Jenna Ushkowitz

Jenna Noelle Ushkowitz is an American actress, singer, producer, and podcast host. She is widely recognized for playing Tina Cohen-Chang on the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee, a role that earned her a Grammy Award nomination. She is also known for her Broadway stage roles in musicals such as The King and I and Waitress, and she is a two-time Tony Award winner for her production work on the Broadway revival Once on This Island and the play The Inheritance.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, with the Korean given name Min Jee, Ushkowitz was adopted at four months old and raised in East Meadow, New York. She attended the Parkway School and Holy Trinity Diocesan High School. Her career began in early childhood through print advertisements and television commercials for companies like Toys R Us, Burger King, Hess, and Jell-O. She was also a regular child performer on Sesame Street for four years. During high school, she appeared in various musical productions before attending Marymount Manhattan College, where she graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre arts.

Ushkowitz made her Broadway debut in the 1996 revival of The King and I and later served as an understudy in the 2008 Broadway musical Spring Awakening. In 2009, she was cast in Glee after series creator Ryan Murphy sought talent on Broadway. Her solo performances on the show included Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," which charted internationally. While appearing on the show, she participated in live Glee concert tours in 2010 and 2011 and released her autobiography, Choosing Glee, in 2013.

Following her breakthrough TV role, Ushkowitz appeared in stage productions including Hair at the Hollywood Bowl in 2014, The Wedding Singer at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in 2015, and Waitress on Broadway in 2016. In 2015, she executive produced the documentary Twinsters, which premiered at South by Southwest, and was cast in the film adaptation of Hello Again. She expanded into theatrical producing, earning Tony Awards for Once on This Island in 2018 and The Inheritance in 2020.

In addition to her performance work, Ushkowitz co-founded the podcast network At Will Radio in 2016 and launched Glee recap podcasts alongside co-star Kevin McHale, including Showmance in 2019 and And That's What You Really Missed on iHeartRadio in 2022. She co-founded Kindred: The Foundation for Adoption in 2014 and has advocated for environmental conservation with Oceana. She married David Stanley in July 2021, and the couple has two children, born in 2022 and 2024.