Editing Allison Janney (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Ransom Hall, Kenyon College.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Kenyon College]], which Janney attended]]
Allison Brooks Janney<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hotchkiss.org/post-page/~board/alumni-news/post/hotchkiss-honors-award-winning-actress-allison-brooks-janney-77-with-the-2016-alumni-award |title=Hotchkiss Honors Award-Winning Actress Allison Brooks Janney '77 with the 2016 Alumni Award|date=October 12, 2016 }}</ref> was born on November 19, 1959,<ref name="biography.com">{{cite web|url= https://www.biography.com/actor/allison-janney|title=Allison Janney Biography (1959–)|publisher=[[Biography.com]]| access-date=September 9, 2019| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230426233517/https://www.biography.com/actors/allison-janney|archive-date =April 26, 2023 |date =April 29, 2020}}</ref> in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], and raised in [[Cincinnati]] and [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref name=BAFTA>Janney in {{cite web |url=http://www.bafta.org/media-centre/transcripts/bafta-a-life-in-pictures-allison-janney |title=A Life in Pictures: Allison Janney|publisher=[[BAFTA]]|date=December 14, 2017|access-date=September 9, 2019|archive-date=September 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909152930/http://www.bafta.org/media-centre/transcripts/bafta-a-life-in-pictures-allison-janney|url-status=bot: unknown|quote=I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, with two brothers and a lot of animals.}} Note: Sources including [https://www.biography.com/actor/allison-janney Biography.com], [https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/allison-janney/bio/139219/ TVGuide.com], and [[The Broadway League]]'s [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/allison-janney-46839 Internet Broadway Database] list birthplace as Dayton, Ohio.</ref> She is the daughter of Macy Brooks Janney ([[née]] Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney Jr., a real estate developer and [[jazz]] musician.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/12/15/archives/macy-b-putnam-engaged-to-wed-bennett-alumna-is-fiancee-of-jervis-s.html|title=Macy B. Putnam Engaged to Wed; Bennett Alumna Is Fiancee of Jervis S. Janney Jr., a Graduate of Princeton|date=December 15, 1956|work=[[The New York Times]]}} Photo caption: "Miss Macy Brooks Putnam". {{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dayton.com/lifestyles/what-macy-janney-has-say-about-her-famous-daughter-big-oscar-night/AMVeklpAdoJTFZplLn5Y7K/ |title=What Macy Janney has to say about her famous daughter's big Oscar night}}</ref> She has an older brother, Jay, and had a younger brother, Hal (1961–2011).<ref name="BAFTA" /><ref name="tvg">{{cite web|title=Allison Janney Biography |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/allison-janney/bio/139219/ |work=[[TV Guide]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730083524/https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/allison-janney/bio/139219/|archive-date=July 30, 2016|access-date=September 8, 2019}}</ref> Hal, who had battled depression and addiction for many years, committed suicide in 2011 at the age of 49.<ref>{{Cite web|title=My World Turned Upside Down: Actress Allison Janney Recalls a Tragic Demise of Her Brother Who Took His Own Life |url=https://fabiosa.com/amp/ctent-rsafr-auvkl-pbtzh-phpvg-my-world-turned-upside-down-actress-allison-janney-recalls-passing-of-her-brother/|access-date=February 13, 2022|website=fabiosa.com|archive-date=February 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213024300/https://fabiosa.com/amp/ctent-rsafr-auvkl-pbtzh-phpvg-my-world-turned-upside-down-actress-allison-janney-recalls-passing-of-her-brother/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Janney is a descendant of [[Stephen Hopkins (pilgrim)|Stephen Hopkins]] through his daughter [[Constance Hopkins]], both of whom came to the [[New World]] on the [[Mayflower]], as she recounted on a 2022 episode of [[Who Do You Think You Are? (American TV series)|Who Do You Think You Are?]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Allison Janney: Connecting to Famous Family One Step at a Time |url=https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/blog/allison-janney-connecting-famous-family-one-step-time |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230111231041/https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/blog/allison-janney-connecting-famous-family-one-step-time |archive-date=2023-01-11 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.ancestry.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFiQgmdelnM |title=Allison Janney uncovers the truth about her family's journey aboard the Mayflower... |date=2023-06-18 |last=Who Do You Think You Are? |access-date=2025-02-24 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harbert |first=Rich |title='West Wing' star Allison Janney visits Plymouth for NBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' |url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/old-colony-memorial/2022/07/22/allison-janney-west-wing-star-plymouth-trace-mayflower-roots-who-do-you-think-you-are-pilgrim-hall/10126110002/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Wicked Local |language=en-US}}</ref> 

She attended [[the Miami Valley School]] in Dayton, where she was named a distinguished alumna in 2005,<ref name="Allison">{{cite web|url=https://www.mvschool.com/alumni/awards-honors|title=The Miami Valley School - Awards & Honors - Distinguished Alumni Award|work=[[The Miami Valley School]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831141628/https://www.mvschool.com/alumni/awards-honors|archive-date=August 31, 2018|access-date=August 31, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Hotchkiss School]] in Connecticut, where she was named Alumna of the Year in 2016.<ref name="Allison"/> Janney initially aspired to a career in [[figure skating]], but her height of 6 ft (183cm) and a freak accident when she was a teenager put an end to that dream.<ref>{{cite web |last=Marotta |first=Jenna |date=December 8, 2017 |title='I, Tonya': Allison Janney on the Frightening Injury That Turned Her from Iceskating to Acting |url=https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/i-tonya-allison-janney-iceskating-injury-acting-career-1201904736/ |publisher=IndieWire}}</ref>

She attended [[Kenyon College]] in [[Gambier, Ohio]], where she majored in [[theatre]].<ref name=tvg /> During her [[Freshman|freshman year]], Janney met actors [[Paul Newman]] and [[Joanne Woodward]] at a play for the [[Inauguration|inaugural event]] of the college's newly built [[Boston Theater District|Bolton Theater]], which Newman was directing. The couple encouraged her to continue acting and offered her guidance during the early days in her career.<ref>{{cite web |last=Espinoza |first=Russ |date=February 18, 2018 |title=Why Allison Janney Never Cashed In Her Favor From Paul Newman |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/russespinoza/2018/02/18/why-oscar-nominee-allison-janney-never-cashed-in-her-favor-from-paul-newman/ |work=Forbes}}</ref> She went on to train at the [[Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre]] in [[New York (state)|New York]] and then received a scholarship to study at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] in mid-1984.<ref name="Allison"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/jan/26/television|title=How about that?|work= The Guardian|date=January 26, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=American Theatre Wing - Downstage Center - Allison Janney - August, 2009 |url=http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/allison_janney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511113648/http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/allison_janney |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 20, 2013}}</ref>