Jane Kaczmarek

Jane Kaczmarek didn't see Frances McDormand's Tony-winning performance in David Lindsay-Abaire's 2011 play "Good People" on Broadway. But the actresses were classmates at Yale Drama School more than 30 years ago and are the best of friends. "I know her well enough, so I can kind of imagine how she could do it," said Kaczmarek, 56. Soon Kaczmarek will make the role her own. She will be playing the part in the West Coast premiere of "Good People," which opens April 11 at the Geffen Playhouse.

Jane Kaczmarek didn't see Frances McDormand's Tony-winning performance in David Lindsay-Abaire's 2011 play "Good People" on Broadway. But the actresses were classmates at Yale Drama School more than 30 years ago and are the best of friends. "I know her well enough, so I can kind of imagine how she could do it," said Kaczmarek, 56. Soon Kaczmarek will make the role her own. She will be playing the part in the West Coast premiere of "Good People," which opens April 11 at the Geffen Playhouse.

Actress Jane Kaczmarek and actor Bradley Whitford have sold their Italian Renaissance Revival villa in San Marino for $6.2 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows, and Whitford has bought a house in Pasadena for $3.1 million. The 1924 mansion they sold sits on more than an acre with formal gardens, a swimming pool, a spa and a guesthouse. The 5,593-square-foot main house and the guesthouse total 6,769 square feet of living space. There are six bedrooms and six bathrooms total.

Their house is a very, very, very fine house, to borrow Graham Nash's own lyrics. The singer-songwriter, whose work included such hits as "Our House," "Marrakesh Express" and "Just a Song Before I Go," and his wife, Susan , listed their Encino home for sale at $1.6 million, and five days later it was in escrow. The Tudor house has formal living and dining rooms, leaded glass windows and skylights. There are six bedrooms, 6 1/2 bathrooms and more than 4,600 square feet of living space.

It's a truism of the theater: Nuns are funny. Just ask Nicholas Martin, director of John Guare's "The House of Blue Leaves," the inaugural production of the newly remodeled Mark Taper Forum, reopening Saturday after a $30-million makeover. "It's true. No matter what you give a nun to do -- especially drinking a bottle of beer," Martin observes. During a recent rehearsal at the Taper, Martin is keeping track of a trio of very funny sisters, locked out on the roof of a Queens apartment building in a misfired attempt to get a better view of the visiting pope.

Jane Kaczmarek has performed on many of this country's best stages, appeared in major films and--yes--done her share of fluff, too. But that's not why she became an actress. For her, it was--and still is--about changing the ways in which people think about such matters as injustice and intolerance. That is why she's appearing in Diane Samuels' "Kindertransport," which opens Thursday at the Tiffany Theatre.

CBS' "Hometown" isn't just similar to "The Big Chill" but vastly superior to it: a vibrant, witty, wonderfully acted ensemble piece that is easily the best family show since "The Waltons." And if there were Emmy Awards for sexiness in a leading role, Jane Kaczmarek would win hands down! John Pluntze Jr., Los Angeles

Steven Bochco, one of television's most successful producers but absent from prime time since the spring of 2006, will return this year with a new legal drama for TNT. The cable channel said Thursday it has ordered 10 episodes of "Raising the Bar," a series about lawyers who went to school together but now find themselves working on opposite sides of the aisle. It will star Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek, Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller. Bochco, 64, who created the series with David Feige, previously produced "Hill Street Blues," "L.A.

Ray Romano and Mike Royce, partners in the Emmy-winning "Everybody Loves Raymond," will write and executive produce a pilot, "Men of a Certain Age," for TNT, the network has announced. Romano also will star in the project as a divorced father and one of three longtime friends approaching midlife. The project is the latest in TNT's new push to expand its weekday prime- time schedule with original scripted dramas. The cable network has green-lighted "Raising the Bar," a Steven Bochco project starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek, and "Truth in Advertising," a series by the team behind its biggest hit, "The Closer."

First came "West 57th." Then came "I Had Three Wives." And now comes "Hometown," 10 p.m. Thursday, the latest clunker in CBS' summer introductions of fall series. The verdict so far? CBS is programming by cookie cutter. "West 57th" is a newsmagazine, "I Had Three Wives" a comedy/mystery and "Hometown" a comedy/drama. Separate, yes, but in a way also equal.

Actress Jane Kaczmarek and actor Bradley Whitford have sold their Italian Renaissance Revival villa in San Marino for $6.2 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows, and Whitford has bought a house in Pasadena for $3.1 million. The 1924 mansion they sold sits on more than an acre with formal gardens, a swimming pool, a spa and a guesthouse. The 5,593-square-foot main house and the guesthouse total 6,769 square feet of living space. There are six bedrooms and six bathrooms total.

By day, her "Malcolm in the Middle" character, Lois, ruled the roost in an unkempt house on a suburban block. But after work, actress Jane Kaczmarek returned to an Italian Renaissance Revival villa in sedate San Marino more in keeping with her role as a judge on "Raising the Bar." Now Kaczmarek and actor Bradley Whitford have put the estate on the market at $6.7 million. The elegantly appointed 1924 mansion sits on more than an acre of land. Original formal gardens border the back lawn, which leads to a swimming pool, a spa, a secluded guesthouse and additional gardens.

It's a truism of the theater: Nuns are funny. Just ask Nicholas Martin, director of John Guare's "The House of Blue Leaves," the inaugural production of the newly remodeled Mark Taper Forum, reopening Saturday after a $30-million makeover. "It's true. No matter what you give a nun to do -- especially drinking a bottle of beer," Martin observes. During a recent rehearsal at the Taper, Martin is keeping track of a trio of very funny sisters, locked out on the roof of a Queens apartment building in a misfired attempt to get a better view of the visiting pope.

Ray Romano and Mike Royce, partners in the Emmy-winning "Everybody Loves Raymond," will write and executive produce a pilot, "Men of a Certain Age," for TNT, the network has announced. Romano also will star in the project as a divorced father and one of three longtime friends approaching midlife. The project is the latest in TNT's new push to expand its weekday prime- time schedule with original scripted dramas. The cable network has green-lighted "Raising the Bar," a Steven Bochco project starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek, and "Truth in Advertising," a series by the team behind its biggest hit, "The Closer."

Steven Bochco, one of television's most successful producers but absent from prime time since the spring of 2006, will return this year with a new legal drama for TNT. The cable channel said Thursday it has ordered 10 episodes of "Raising the Bar," a series about lawyers who went to school together but now find themselves working on opposite sides of the aisle. It will star Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek, Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller. Bochco, 64, who created the series with David Feige, previously produced "Hill Street Blues," "L.A.

Actress Jane Kaczmarek isn't going to the Golden Globes ceremony this year. She plans to watch the show on television and, even though she doesn't particularly like dressing up, the "Malcolm in the Middle" star will covet the gowns worn by the celebrities who walk the red carpet. She wants them all. The tuxedos too.

Actress Jane Kaczmarek isn't going to the Golden Globes ceremony this year. She plans to watch the show on television and, even though she doesn't particularly like dressing up, the "Malcolm in the Middle" star will covet the gowns worn by the celebrities who walk the red carpet. She wants them all. The tuxedos too.

Jane Kaczmarek is no fan of unscripted series -- although she admits to having a weakness for "American Idol." But the star of Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle" will find herself Sunday night in what could be seen as TV's latest reality project: "When Husbands Collide." Both her real-life, off-screen husband, Bradley Whitford of "The West Wing," and her on-screen husband, Bryan Cranston, are competing against each other for a Golden Globe in the best supporting actor for television category.