Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American indie pop/rock/folk/alt-country musician.
Lewis began her career in the 1980s and early '90s as a child actress (appearing most famously in the films The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills); however, she really came to do what she does best by embarking on a music career as the lead singer of the lo-fi indie rock band Rilo Kiley. A standout of the band, she eventually shifted to a solo career following the gradual amicable breakup of Rilo Kiley.
Post-Rilo Kiley albums:
- Rabbit Fur Coat (2006; with the Watson Twins)
- Acid Tongue (2008)
- I'm Having Fun Now (2010; with Johnathan Rice as "Jenny and Johnny")
- The Voyager (2014)
- Nice as Fuck (2016; with the eponymous girl group)
- On the Line (2019)
- Joy'All (2023)
Acting roles on TV Tropes:
Film roles
- Troop Beverly Hills (1989) as Hannah Nefler
- The Wizard (1989) as Haley
- Foxfire (1996) as Rita Faldes
- Pleasantville (1998) as Christin
- Bolt (2008) as Assistant Director (voice)
TV roles
- The Twilight Zone (1985) as Sarah (1 episode)
- Webster (1985) as Kim (1 episode)
- Life with Lucy (1986) as Becky (13 episodes)
- The Golden Girls (1987) as Daisy (1 episode)
- The Charmings (1987) as Sara (1 episode)
- Mr. Belvedere (1988) as Kimberly (1 episode)
- Growing Pains (1988) as Judy Jones (1 episode)
- Just the Ten of Us (1989) as Pamela (1 episode)
- Roseanne (1989) as Diane (1 episode)
- Free Spirit (1989) as Chris (1 episode)
- Baywatch (1989) as Alex (1 episode)
- Brooklyn Bridge (1991–93) as Katie Monahan (18 episodes)
- Murder, She Wrote (1994) as Leslie Walden (1 episode)
- Once and Again (2000) as Jenny (1 episode)
- American Dad! (2010) as Amy (voice, 1 episode)
- Comedy Bang! Bang! (2014) as New Bandleader (1 episode)
Tropes in Jenny Lewis' work:
- Actor Allusion: The music video for "She's Not Me" makes references to many of her most famous roles as a child actress, including The Golden Girls, Troop Beverly Hills, The Wizard, and her commercials for Toys "R" Us.
- Drag King: The music video for "Just One Of The Guys" depicts three of them, played by Brie Larson, Anne Hathaway and Kristen Stewart.
- Girl Group: Nice as Fuck, which she founded with fellow indie-rockers Erika Forster (Au Revior Simone) and Tennessee Thomas (The Like) in 2016; they released a Self-Titled Album and did a tour that same year.
- Kaleidoscope Eyes: Nancy in "Late Bloomer" had eyes "changing like mood stones."
- Murder Ballad: "Jack Killed Mom" is more or less what it says it is, although Jack didn't mean to kill Mom... (Maybe "manslaughter ballad" would be more accurate.)
- My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Lamented in "Just One of the Guys":There's only one difference between you and me
When I look at myself, all I can see:
I'm just another lady without a baby - Pretty in Mink: The titular rabbit fur coat of "Rabbit Fur Coat"
- One of the Boys: "Just One of the Guys" is rather a subversion, or at least a discussion: it's about how women really can't be "just one of the guys."