Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones was born on November 21, 1956 in Paris, Tennessee. A drama degree holder from the Carnegie Mellon University, she established herself as a prolific stage actress, making her debut on stage in 1980. She has since gone on to win two Tony Awards, both for Best Leading Actress in a Play: the first in 1995, for The Heiress; the second ten years later, for Doubt. She also appeared in celebrated Broadway runs of plays such as Imaginary Friends, Angels in America and Our Country’s Good.
Jones also acted for the screen, making her debut in the 1980 television movie O’Malley. She eventually appeared in movies such as Light of Day, HouseSitter, The Horse Whisperer, Erin Brockovich, The Perfect Storm and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. On television, she became a cast member of The West Wing in 2004, before later joining the cast of action series 24 as President Allison Taylor.