Jody Jaress Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Jody Jaress
Acting
Biography
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. Jody began her entertainment career more than 40 years ago in Michigan. Her ancestors arrived in New York from Germany and Wales in the 1800'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. 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).
Filmography Movies
Acting
The Edge of Her Mind Anthology
A powerful anthology of short films, made by and about women, shining a compassionate light on mental health.
Last Call
A drama about Gavin, a recovering alcoholic, who ends up in a strangely familiar bar.
Fresh Kill
They were the prey... They were forced to kill... The bloody chase begins...
See Me
Burn survivors Kristen and Jack reunite after a year of healing for a date and are faced with the horrible reality that in a public place all people are not so kind with people who are different.
Chain Link
A story about Anthony, a man recently released from prison who is trying to rebuild his life, getting a job and reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend Jade and their young son. But when Anthony finds himself in a bind, he's forced to consider a return to the criminal life.
Charlie Wilson's War
A Texas congressman sets a series of events in motion when he conspires with a CIA operative to aid Afghan mujahideen rebels fighting the Soviets.
Titanic 666
After a mammoth cruise ship sails over the site of the Titanic’s disaster, dark and deadly events start to occur on board. As the ship’s captain investigates the tragic occurrences, it becomes clear that the passengers and crew from the original Titanic have returned.
Hollywoodland
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance
1870's America. A Chinese immigrant falsely accused of murdering a white woman is viciously hunted down; he'll have to prove his innocence in a time when people of color had "no legal rights" and could be bought and sold for a profit. Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance explores the exploitation of Chinese workers during the building of American railroads. The workers not only spent long hours, but the work was often dangerous and fatal. The Chinaman is a fugitive on the run, and all odds are against him. While stealing a horse was a hanging offense in the Old West, our fugitive knows that killing a Chinaman is not a crime.
Transplant
Fact-based story about a hard-driving young executive who rebels against his failing heart and undergoes a risky transplant.
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