Victoria Jackson
Encyclopedia
Victoria Jackson is an American comedian
, actress, satirist and singer best known as a cast member of the NBC
television sketch comedy
series Saturday Night Live
(SNL) from 1986 to 1992.
Starting in 2008, she has appeared on various television shows. She has received attention as a vocal critic of President Barack Obama
, an active participant in the Tea Party movement
, and a vocal proponent of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
.
, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blackstad) and James McCaslin Jackson, a gym coach. Raised by devout Christian parents in a home without a television, she was trained in gymnastics by her father from ages 5 to 18. Jackson attended the private Dade Christian School
, where she was a cheerleader and the Homecoming Queen. She subsequently attended Florida Bible College in Hollywood, Florida
. Three years of gymnastics
competitions led to a scholarship at Furman University
in Greenville, South Carolina
. She also spent one year at Auburn University
, before earning a degree in theatre from Palm Beach Atlantic University
.
Appearing in summer stock in Alabama led to a chance meeting with Johnny Crawford
(of the 1950s television series, The Rifleman
), who cast her in his night club act. She moved to Los Angeles where she supported herself with various day jobs as a cigarette girl
, a typist at the American Cancer Society
, and a waitress, while she performed stand-up comedy
at night. Her first big break was her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
where she performed what would become her signature act: doing a handstand while reciting poetry. She ultimately appeared on the show 20 times. Before being cast on SNL, she appeared on various television series including The Jeffersons
and co-starred in the pilot W*A*L*T*E*R, a M*A*S*H spin-off
.
' firing of most of the 11th season's cast and writers. Jackson became most famous for her appearances on Weekend Update
with Dennis Miller
, again reciting poetry while doing back-bends or handstands on the desk, with Miller cracking a sexually suggestive comment at the end. In episodes hosted by Steve Martin
and Demi Moore
, she sang and danced on the Weekend Update desk. After many such appearances, Jackson began to read a poem, but stopped and said in a low, throaty voice, "I can't do this Victoria 'airhead' thing anymore." She then removed her blonde wig to reveal a short brunette wig, announcing that she could not believe people thought that her goofy routine was for real, and that she would be doing serious political commentary on the show from that point onward.
, Christina Applegate
, Cyndi Lauper
, Donna Rice
, Eydie Gorme
, Fawn Hall
, LaToya Jackson, Linda Blair
, Lulu
, Rob Lowe
, Roseanne Barr
, Sally Struthers
, Susan Olsen
(as Cindy Brady
), Tina Yothers
(as Jennifer Keaton
), Tipper Gore
, and Zsa Zsa Gabor
.
with Diane Keaton, Family Business
with Sean Connery, The Pick-up Artist
, The Couch Trip
and I Love You to Death
during the time she was a cast member of Saturday Night Live. She had leading roles in Casual Sex?
(with Lea Thompson
) and UHF
(with "Weird Al" Yankovic
).
series Strip Mall, in 2000. She had a regular role in the Nickelodeon
show Romeo!
, with Lil' Romeo
for its first season, from 2003 to 2004, as the nanny, Mrs. Rodgers. In 2005, Jackson starred in the second edition of the VH1
show Celebrity Fit Club
. In 2006 she was cast as Lolita Dorchuck in the mockumentary
20Q directed by Benjamin Keith.
She continues to perform stand up, often appearing with other ex-SNL players (most frequently Joe Piscopo
and Don Novello
as "Father Guido Sarducci
").
and Politically Incorrect
. She also appears at Christian-oriented venues, and performed a stand-up routine in the 2007 Christian comedy
concert Thou Shalt Laugh 2: The Deuce, which was hosted by Tim Conway
.
In 2010, Jackson wrote in an article that she did not learn how to vote until the 2000 United States Presidential Election
. She currently maintains a personal website containing numerous postings highlighting her conservative political views. She criticized Democrats
during the 2008 general election campaign, particularly presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama
and Minnesota
U.S. senatorial candidate (and fellow SNL alumnus) Al Franken
. In October 2008, she appeared with other celebrities in a National Republican Senatorial Committee
advertisement poking fun at Franken, then followed up with an interview on The O'Reilly Factor
, where she called Obama a "communist." She has repeated the communism claim on multiple occasions.
When Obama won the election, she wrote on her blog: "Voters in our last election did not base their decision on facts or knowledge, but on hype, emotion, peer pressure, and racial fervor. It didn't help that the liberally biased media blocked Americans' access to the truth" and she said Fox News is "the only one we should watch."
In 2011, Jackson wrote that she thought she was being spied on because of her conservative views.
In 2011, Jackson criticized the TV show Glee
for showing a kiss between two male actors, calling it "sickening", and cited the Bible as one of her reasons for making such a statement. When accused of being homophobic, Jackson countered that that was merely a "cute liberal buzzword", and suggested that Glee should be replaced with a show promoting celibacy instead.
. They had one daughter, Scarlet, before divorcing in 1990. She was reunited in 1991 with her high school sweetheart, Paul Wessel, a police helicopter pilot for Dade County Florida. They were married and have a daughter, Aubrey. The family lives in Florida. On December 22, 2010, she became a grandmother to Ever Grace Hiltibidal.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actress, satirist and singer best known as a cast member of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL) from 1986 to 1992.
