Jenny Lewis

Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress.

She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley.

Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child actress, appearing in the films Troop Beverly Hills (1989) and The Wizard (1989) and the television series Brooklyn Bridge (1991–93).

She was featured in the short-lived 1986 Lucille Ball sitcom Life With Lucy, where she was cast as one of Lucy's grandchildren.

She also had small roles on TV shows, such as Murder, She Wrote, The New Twilight Zone, Baywatch, The Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Just the Ten of Us, Roseanne, Mr. Belvedere, and Brooklyn Bridge.

She appeared on a kids' week episode of the game show Card Sharks on August 6, 1987, at age 11, winning $500, but she did not win her match.

She played the part of Evangeline "Eva" Saint Claire in the 1987 film version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and also appeared in the 1988 made-for-TV film A Friendship in Vienna, set in Vienna at the start of the Holocaust.

Lewis appeared in over a dozen teen movies, such as Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard in 1989.

In the mid-1990s, Lewis semi-retired from acting to focus on her musical career, and formed Rilo Kiley in 1998 with fellow former child actor Blake Sennett.

She was featured in the 1996 made-for-TV movie Talk to Me with Yasmine Bleeth, as well as the films Foxfire, Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even, and Pleasantville.

She played Beverly D'Angelo's daughter in the 1996 made-for-TV film Sweet Temptation.

She continued acting until 1998, although her final movie – Don's Plum, filmed 1995–96 – went unreleased until 2001.

In 1998, Lewis and friends Pierre De Reeder, Dave Rock, and then-boyfriend Blake Sennett formed the band Rilo Kiley.

(Rock was eventually replaced by Jason Boesel.) In an interview with NPR's All Songs Considered, Lewis remarked that she wanted to name the group Love's Way (after her parents' lounge act in Las Vegas), but Sennett "didn't go for it."

Originally asked to sing back-up vocals by Sennett, Lewis refused to join the band unless she was able to sing lead vocals.

Beginning with a country sound, Rilo Kiley gravitated toward a downbeat indie rock sound, gaining the attention of Warner Bros., who signed the band (via its own imprint, Brute/Beaute Records) for the release of their 2004 album More Adventurous, which gained the band some success.

Critics such as Pitchfork attributed this to the "wise" decision to emphasize Lewis's voice and presence more so than in previous albums.

The song "Portions for Foxes" was a hit.

In 2004, Conor Oberst invited Lewis to record a solo record for record label Team Love.

Lewis has released five solo albums: Rabbit Fur Coat (2006), Acid Tongue (2008), The Voyager (2014), On the Line (2019), and Joy'All (2023).

In addition to Rilo Kiley and her solo career, Lewis has been a member of the Postal Service, Jenny & Johnny, and Nice as Fuck.

Lewis was born in Las Vegas.

Her mother, Linda, was a professional singer, and her father, Eddie Gordon, was a member of the Harmonica Gang.

Lewis is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Lewis made her professional debut in a Jell-O commercial.

She later appeared in commercials for Mattel's Barbie and Baby Skates dolls, Toys "R" Us toy stores, the Black & Decker Popcorn Maker, and Kellogg's Corn Pops, among others.

Described by Lewis as "a kind of soul record", Rabbit Fur Coat (released January 24, 2006) features contributions from Oberst, M. Ward, and Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie guests on a cover of The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care."

The Watson Twins provide accompaniment on the album, billed as Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins.

Lewis toured with The Watson Twins in support of the album three times in 2006 and appeared with her band on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Later with Jools Holland.

They also appeared on a Washington, D.C.-based children's music program called Pancake Mountain, performing the song "See Fernando".

The album received positive reviews, with Entertainment Weekly writing, "Consider Lewis the Emmylou Harris of the Silverlake set" and Rolling Stone commenting that "her girlishly seductive vocals are more versatile than ever".

Rilo Kiley's 2007 album Under the Blacklight was released directly by Warner Bros.

In 2011, Sennett hinted that Rilo Kiley had disbanded.

Rilo Kiley released four albums before they disbanded in 2014.

Lewis confirmed the band's split in 2014.

In 2015, she appeared in the Netflix movie A Very Murray Christmas as a waitress and sang a few songs, including "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Bill Murray.

A retrospective of Lewis's career by Jessica Roy in 2016 commented that Lewis was a style icon to a certain type of music-loving young people in the 2000s.

Roy commented:

"For a particular brand of suburban girl who fancied herself cooler than her peers, Jenny was a fire-haired figure of worship. With her endless supply of cool sunglasses, vintage dresses, and hats ... she was a beacon of hope for introspective teens ... as a microgenerational sad-girl touchstone, many of us have our own Jenny Lewis Anecdote, our lives touched by her magnificent tweeness in different ways."