- Jessica has three children: Aleksandra "Shura" Lange Baryshnikov (b. March 5, 1981) by Mikhail Baryshnikov; Hannah Jane Shepard (b. January 11, 1986) and Samuel Walker Shepard (b. June 14, 1987) by Sam Shepard.
- Everywhere Jessica travels, she tries to find a cemetery. She says they're the most mysterious beautiful places.
- Her performance as Frances Farmer in Frances (1982) is ranked #85 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. (2006)
- Lived in Minnesota with Sam and their children for a few years, but now living in New York. (2004)
- Had a long time relationship with Sam Shepard (1982-2009).
- Her interpretation of the pushed-to-the-limit Cora in the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) was partially inspired by the downbeat life of B-movie actress Barbara Payton. In a Rolling Stone interview, Lange mentioned how she thought her character might have first drifted to Hollywood as an aspiring starlet, and co-star Jack Nicholson gave her Payton's lurid, tell-all autobiography "I Am Not Ashamed" to look over on the set. Coincidentally, Lange and the blonde Payton were both born in Cloquet, Minn.
- Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#64). (1995)
- Between modeling jobs, she waitressed at the Lion's Head in Greenwich Village.
- Born to Dorothy (née Sahlman; 1913-1998), no profession, and Al Lange (1913-1989), a teacher and traveling salesman.
- In 2016 she became the 24th performer to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); she won the 1983 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Tootsie (1982) and the 1995 Best Actress Oscar for Blue Sky (1994), the 2009 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Emmy for Grey Gardens (2009), the 2012 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Emmy for American Horror Story (2011) and the 2014 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Emmy for American Horror Story (2011), and the 2016 Best Leading Actress in a Play Tony for "Long Day's Journey into Night".
- She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: All That Jazz (1979) and Tootsie (1982).
- She is one of the elite twelve thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other eleven are Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Emma Thompson, Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx Cate Blanchett, and Scarlett Johansson.
- Had a fall at her home in Minnesota on March 17, 2009, breaking her collarbone and dislocating her arm. After an overnight stay in the hospital, she was released the next day.
- Has two granddaughters - Adah and Ilse Bryan - via daughter Aleksandra and her husband, Bruce Bryan.
- Jessica has said that she has only ever had two jobs in her life: as a waitress and an actress. If she had to choose another line of work, she'd love to try falconry.
- In 1970s Manhattan, Lange was represented by Wilhelmina Models, the same agency that later discovered Gia Carangi.
- Attended the Guthrie Theater Drama School at the prestigious Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Received the Anton Chekhov Fine Arts Award.
- She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Actress for her performance in "Long Day's Journey into Night" at the Lyric Theatre.
- Has appeared in two films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards: All That Jazz (1979) and Tootsie (1982).
- Won the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award for "Long Day's Journey into Night" on June 12, 2016.
- When starting out, Jessica once shared a Paris apartment with then fledgling models Jerry Hall and Grace Jones.
- Is of Polish and Finnish descent.
- Jessica's grandparents were born in four different countries. Her paternal grandfather, George Oscar Alexander Lange, was German, and her paternal grandmother, Tena Trientje Eitens, was Dutch. Her maternal grandfather, George Ilmar Sahlman, was Finnish, and her maternal grandmother, Lillian Elvira Buskala, was born in Minnesota, to Finnish parents.
- Could only commit to three episodes of Horace and Pete (2016) despite being principally billed due to her commitments to rehearsals for her Tony nominated role on Broadway's "Long Day's Journey Into Night".
- Has two older sisters named Ann Lange and Jane Lange and a younger brother named George Lange who is a pilot.
- Ex-husband Paco Grande began losing his sight from retinitis pigmentosa in the early '70s. Though the couple separated in 1975, they did not divorce until 1982, a year after Lange gave birth to her daughter by Mikhail Baryshnikov. She was ordered to pay Grande alimony, but insisted there was no bitterness.
- Born at 11:00am-CST.
- Is one of 16 actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Ellen Burstyn, Helen Mirren, Frances McDormand and Viola Davis.
- Is one of 19 actresses to have received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for a performance where they acted out a labor and/or birth; hers being for Sweet Dreams (1985). The others in chronological order are Luise Rainer for The Good Earth (1937), Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (1948), Eleanor Parker for Caged (1950), Elizabeth Taylor for Raintree County (1957), Leslie Caron for The L-Shaped Room (1962), Shirley MacLaine for Irma la Douce (1963), Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora (1968), Geneviève Bujold for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Marsha Mason for Cinderella Liberty (1973), Ann-Margret for Tommy (1975), Ellen Burstyn for Same Time, Next Year (1978), Meryl Streep for A Cry in the Dark (1988), Samantha Morton for In America (2002), Elliot Page for Juno (2007), Gabourey Sidibe for Precious (2009), Ruth Negga for Loving (2016), Yalitza Aparicio for Roma (2018) and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman (2020).
- She was one of the favorite actresses of Benazir Bhutto.
- Was at one point best friends with Tuesday Weld, Misha's girlfriend after her.
- She is a big supporter for rights of the Monks of Nepal.
- Daughter Shura (Alexandra) Baryshnikov, whose father is Mikhail Baryshnikov, graduated from Marlboro College in Vermont, the same college that Chris Noth attended in the '70s. (2003)
- Beat Meryl Streep for the role of Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985), according to Streep. Streep said it was one of the few if not the only role she ever went after. Then later said that she couldn't, however, imagine the movie without her (Lange).
- Is one of 25 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for Tootsie (1982). The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night (1934)), Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter (1947)), Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday (1950)), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday (1953)), Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower (1969)), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class (1973)), Lee Grant (Shampoo (1975)), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall (1977)), Maggie Smith (California Suite (1978)), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard (1980)), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck (1987)), Cher (Moonstruck (1987)), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King (1991)), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway (1994)), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny (1992)), Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite (1995)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets (1997)), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)).
- Was replaced by Kim Basinger for the lead in Fool for Love (1985).
- Born on the same date as Veronica Cartwright.
- She had a Best Actress Oscar Nomination in 1984 for Country which she also helped to produce.
- She was offered a part in the film The River which went to Sissy Spacek.
- She was offered 2 places in the film Heart, one of which went to Sally Field.
- She won an Oscar for Best Supporting actress in Tootsie in 1983.
- She now lives in New Mexico with actor/writer Sam Mendes.
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