Jones is a Broadway star known for her roles in plays like The Heiress and Doubt and also her Emmy-winning turn on 24.

After nearly a decade working with the American Repertory Theater in Boston, she made her Broadway debut in Tony Kushner's 1993 drama Angels in America, then won her first Tony for her role in 1995's The Heiress. She's since become one of New York's most successful stage actresses, with acclaimed roles in the 2000 revival of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, Nora Ephron's 2002 play Imaginary Friends, and 2006's Faith Healer, in which she starred opposite Ralph Fiennes. In 2005, Jones earned a second Tony for her much-vaunted performance as Sister Aloysius in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. Alas, like many a Broadway star before her, Jones was muscled out of the film version—Meryl Streep starred in the movie. Jones did, however, manage to land one of the most hazardous jobs on television as the President of the United States on 24, a surprsing choice for the actress which paid of in an Emmy win.

Jones was one of the first Broadway stars to come out of the closet, and she became a hero in the gay community during the 1995 Tony Awards when she thanked her then-partner, architect Mary O'Connor, in her acceptance speech. Former paramours include actress Sarah Paulson, whom Jones unintentionally (?) outted in her Tony acceptance speech for Doubt. [Image via Getty]