Starting in 2008, she has appeared on various television shows. She has received attention as a vocal critic of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, an active participant in the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
, and a vocal proponent of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories about the citizenship of Barack Obama claim that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore not eligible to be President of the United States under Article Two of the U.S. Constitution. Some theories allege that Obama was born in Kenya, not...
.
Early life
Jackson was born in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blackstad) and James McCaslin Jackson, a gym coach. Raised by devout Christian parents in a home without a television, she was trained in gymnastics by her father from ages 5 to 18. Jackson attended the private Dade Christian School
Dade Christian School
Dade Christian School is a private school located in Country Club, Florida and operated by New Testament Baptist Church. DCS has a 2011-2012 enrollment of 793. In 2008, it was the second largest private school in Miami-Dade. The school was named a Blue Ribbon School in 1984...
, where she was a cheerleader and the Homecoming Queen. She subsequently attended Florida Bible College in Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood, Florida
-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...
. Three years of gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
competitions led to a scholarship at Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
. She also spent one year at Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
, before earning a degree in theatre from Palm Beach Atlantic University
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Palm Beach Atlantic University is a comprehensive nondenominational faith-based university with a core emphasis on character formation by integrating a Christian worldview with the liberal arts and selected professional studies...
.
Appearing in summer stock in Alabama led to a chance meeting with Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
(of the 1950s television series, The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
), who cast her in his night club act. She moved to Los Angeles where she supported herself with various day jobs as a cigarette girl
Cigarette girl (person)
Cigarette girl refers to a person that sells or provides cigarettes from a tray held by a neck strap. They may also carry cigars, and many novelty items like lighted roses, lighted jewelry, and lighted yoyo's on their trays....
, a typist at the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, and a waitress, while she performed stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
at night. Her first big break was her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
where she performed what would become her signature act: doing a handstand while reciting poetry. She ultimately appeared on the show 20 times. Before being cast on SNL, she appeared on various television series including The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
and co-starred in the pilot W*A*L*T*E*R, a M*A*S*H spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
.
Saturday Night Live
In 1986, Jackson was hired to join Saturday Night Live for its 12th season, following Lorne MichaelsLorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
' firing of most of the 11th season's cast and writers. Jackson became most famous for her appearances on Weekend Update
Weekend Update
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
with Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
, again reciting poetry while doing back-bends or handstands on the desk, with Miller cracking a sexually suggestive comment at the end. In episodes hosted by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and Demi Moore
Demi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
, she sang and danced on the Weekend Update desk. After many such appearances, Jackson began to read a poem, but stopped and said in a low, throaty voice, "I can't do this Victoria 'airhead' thing anymore." She then removed her blonde wig to reveal a short brunette wig, announcing that she could not believe people thought that her goofy routine was for real, and that she would be doing serious political commentary on the show from that point onward.
Recurring characters on SNL
- Brenda Clark from Toonces the Driving CatToonces the Driving CatToonces, the Driving Cat is a fictional sketch character from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. Toonces was created by SNL writer Jack Handey, with cast member Phil Hartman providing the Disney-esque narration....
- Jenny Baker, a Christian girl who appears on "Church Chat"
- Nancy Maloney, a nightclub singer for The Jungle Room
- Susan Keister, the daughter of the Keister family (played by Phil HartmanPhil HartmanPhilip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
and Jan HooksJan HooksJanet V. "Jan" Hooks is an American actress and comedienne best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live , on which she appeared from 1986 to 1991...
)
Celebrity impersonations
Jackson's impersonations of celebrities and famous persons have included: Calamity JaneCalamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
, Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Donna Rice
Donna Rice
Donna Rice Hughes is the president and chair of Enough Is Enough, an American non-profit organization in the anti-pornography movement that seeks to make the Internet safer for families and children...
, Eydie Gorme
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
, Fawn Hall
Fawn Hall
Fawn Hall was a secretary to Lt. Colonel Oliver North and a notable figure in the Iran-Contra affair, helping him shred confidential documents....
, LaToya Jackson, Linda Blair
Linda Blair
Linda Denise Blair is an American actress. Blair is best known for her role as the possessed child, Regan, in the 1973 film The Exorcist, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, winning one. She reprised her role in 1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic.-Biography:Blair...
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
, Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...
, Sally Struthers
Sally Struthers
Sally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...
, Susan Olsen
Susan Olsen
Susan Marie Olsen is a former American child television actress and current animal welfare advocate. Olsen is best known for her role as Mike and Carol Brady's youngest daughter, Cindy Brady, on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch for the full run of the show, from 1969-1974.-Early...
(as Cindy Brady
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
), Tina Yothers
Tina Yothers
Kristina Louise "Tina" Yothers is an American actress and singer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of 8, she is perhaps best known for her role as Jennifer Keaton on the hit NBC series Family Ties, as well as for her roles in numerous television films throughout the 1980s and early...
(as Jennifer Keaton
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
), Tipper Gore
Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore , née Aitcheson, is an author, photographer, former second lady of the United States, and the estranged wife of Al Gore...
