Jayne Houdyshell (born September 25, 1953) is an American theater actress.

Since the mid-1970s, she has appeared in more than 200 plays at regional theaters throughout the United States, including the Meadow Brook Theater, Attic Theater, Missouri Repertory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater, Delaware Theater Company, Wilma Theater, Syracuse Stage, Studio Arena, GeVa Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, Steppenwolf Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Totem Pole Playhouse, Peterborough Players, and others.

Houdyshell's Broadway credits include Wicked, Well, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Importance of Being Earnest. She played the role of "Hattie" in the 2011 revival of Follies, and received a 2012 Tony Award nomination, Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance. Houdyshell played the Nurse in the 2013 Broadway revival of Romeo and Juliet.

She appears in The Humans as "Dierdre Blake". She performed in the play in the Off-Broadway engagement at the Roundabout Theatre Company in September 2015 to December 2015. She appears in the Broadway production of The Humans which opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre on February 18, 2016. For The Humans she won the 2016 Tony Award, Featured Actress in a Play, the 2016 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, and the Obie Award, Performance. She was also nominated for the 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play.

Her television credits include appearances on Law & Order, Third Watch, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She has appeared in such films as Changing Lanes (2002), Garden State (2004), Trust the Man (2006), and Everybody's Fine.

Houdyshell also had a small role as a landlady in the 2010 film The Bounty Hunter.

Theatre, Broadway, Television Actress, Actress, Movie Actress, Entertainers, Tony Award, Actors, Acting,