About

Truly superb . . . the script (Lizzie Borden Live) is fascinating. Jill Dalton is an astonishingly talented actress–she changes her mood and characters in a split second.  The play should get the Pulitzer.

Charles Alexander, writer – Time Magazine

JILL DALTON

is an award-winning actor and playwright. Her plays WHISTLE-BLOWER and COLLATERAL DAMAGE were both semi-finalists in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.

Sedona, AZ doing “Lizzie Borden Live” c. 2008

Her solo play, LIZZIE BORDEN LIVE was commissioned by the East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May, NJ, where it had its world premiere (August 2007), and a successful and critically acclaimed five-week run. The play was directed by Jack McCullough and Tony and 4-time Emmy-winning Orchestrator and Composer, Larry Hochman, did original music for the piece.  Ms. Dalton won the 2007 JACOBY AWARD for her portrayal of Lizzie. The play subsequently toured: Fall River, MA, Providence, RI, Sedona, AZ, and NYC.

Lizzie Borden – Photo by Gene Egan c. 2008

Jill guest-starred as Betsy Kirkland in Dick Wolf’s FBI and played Beverly (Richard Clark’s secretary in the White House) in THE LOOMING TOWER (Hulu) starring Jeff Daniels.  She was Anna Banana in the commercial THE LAST LOVE LETTER, and Madeline Brewer’s (Orange Is the New Black/The Handmaid’s Tale) older self in the psychological thriller, BRAID (2018 Tribeca Film Festival). She can currently be seen as Mrs. Pratt in the Netflix film, THINGS HEARD & SEEN, starring Amanda Seyfried, James Norton, and Rhea Seehorn.

She played two grieving mothers on LAW & ORDER (Megan Goddard & Roberta Miller), Tony Shalhoub’s (John Mack) assistant in the HBO film, TOO BIG TO FAIL, starring William Hurt, and consulted with Mr. Hurt for ten weeks on his portrayal of Hank Paulson. She also played a 12-step member in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED directed by Jonathan Demme, Mrs. Cuba Gooding Jr. on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and a Trader in Oliver Stone’s WALL STREET.

Father Uxbridge Wants to Marry © Mariana Cook 1980

Jill spent ten years on the soaps culminating in the part of prosecuting attorney, Alyse Brenner, on ANOTHER WORLD.  Jill is also a veteran of Off-Off-Broadway and in another life, she was a stand-up comedian and won the MARY JO COMEDY SHOW AWARD for the best new female up-and-comer.

Mary Jo Comedy Show Award c. 1995

Prior to coming to New York, she was an Artist-in-Residence with the Metropolitan Arts Council in Greenville, S.C. where she founded HOMEMADE MIME, a mime troupe that toured the Southeast and Puerto Rico, and was funded in part by grants from the South Carolina Arts Commission, the Metropolitan Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

c. 1976

Magpie c. 2018

An Army brat, Jill was born in Tokyo, Japan, spent three of her high school years in Germany, and lived on military bases throughout the South.

Her memoir, MY LIFE IN THE TRENCHES OF SHOW BUSINESS: Escape to New York – Act I, is available on Amazon. Jill resides in New York City with her cat, Magpie.

. . . creative entitlement simply means you are allowed to be here, and that–merely by being here–you are allowed to have a voice and a vision of your own.

Elizabeth Gilbert