About Jody Jaress
A veteran actress, Jody has become known for her complex character roles. Having played everything from the darkest depths of insanity, to a grounded psychiatrist, a creepy nanny, a tormented nurturing mother, to a ditsy wife. Casting directors seek her out for roles needing multi-layers.Jody began her entertainment career more than 40 years ago in Michigan. Her ancestors arrived in New York from German and Wales in the1800's and migrated to Southern Illinois where they became teachers, nurses, lawyers, farmers, pastors, lawmen, with a couple of rogues among them. Jody was born in Ottawa, Illinois just prior to her dad joining the Navy Seabees in WWII. Once the war ended the family moved to Ferndale, Michigan just outside of Detroit for many years and then moved out to horse country in Rochester, Michigan. Jody divided her time between competing in Western horse shows, singing, and beginning studies in theatre acting, stage makeup, lighting, sound, set design and directing at the Will-O-Way Apprentice Theatre and Repertory Company in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It became her home away from home. During a two year run in summer stock at Will-O-Way, she had the privilege of performing with the great stage and screen legend, George C. Scott. She received acclaim for her Command Performance requested by Sir Basil Rathbone as "Kate" in Taming Of The Shrew performed at the famed Will-O-Way Playhouse and Apprentice Theatre in Michigan.After graduating from RHS (Rochester High School) at age seventeen, winning the Miss Rochester Pageant, the Miss Romeo Peach Queen title, and then placing in the Miss Michigan Pageant, Jody went to NYC to make "the rounds" and meet up with Lee Strasberg who welcomed her into his home for lunch and to meet his family. He requested that she come back the following year when she would be old enough to join the Actor's Studio. She moved to California instead after meeting the iconic horror film director, William Castle at a premier back in Detroit. Now in California, her very first film with dialog was The Bigot aka The Hunting Season and recently remastered and distributed by Troma Pictures as Deadly Daphne's Revenge (1987). A side note: thirty some odd years later, Jody was interviewed Answering the Call: An Interview with Jody Jaress (2018) regarding this film directed by Richard Gardner. Her next film was Patrick Swayze's first film, Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979).Over the years, her theatre work awarded her Best Actress and Supporting Actress Awards from the Desert Theatre League in Palm Springs, CA for roles in Veronica's Room (by Ira Levin), Equus (directed by actress Judith Chapman) and Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady; Jody was selected to perform as Mrs. Popov in Chekhov's, The Brute, to honor the Russian Dignitaries visiting Palm Springs.She since has made a plethora of appearances on stage, film, television and radio. Variety reviewer, Robert Koehler wrote "Jody Jaress - excellent" referring to her supporting lead role as Rhea, in the gritty award winning Indie feature, Chain Link (2008), directed/written/produced by nm1909842 starring Mark Irvingsen, nm0832586 and Lelia Goldoni.Jody has garnered many wins and nominations in other Independent films: as a wife with Alzheimers in both of these award winning films: Fragile Storm (2015) sharing the lead with Lance Henriksen, directed by Dawn Fields and portraying Bill Hoversten's real life mother using her actual dialog in Mother's Day Memories (2019), directed an...