Jess Walton (Jill) - UPDATED
Jess Walton joined the cast of The Young and the Restless in June 1987. For her portrayal of Jill Foster Abbott, she was honored with an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actress in 1997 and as Best Supporting Actress in 1991. She received an Emmy Award nomination in the latter category in 1990 and was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress this year. Additional honors include a 1993 Soap Opera Award as Outstanding Lead Actress and a nomination for the same award in 1999.
Jess has guest-starred in many notable television series through the course of her career including The Rockford Files, Cannon, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Six Million Dollar Man, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Ironside, Starsky & Hutch and Kojak. She starred as Kelly Harper on the daytime drama Capitol for three years.
She has starred in the made for television movies Montserrat, You'll Never See Me Again, The Storm, Diary of a Madman and Mod Squad II.
Jess studied at the Toronto Workshop Productions' Repertory Theater for three years and appeared in summer stock and repertory company productions including Uncle Vanya and The Right Honorable Gentleman.
She was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up in Toronto, Canada.
Jess is married to the internationally renowned grief recovery authority John W. James, founder of the Grief Recovery Institute and co-author of the national bestseller The Grief Recovery Handbook. Jess donates her time to the Grief Recovery Help Line.
She and her husband live in Los Angeles with a son, Cole and a daughter, Allison. The family has two dogs and a cat.
Her birthday is February 18. She stands 5' 7" tall and has brown hair and brown eyes.
