Brooke Elliott

Elliott was born in Fridley, Minnesota, to Robert, a city manager, and Kathleen Elliott, on November 16, 1974.[1] Elliott has one sister, Jamie Alexander, and one brother, Adam Elliott.[2] Her parents have said that she began to sing when she was three years old, and footage exists of her at that age singing You Light Up My Life.[3][4] Her family moved on several occasions, first to Blaine, Minnesota, and then out of state to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Illinois.[5] The family settled in Riverview, Michigan, when Elliott was a junior in high school. She graduated from Gabriel Richard Catholic High School in 1993; she appeared in high school productions while there, including in Richard III and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Elliott went on to Western Michigan University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Performance in 1998.[3][6]

Elliott worked as a temp and a waitress, including working at a 1950s-themed restaurant where she had to dance on the tables every hour.[7]

For ten weeks in 1999, she was a member of Chicago-based stage combat theatre company Babes With Blades.[8] As part of that role, she performed a scene from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Miracle Worker and Heathers.[9] She left for her first professional theatre role as the Sugar Bowl in the US touring version of Beauty and the Beast.[7][10] She also appeared as part of the cast in the North American tour of Wicked alongside Adam Lambert, whom she later supported when he appeared on American Idol.[9][11]

She credits Rosie O'Donnell with getting her first Broadway role alongside Boy George in Taboo.[12] Rosie later described her as "fresh off a Disney Cruise", but allowed her to come back for a second attempt. Elliott spent $117 to change her outfit and make-up in order to be better suited to the role; O'Donnell reimbursed Elliott when she was awarded a part in the show.[13] The show closed after only a hundred performances, but O'Donnell subsequently praised Elliott's passion for the show.[14] Elliott went on to play Majella in The Pirate Queen, which opened in Chicago in 2006 and moved to Broadway in 2007.[15]

Her first film role was in the Mel Gibson film What Women Want in 2000.[1] Her first television role was in an episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury.[16] In 2009, Elliott was cast as main character Jane Bingum on Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva.[12] Producer Craig Zadan said of Elliott's casting, "We had to find somebody who's a beautiful leading lady, who can do the comedy and drama, and with Brooke, she nailed it".[17] After the pilot, The New York Times described Elliott as "convincing, and even affecting, at every turn",[18] and the Los Angeles Times said she was "a stage actress with fabulous comic timing and enormous dramatic flexibility".[13] Elliott also sings on the soundtrack to the series.[19] The show ended after its sixth season in 2014.[20]

In 2016, Elliott starred opposite Katey Sagal in the CBS comedy pilot Upper Middle Bogan inspired by the Australian series.[21] It was not ordered to series. In 2018, she went to star in the ABC comedy pilot created by Bobby Bowman about a dysfunctional family struggling with mental illness.[22][23]

In 2019, Elliot was cast in a leading role on the Netflix romantic drama series Sweet Magnolias.[24] In 2022, she executive produced and starred as a country music superstar in the Lifetime holiday movie A Country Christmas Harmony.[25]

During her time as the leading character in Drop Dead Diva, Elliott has discussed the perception of plus-size actresses on television,[12] and describes her body type as normal sized, stating "The majority of women in America look like me. It's one of the things I love about the show."[26]

• Brooke Elliott at IMDb 
• Brooke Elliott at the Internet Broadway Database
• Brooke Elliott at TV Guide