Jessica Hecht Biography

Jessica Hecht (born June 28, 1965) is an American actress and singer, known for numerous Broadway appearances and TV roles.

Early life and education

Hecht was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of Lenore, a psychotherapist, and Richard Hecht, a physicist. Jessica moved with her parents and her sister to Bloomfield, CT, at the age of three. Following the divorce of her parents, her mother remarried when Jessica was twelve and she and her sister Elizabeth, fourteen, were brought up by her mother and her step-father Howard Iger, a psychiatrist, who had custody of his two young children Andrea age five and Russell age 3. The new family grew quite close and Jessica had the support of all three parents as she struggled to become an actress.

Hecht graduated in 1987 from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Drama.

Career

Hecht has made appearances in television shows such as ER, Seinfeld, Friends, Once and Again, Law & Order, Breaking Bad, Bored to Death and The Good Wife; and in movies such as Sideways, Anarchy TV, Kicking and Screaming and The Town. Hecht is perhaps best known for her recurring role on Friends as Susan Bunch, the lesbian life partner of Ross Geller's ex-wife, Carol Willick.

She was also a featured cast member in the Jonathan Silverman sitcom The Single Guy.

Hecht starred in a supporting role as Amy Burns in the 2007 comedy-drama Dan in Real Life, co-starring with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, and also in 2009's Whatever Works directed by Woody Allen.

In 2012 she performed on Broadway with Jim Parsons (of The Big Bang Theory) in "Harvey". Hecht also appeared in A View From The Bridge on Broadway with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schrieber, which wrapped on April 4, 2010. She also has a semi-recurring role as Gretchen Schwartz on the popular AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and appeared in a guest role on Desperate Housewives in 2011.

She has been married to Adam Bernstein, a film director, since 1995. They have two children together, Stella and Carlo Bernstein. Hecht was raised in a "pretty secular" Jewish household; she has stated that she is "Reconstructionist Jewish and I'm fairly spiritual".