Born in 1966, Nancy McKeon entered the entertainment business when she was just two years old modeling baby clothing. After a stellar performance in a Hallmark advertisement, the actress joined The Facts of Life. This became McKeon’s most prominent ad well-known role.
Nancy stole hearts as tomboy Jo Polniaczek during the second season of The Facts of Life in 1980. She portrayed this character for eight years until 1988. So, where is she now?
Acting Career Post-The Facts of Life
Following The Facts of Life, NBC recruited Nancy McKeon for the title role in the TV adaptation of the 1988 film, Working Girl. However, the role ended up going to Sandra Bullock instead. Then, in 1994, McKeon auditioned for the role of Monica Geller on Friends but lost the role to Courteney Cox. When asked about the audition, the actress said, “I have no hard feelings. The role went to the right person. Courteney was brilliant. Now, I can’t see anybody playing the role, not even myself.”
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In 1995, Nancy McKeon finally landed another role. She starred in her own series titled Can’t Hurry Love, which lasted one season. Then, in ’98 she starred alongside Jean Smart in the sitcom Style & Substance.
Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, McKeon starred in several made-for-TV movies. Some of these include A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, The Wrong Woman, and Strange Voices. The actress produced many of these films through her own film company, Forest Hills Entertainment.
In 1999, Nancy wrote and directed the short film, A Wakening. While speaking with the TV show Biography, McKeon confirmed that directing had been a personal ambition. So, she wrote her own film to direct— how cool? McKeon’s film won two film festival awards.
Nancy McKeon then portrayed Inspector Jinny Exstead on the Lifetime police drama The Division from 2001 to 2004. The show’s creators wrote the actress’s pregnancy into the storyline during the last year of the series. Later, from 2009 to 2010, McKeon appeared in a recurring role on Disney’s Sonny with a Chance as the mother of Demi Lovato‘s title character.
Most recently, Nancy McKeon featured in 2019’s You Light Up My Christmas alongside her Facts of Life co-star, Kim Fields. Originally, McKeon was set to have a more prominent role in the film but could not due to a family emergency.
Personal Life of Nancy McKeon
Nancy dated Michael J. Fox for three years after meeting on the set of High School U.S.A. in 1983. McKeon told Biography that she and Fox were private people. Adding that “We didn’t tell a lot of people and we kind of kept to ourselves.” The couple appeared together as a celebrity couple on the game show Tattletales in ’84.
While Nancy McKeon and Michael J. Fox didn’t last forever, the actress married film technician Marc Andrus in 2003. The couple met eight years prior on the set of the Hallmark movie, A Mother’s Gift. McKeon and Andrus had only 20 people at their wedding and later moved to a ranch near Austin, Texas. Together they have two children, Aurora and Harlow.