Profile Text
Janney in 2015, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Allison Brooks Janney
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Date of Birth: November 19, 1959
Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of German and Scottish, remote Dutch, likely distant Irish
Allison Janney is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya (2017). Her roles also include the series The West Wing , Mr. Sunshine , Mom , Palm Royale , and The Diplomat , and the films Big Night , The Ice Storm , Primary Colors , The Object of My Affection , Drop Dead Gorgeous , American Beauty , The Hours (2002), Finding Nemo , How to Deal , Winter Solstice , The Chumscrubber , Over the Hedge , Hairspray (2007), Away We Go , Struck by Lightning , Liberal Arts , The Way, Way Back ; Mr. Peabody & Sherman , Get On Up , The DUFF , Spy , Minions (2015), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children , Troop Zero , Ma , The Addams Family (2019), Lou , The Creator , Everything’s Going to Be Great , and The Roses . She is 6′0″.
She is the daughter of Macy Brooks (Putnam), an actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. Her father was born in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Her mother was born in Bronxville, Westchester, New York. She has American roots going back to the 1600s, with many-generation lineages in Maryland, Ohio, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Allison was raised mostly in Dayton, Ohio.
Allison is six feet tall.
Allison’s patrilineal line can be traced to Randle Janney, who was born, c. 1579, in Styal, Cheshire, England.
Allison’s paternal grandfather was Jervis/Jarvis Spencer Janney (the son of Stuart Symington Janney and Frances Moale Spencer). Jarvis was born in Garrison, Baltimore, Maryland. Stuart was born in Harford County, Maryland, the son of Johns Hopkins Janney and Caroline/Carrie Symington. Frances was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, the daughter of Jervis Spencer and Sarah Elizabeth Elder.
Allison’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Lowe Hill Smith (the daughter of Francis Fay Hill Smith and Elizabeth S. Lowe). Allison’s grandmother Elizabeth was born in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio. Francis was the son of Francis/Frank Hill Smith and Clara Montfort Fay, who were from Massachusetts. Allison’s great-grandmother Elizabeth was the daughter of Houston Lowe and Caroline/Carrie Harries/Harris.
Allison’s maternal grandfather was Henry Wilson Putnam (the son of Edmund Whitman Putnam and Ethel Harding Wilson). Henry was born in Manhattan, New York, New York. Edmund was born in Manhattan, the son of W. Irving Putnam and Emma Louise Brock. Allison’s great-grandmother Ethel was born in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, the daughter of Henry Randall Wilson, whose mother was born in Canada, to an English father; and of Emma Louise Harding, whose father was English. Edmund Putnam’s grandfather, Allison’s great-great-great-grandfather, George Palmer Putnam, was a prominent publisher who founded the publishing house Wiley & Putnam/G. P. Putnam’s Sons. George’s daughter, Allison’s great-great-great-aunt, was physician, writer, and suffragist Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi, whose husband was pediatrics pioneer Abraham Jacobi.
Allison’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Ackermann (the daughter of Frederick Thomas Ackermann and Frances Annette Brooks). Elizabeth was born in Bronxville, Westchester, New York. Frederick was born in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, the son of Carl/Charles Franz/Francis Ackermann, who was German, and of Henrietta Marie Wilckens, who was born in New York, of German descent. Allison’s great-grandmother Frances was born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania, the daughter of James Croxall Brooks and Mary Catherine Murtagh, whose father was Irsih.
Sources: Genealogies of Allison Janney – http://www.geni.com https://famouskin.com
Genealogies of Allison’s paternal grandparents, Jervis/Jarvis Spencer Janney and Elizabeth Lowe Hill Smith – http://www.findagrave.com
Allison’s maternal grandfather, Henry Wilson Putnam, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Allison’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ackermann, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Allison’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Carl/Charles Franz/Francis Ackermann and Henrietta Marie Wilckens, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org