, and Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
.
Film roles
Jackson appeared in a number of films including Baby BoomBaby boom
A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women...
with Diane Keaton, Family Business
Family Business (film)
Family Business is a 1989 film directed by Sidney Lumet with a screenplay by Vincent Patrick, based on his novel. It stars Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick.-Plot synopsis:...
with Sean Connery, The Pick-up Artist
The Pick-up Artist (film)
The Pick-up Artist is a 1987 American film written and directed by James Toback. This romantic comedy starred Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr. It was rated PG-13 by the MPAA.-Plot:...
, The Couch Trip
The Couch Trip
The Couch Trip is a 1988 comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin and Donna Dixon.-Plot:...
and I Love You to Death
I Love You to Death
I Love You to Death is a 1990 American dark comedy film directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It is loosely based on an attempted murder that happened in 1984, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Frances Toto repeatedly tried to kill her husband, Anthony...
during the time she was a cast member of Saturday Night Live. She had leading roles in Casual Sex?
Casual Sex?
Casual Sex? is a 1988 comedy film about two female friends who go to a holiday resort in search of the perfect man. It was directed by Geneviève Robert, and stars Lea Thompson, Victoria Jackson, Andrew Dice Clay, and Jerry Levine....
(with Lea Thompson
Lea Thompson
Lea Katherine Thompson is an American actress and director. She is best known for her 1990s NBC situation comedy Caroline in the City and her portrayal of Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly's mother, in the Back to the Future trilogy...
) and UHF
UHF (film)
UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
(with "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
).
Career
Following her departure from Saturday Night Live, Jackson starred in an X-Files episode "The Rain King" as the unrequited love of a small town man who can control the weather. She appeared in the movie No More Baths in 1998. She appeared in the Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
series Strip Mall, in 2000. She had a regular role in the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
show Romeo!
Romeo!
Romeo! is an American/Canadian television series that aired on Nickelodeon from 2003 to 2006, totaling 53 episodes. The filming was done in Vancouver, British Columbia, while the show takes place in Seattle, Washington....
, with Lil' Romeo
Romeo Miller
Percy Romeo Miller, Jr. , better known by his stage name Romeo , is an American rapper, actor, basketball player, entrepreneur, and model. He is the son of rapper and entrepreneur Master P and former rapper Sonya C. He is the nephew of rappers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker and the brother of...
for its first season, from 2003 to 2004, as the nanny, Mrs. Rodgers. In 2005, Jackson starred in the second edition of the VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
show Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club (U.S. TV series)
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television series which follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight.This show is based on the British version, which aired on the ITV Network from 2002 until 2006...
. In 2006 she was cast as Lolita Dorchuck in the mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
20Q directed by Benjamin Keith.
She continues to perform stand up, often appearing with other ex-SNL players (most frequently Joe Piscopo
Joe Piscopo
Joseph Charles John "Joe" Piscopo is an American comedian and actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
and Don Novello
Don Novello
Don Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...
as "Father Guido Sarducci
Father Guido Sarducci
Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano .-Background:Novello...
").
Political activities and positions
Jackson is a self-proclaimed devout Christian and has appeared on programs such as The 700 ClubThe 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
and Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
. She also appears at Christian-oriented venues, and performed a stand-up routine in the 2007 Christian comedy
Christian comedy
Christian comedy is a sub-genre of comedy where the material presented is aimed towards a Christian audience. The performances are typically held on church grounds or at off-site, Church-sponsored venues....
concert Thou Shalt Laugh 2: The Deuce, which was hosted by Tim Conway
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
.
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
. She currently maintains a personal website containing numerous postings highlighting her conservative political views. She criticized Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
during the 2008 general election campaign, particularly presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
U.S. senatorial candidate (and fellow SNL alumnus) Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
. In October 2008, she appeared with other celebrities in a National Republican Senatorial Committee
National Republican Senatorial Committee
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...
advertisement poking fun at Franken, then followed up with an interview on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, where she called Obama a "communist." She has repeated the communism claim on multiple occasions.
When Obama won the election, she wrote on her blog: "Voters in our last election did not base their decision on facts or knowledge, but on hype, emotion, peer pressure, and racial fervor. It didn't help that the liberally biased media blocked Americans' access to the truth" and she said Fox News is "the only one we should watch."
In 2011, Jackson wrote that she thought she was being spied on because of her conservative views.
In 2011, Jackson criticized the TV show Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
for showing a kiss between two male actors, calling it "sickening", and cited the Bible as one of her reasons for making such a statement. When accused of being homophobic, Jackson countered that that was merely a "cute liberal buzzword", and suggested that Glee should be replaced with a show promoting celibacy instead.
Personal life
In 1984, Jackson married Nisan Mark Eventoff, who was a fire-eater and magicianMagic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
. They had one daughter, Scarlet, before divorcing in 1990. She was reunited in 1991 with her high school sweetheart, Paul Wessel, a police helicopter pilot for Dade County Florida. They were married and have a daughter, Aubrey. The family lives in Florida. On December 22, 2010, she became a grandmother to Ever Grace Hiltibidal.