A doe-eyed American player adept at portraying ethereal or slightly neurotic waifs, Jane Adams made her stage debut as the title role in a grade-school production of "Pinocchio.” While she took drama classes at Seattle's Cornish Institute, she enrolled in college as a political science major, but soon began to appear in local theater. Eventually, she moved east to New York City and enrolled at the prestigious Juilliard School while supporting herself as a nursery school teacher. Her acting career received a boost when, shortly after graduation in 1989, she landed the pivotal role of Michael J. Fox's love interest in the final two episodes of the NBC sitcom "Family Ties.” Within a year, the curly-haired brunette had segued to the big screen as a doctor-in-training who engages in an awkward romance with a fellow student in "Vital Signs.” Broadway soon beckoned and the ingénue earned critical kudos for her work as a 29-year-old virgin in the Paul Rudnick comedy "I Hate Hamlet" (1991). Her big break, though, came with a Tony-winning turn as a murder suspect in the acclaimed, imaginatively staged (by Stephen Daldry) revival of J.B. Priestley's play "An Inspector Calls" in 1994. That same year, Adams impressed moviegoers as bohemian artist Ruth Hale in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.”
Adams displayed her comedic gifts as Diane Keaton's gynecologist in "Father of the Bride II" (1995) and as a member of the ensemble of Robert Altman's paean to his hometown, "Kansas City" (1996). Forsaking a rising career on stage and in films, the actress accepted her first regular TV series gig, playing the neurotic sister of heroine Kimberly Williams in the short-lived but cult favorite "Relativity" (ABC, 1996-97). In later interviews, the actress admitted that she accepted the role in equal parts to become more comfortable in front of the camera and to build up her bank account. With the demise of that show, Adams garnered further indie cred with a bravura turn as the naive youngest of a trio of sisters in "Happiness" (1998), Todd Solondz's take on the dark side of suburbia. Cast as the ironically named Joy, the actress beautifully projected her character's childlike vulnerability, garnering sympathy from viewers.
Adams scored with critics as the gentle schoolteacher sister of Janet McTeer's feisty and self-centered musicologist in the Sundance-screened "Songcatcher" (2000). Later that year, TV viewers exalted in her finely- calibrated, recurring role as a neurotic plastic surgeon who embarks on an ill-fated love affair with Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce) in the NBC sitcom "Frasier.” Adams once again proved a scene-stealer as a worrisome actress and new mother in the ensemble comedy-drama "The Anniversary Party" (2001). She then returned to regular series work as one of the estranged daughters of a retired US Senator in the 2001 fall CBS series "Citizen Baines.” A small role as the randy assistant to the dean of admissions at Stanford (Harold Ramis) in “Orange County” (2002) was followed by a brief appearance as a White-Faced Woman in “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004). After playing the good friend of a desperate man (Jim Carrey) trying to regain his rapidly erasing memories in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004), she appeared in the comedy vehicle “Last Holiday” (2006) as the lively coworker of a shy woman (Queen Latifah) who learns she’s terminally ill and goes on a blowout vacation to a European resort where her new infectious attitude transforms guests and staff as well as herself.