What Is Jane Kaczmarek's Net Worth and Salary?
Jane Kaczmarek is an American actress who has a net worth of $9 million. Kaczmarek is best known for her Emmy-nominated performance as Lois on the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000–2006). Jane has more than 70 acting credits to her name, including the films "Falling in Love" (1984) and "Pleasantville" (1998) and the television series "The Paper Chase" (1983–1984), "Hill Street Blues" (1984), "Hometown" (1985), "Equal Justice" (1990–1991), and "Raising the Bar" (2008–2009).
She has voiced Judge Constance Harm on "The Simpsons" (2001–2010) and Red Jessica on "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" (2012–2015), and she has also lent her voice to "Phineas and Ferb" (2014), "Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero" (2015), "Animals." (2018), and "Trolls: The Beat Goes On!" (2019). Kaczmarek has appeared in numerous stage productions, and she made her Broadway debut as Bella in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" in 1991.
Early Life
Jane Kaczmarek was born Jane Frances Kaczmarek on December 21, 1955, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her mother, Evelyn, was a teacher, and her father, Edward, worked for the United States Department of Defense. Jane grew up in a Roman Catholic household with sister Mary and brothers Bill and Jim. Kaczmarek majored in theatre at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she became friends with future Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub. After graduating from UW–Madison, Jane earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama, where she was a member of the Yale Repertory Company.
Career
Kaczmarek made her television debut in the 1982 TV movie "For Lovers Only." In 1983, she had a recurring role as Sandy Burns on "St. Elsewhere," guest-starred on "Remington Steele" and "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," and appeared in the film "Uncommon Valor." From 1983 to 1984, Jane played Connie Lehman on the drama "The Paper Chase," and in 1984, she had a recurring role as Officer Clara Pilksy on "Hill Street Blues, appeared in the film "Door to Door," and co-starred with Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep in "Falling in Love."
She starred as Mary Newell Abbott on the 1985 CBS series "Hometown," and that year she also appeared in the romantic comedy "The Heavenly Kid." Kaczmarek then starred in the TV movies "The Right of the People" (1986), "The Christmas Gift" (1986), "I'll Take Manhattan" (1987), "The Three Kings" (1987), and "Spooner" (1989) and the films "D.O.A" (1988), "Vice Versa" (1988), and "All's Fair" (1989). From 1990 to 1991, Jane played Linda Bauer on the ABC legal drama "Equal Justice," then she guest-starred on "Monty" (1994), "Law & Order" (1994), "L.A. Law" (1994), "Picket Fences" (1995), "Touched by an Angel" (1996), "Frasier" (1996–1997), and "The Practice" (1997).
She had recurring roles as Karen Fisher on "Big Wave Dave's" (1993), Helene Thompson on "Party of Five" (1995–1999), Holly on "Cybill" (1996–1997), and Carol Anderson on "Felicity" (1999), appeared in the films "The Chamber" (1996) and "Wildly Available" (1996), and co-starred with Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Daniels, and William H. Macy in 1998's "Pleasantville."
(Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
From 2000 to 2006, Kaczmarek played Lois on "Malcolm in the Middle" alongside Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, and Erik Per Sullivan. The series aired 151 episodes over seven seasons, and Jane's performance led "TV Guide" to describe her as a "true breakout; a female Homer Simpson." She reprised her role in an alternate ending featurette on the "Breaking Bad: The Complete Series" DVD box set in 2013, in which the plot of "Breaking Bad" turns out to be a nightmare that Bryan Cranston's "Malcolm in the Middle" character, Hal, was having. From 2006 to 2007, Kaczmarek played Anne Hoffman on ABC's "Help Me Help You," then she starred as Judge Trudy Kessler on the TNT legal drama "Raising the Bar" from 2008 to 2009. She guest-starred on "Wilfred" (2011), "Whitney" (2011–2012), "The Middle" (2012–2013), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2013), "The McCarthys" (2015), "The Big Bang Theory" (2015), "This Is Us" (2018), "Carol's Second Act" (2019), and "Mixed-ish" (2020), and from 2014 to 2017, she had a recurring role as Gwen Crawford on the USA Network's "Playing House." Jane appeared in the films "The Boat Builder" (2015), "Wolves at the Door" (2016), "CHiPs" (2017), "6 Balloons" (2018), and "Killing Eleanor" (2020), and in 2021, she was featured in the TV series documentary "History of the Sitcom."
Malcolm in the Middle Salary
At the peak of her time working on "Malcolm in the Middle" Jane Kaczmarek's salary per episode before royalties was $150,000. In a 22-episode season, that worked out to $3.3 million per season.
Personal Life
Jane married actor Bradley Whitford, a fellow Wisconsin native, on August 15, 1992, and they welcomed daughter Frances in January 1997, followed by son George in December 1999 and daughter Mary in November 2002.
Kaczmarek and Whitford co-founded the charitable organization Clothes off our Back in 2002; the charity auctioned off clothing that celebrities wore to award shows and donated the proceeds to children's charities.
Jane and Bradley divorced in October 2010.
In 2004, Kaczmarek had a hip replacement as a result of chronic arthritis. The following year, an X-ray of her new hip was featured in her Emmy campaign, with Jane touting herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip (except for Anthony LaPaglia)."
Awards and Nominations
From 2000 to 2006, Kaczmarek earned seven consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for "Malcolm in the Middle," and she received Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The series also earned her an American Comedy Award, a Family Television Award, two Online Film & Television Association Awards, a Satellite Award, and two Television Critics Association Awards as well as nominations from the AFI Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and Viewers for Quality Television Awards. Jane also received a Gold Derby Award nomination for Comedy Lead Actress of the Decade in 2010, and she shared a Young Artist Award for Most Popular Mom & Pop in a Television Series with Bryan Cranston in 2004. In 1983, Kaczmarek earned a CableACE Award nomination for Actress in a Dramatic Presentation for "The Paper Chase," and Jane and her "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" co-stars received a Behind the Voice Actors Award nomination for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series – Children's/Educational in 2014. For her stage work, Kaczmarek earned an Ovation Award nomination for Lead Actress in a Play for "Good People" in 2012.
Real Estate
In 2004, Kaczmarek and Whitford paid $5.9 million for a 6,769 square foot home in the San Marino area of Los Angeles. After filing for divorce, they put the six-bedroom, six-bathroom home on the market for $6.7 million.
