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Janine
Turner portrays Maggie O'Connell,
the beautiful independent pilot and landlady who eventually becomes
mayor of Cicely. As Dr. Joel Fleischman's
(Rob Morrow) primary nemesis, Maggie struggles
between her disdain for Joel's whiny ways and her reluctant physical
attraction to him. Turner's stint as Maggie O'Connell resulted in
an Emmy nomination and three Golden Globe
nominations for best actress in a drama series.
Born December
6, 1962 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Turner
developed a love for the arts as a child and studied acting and
dance. In junior high she became an apprentice with The Fort Worth
Ballet. At fifteen, her mother took her portfolio to the Wilhemina
modeling agency, and two weeks later she became their youngest client.
Turner modeled in New York while attending The Professional Children's
School.
A year later,
back in Fort Worth, she was discovered by Leonard Katzman, producer
of Dallas,
and was cast in a recurring role on the show as Lucy Ewing's best
friend. Turner then decided to graduate from high school a year
early and give up her modeling career to move to Los Angeles to
pursue an acting career. She starred on a late-night soap, Behind
The Screen, spent a year on General
Hospital as "Laura Templeton," (sister to Jackie Templeton,
played by Demi Moore) and appeared in the feature film Young
Doctors in Love. She then left General Hospital
to appear in Dino Delaurentiis' Tai-Pan.
Turner returned to New York in 1986 to further hone her acting skills.
She spent the next three years studying with Marcia Haufrecht of
The Actor's Studio and acting coach Mira Rastova. She went on to
appear in several Off-Broadway productions, including Full Moon
and High Tide in the Ladies' Room, and performed with the
avant-garde theater group The Common Ground Theater. |
| Her
additional film credits include co-starring roles in Monkey
Shines, Steel
Magnolias, Cliffhanger
with Sylvester Stallone, Leave
it to Beaver as June Cleaver, and Dr.
T and the Women. Turner has been named one of People's
"50 Most Beautiful People," one of US magazine's "10 Sexiest Women,"
and one of Esquire's "Women We Love." In 1992 she received the "Women
At Work" award from the National Commission on Working Women. She
was in several guest TV spots including Quantam Leap (Season 2, episode
"Catch a Falling Star - May 21, 1979") with fellow NoEx
cast member, John
Cullum.
After Northern
Exposure, Janine returned to TV As Dr. Dana Stowe
in Lifetime's
"Strong
Medicine" from 2000 - 2002. She returned to the big
screen in No Regrets
(2004) and Birdie
and Bogey (2004). She made her directorial debut with Trip
in a Summer Dress, winning best new emerging director at
the Deep Ellum Film Festival in 2004. In late 2004, she became the
ad spokesperson for Restasis
eyedrops. Her voice
also was heard at the end of the Silestone Countertop commercials
("I am Brazillian Brown ...") in 2005.
In 2005, Turner appeared
in a Chuck Norris made-for-TV movie, Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial
By Fire. She appeared in the independent flick The
Night of the White Pants, and the made-for-TV film Miracle
Dogs Too in 2006. She also lent her voice in the Park Place Motors ads in 2007.
Turner released a new inspirational fitness DVD, Christoga, that combines yoga with scriptures from the Bible as the meditation focus, with fitness expert Mary Cunningham. Her book "Holding Her Head High: Inspiration from 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History" was released in March 2008.
In 2007, Turner appeared in the Lifetime telepic Primal Doubt, a psychological thriller. She appeared in Season 9, episode "Inconceivable" of Law & Order SVU that first aired in January 2008. In 2008-2009, she appeared in Friday Night Lights.
When not on
location, Turner lives in her beloved Texas on a 300-acre ranch
with her daughter Juliette Loraine (born November 22, 1997), along
with four horses, five dogs, two birds, one cat and herd of prize-winning
Texas Longhorn cattle. She enjoys horseback riding, writing poetry,
attending the opera and ballet, and listening to classical and country
music. She currently spends most of her time in politics, touring the country with her daughter, and has her own radio show.
Upcoming
and Current Projects:
In 2015, Janine released a new book, A Little Bit Vulnerable: On Hollywood, God, Sobriety, & Politics. She spends much of her time as founder and co-chair of Constituting America, an educational foundation aimed at engaging America’s youth and citizens in learning about the United States' founding principles.
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