for an adult audience, directed by Christopher Guest. A few years later, Guest would remember Lynch as he chose actors for his 2000 dog show mockumentaryBest in Show. Lynch played Christy Cummings, a butch lesbian personal dog handler to trophy wife Sheri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge). From there, she became a staple actress in Guest's casts, appearing in the director's A Mighty Wind (2003) as porn actress-turned-folk singer Laurie Bohner and in For Your Consideration (2006) as an entertainment reporter.
In Julie and Julia, she portrayed Dorothy McWilliams, Julia Child's sister. Entertainment Weekly dedicated an article on its website to the possibility of her performance receiving an Academy Award nomination.[21][22] However, she was not nominated.
She provided the voice of Bobbi St. Simone in The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart 2023.
In 2008 she narrated Out & Proud in Chicago, a documentary which tells about LGBT life in Chicago from the Civil War to 2008 through the stories of 20 everyday Chicagoans, from age 30 to age 80.[23]
Beginning in 2009, Lynch appeared as a regular cast member of the Fox series Glee. The role echoed previous guest appearances in The X-Files and Veronica Mars, being her third time cast as a harsh high school teacher. She won glowing reviews for her role as the aggressive cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching."[24] Before her work with Glee, she was a series regular on the Starz comedy Party Down. Though the series was renewed for a second season, Lynch did not return due to her work on Glee.[25]
Even in Glee's early days, Lynch continued to pursue other projects. Lynch hosted Saturday Night Live on October 9, 2010; the news of her hosting was accidentally broken to her by her Glee boss, Ryan Murphy, by text message.[26] Lynch had also guest-starred on the Nickelodeon comedy iCarly as Pam Puckett, Sam Puckett's mother, in the episode "iSam's Mom."
Beginning on July 11, 2013, Lynch hosted the NBC game show Hollywood Game Night. The show had two teams made up of members of the public (civilians) and celebrities competing in various party games, with a chance for the civilians to take home up to $25,000.[27]
Also in 2017, Lynch guest-starred in Episode 7 of Marvelous Mrs Maisel as popular but dislikeable comic Sophie Lennon. Lynch returned in the role for two episodes at the end of the second season.[33][34]
In 2019, Lynch joined the main cast of Final Space as A.V.A., the A.I. of the Crimson Light.[35]
In May 2020, it was reported that Lynch will appear in a recurring role on the Netflix comedy series Space Force.[36]
On July 8, 2020, it was reported by Vulture that Lynch would host a revival of Weakest Link on NBC.[37] The show debuted on September 29, 2020.[38]
Lynch wrote and starred in the award-winning play Oh Sister, My Sister. Originally produced in 1998, the play kicked off the Lesbians in Theater program at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in 2004.[40]
She starred in Comcast's XFinity ads, mainly with two different laptops and two different colored Persian cats. She also stars in LG Corp.'s Text Ed campaign to educate drivers about the dangers of texting while driving.[41]
Lynch's first experience hosting an awards show was in 2010 when she hosted the 2010 VH1 DoSomething Awards.[42] It was announced that she will be hosting the 2011 VH1 DoSomething Awards, airing on VH1 on August 18.[43] Lynch hosted the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2011, only the third woman in Emmy history to host the awards show solo.[44] According to the edition of September 19 of The Hollywood Reporter, Lynch hosting the Emmys did not help ratings, as viewing was down 8% year over year and eight million fewer people watched the Emmys than watched Michael Vick's return to Atlanta on Sunday Night Football on NBC (21.5 million for Eagles-Falcons, 13.5 million for the Emmys).[45]
An autobiography written by Lynch, titled Happy Accidents, was published in the fall of 2011 by Hyperion Voice. Lynch was inspired to write the book after reflecting upon the successes of her past year and wishing she could have told her more anxious, younger self to not worry as much.[46] The memoir also includes detail about her years as an alcoholic and her success in battling this addiction.[47] Lynch is openly lesbian and married Lara Embry in 2010.[48] A self-proclaimed animal lover, Lynch has four rescue dogs.[49] She has recorded a PSA for PETA encouraging the adoption of shelter animals, and she sponsors an annual adoption event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.[50][51] She was the commencement speaker for Smith College's class of 2012 where she received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts.
Lynch made her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in Annie for a limited engagement lasting from May 15 to July 14, 2013. She took the place of Katie Finneran.[55]
In 2014, Lynch joined the Ban Bossy campaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls.[56]
In 2015, Lynch debuted See Jane Sing, a cabaret show in which she sings along with Kate Flannery from The Office and Tim Davis from ABC's Boy Band, accompanied by the Tony Guerrero Quintet. The show continues to tour around the country. In 2016, Lynch released A Swingin' Little Christmas, a nostalgic Christmas album featuring the See Jane Sing ensemble and released on Lynch's own KitschTone Records label. The album received substantial airplay around the country and landed on the Billboard AC Chart's Top 10. In 2017, Lynch recorded a Christmas single with actor Dick Van Dyke. The song was composed and produced by Tony Guerrero and was released by KitschTone Records.
In 2020, Lynch directed her first two TV commercials for the production company STORY,[57] and joined its roster of commercial directors.
In October 2021, she was cast in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl as Rosie Brice.[58] Her stint ran from opening on April 24, 2022, to an expected August 14, 2022 conclusion.[59]
In 2022, Lynch was named honorary "mayor of Funner", the putative location of Harrah's Resort Southern California. In this role, Lynch promotes the resort, including its additional vegan food options and non-alcoholic beverages as Lynch does not eat animal products nor drink alcohol.[60]
Personal life
Lynch married Lara Embry on May 31, 2010, in Sunderland, Massachusetts.[61][62] In June 2013, Lynch announced that they were divorcing.[63] Their divorce was finalized in January 2014.[64]
Lynch is deaf in her right ear. She speculated to Craig Ferguson on a July 19, 2013 broadcast of The Late Late Show that the deafness was most likely caused by having had a high fever as an infant.[66]
^The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Season 11. Episode 2036. November 18, 2014. Evergreen Park? I was born in Evergreen Park! Little Company of Mary. The hospital.
^Lynch, Jane (2011). Happy Accidents. Hachette Books. ISBN9781401342753. This was a huge deal—my first big Hollywood movie. I played Dr. Kathy Wahlund, a researcher and forensic scientist who helps Richard Kimble prove his innocence.