Jane Galloway Heitz

Born in Minnesota and never straying far for long from the midwest, Jane Galloway Heitz spent the first part of her career not as an actress, but as a casting agent. She often worked in tandem with her husband, Bill Heitz, who she married in 1965. Based in Chicago, she helped actors ranging from Steve Carell to Richard Kind start their careers. In the late '90s, Heitz transitioned careers to acting. At the age 58, she landed her first notable role, in David Lynch's "The Straight Story" (1999). In the early 2000s, she appeared in small parts is movies such as "Just Visiting" (2001) and "Madison" (2001) before appearing in a few TV shows in the middle of the decade with guest appearances on "ER" (NBC 1994-2009) and "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC 2005- ). She has a major role in the Lindsay Lohan-starring flop "I Know Who Killed Me" (2007) before getting two of her most memorable performances. She appeared as Mildred in a 2009 episode of "Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2007-2019) and was the prior glee club director Lillian Adler in "Glee" (Fox 2009-2015), appearing in only the pilot and the finale. A handful of other appearances dotted the next few years, as showed up on episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS 2000-2015) and "Shameless" (Showtime 2011- ). Heitz passed away in November 2019 at the age of 78.