Jean Smart

Jean Smart accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on "Samantha Who?" at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008, in Los Angeles.

Jean Smart arrives at the 10th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 11, 2006. Recently, she was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy for her work on "24."

Actor Richard Gilliland and his wife, Jean Smart, arrive at the Legends Celebrity Invitational Charity Poker Tournament at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Feb. 3, 2006. From 1986 to 1991, Smart starred as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the TV comedy "Designing Women." The couple met on the show's set. They have one son, Connor.

Jean Smart and actor Willie Garson at the W Hotel Fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina in Westwood, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2005. In the past couple years, Smart has provided the voice of the alcoholic, chain-smoking Pickles Oblong on the animated Cartoon Network show "The Oblongs."

From left, Jean Smart, Zach Braff, Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard arrive at the premiere of Fox Searchlight Pictures' "Garden State" at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles on July 20, 2004. The film centers on Andrew Largeman (Braff), a twenty-something actor, who returns to his hometown in New Jersey for the first time in nine years after receiving word from his father that his mother has died.

Actors Jason Alexander and Jean Smart perform at the Alzheimer's Association's 12th Annual "A Night at Sardi's" "Grease"-themed celebrity fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Mar. 4, 2004. In Jan. 2006, Smart joined the cast of "24," playing the first lady of the United States, Martha Logan, to actor Gregory Itzin's President Charles Logan.

Darian Harewood, left, and Jean Smart perform at The Alzheimer's Association's 11th Annual "A Night at Sardi's," where TV stars sang songs from the musical "Hair," at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2003. Smart's recent appearances on the big screen include Disney's "The Kid," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Bringing Down The House" and "Garden State."

Rita Wilson, left, and Jean Smart perform at the "What A Pair" benefit for the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2002. The event featured female celebrities singing duets of Broadway favorites.

Jean Smart poses backstage at the 2001 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2001. She won the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the role of Lana Gardner on the hit sitcom "Frasier."