A group of teachers and administrators at Miami Valley School posted an Instagram reel with the caption, “Group costume: The many roles of Allison Janney ‘77!”
Janney then re-posted the image on Instagram saying, “Shout out to Miami valley School administrators for their Awesome Halloween costumes..they all went as MEEEE!! :)”
By the following day the post had more than 15,000 likes.
Growing up in Dayton
Janney grew up in Oakwood, one of three children born to Macy and Jervis Janney. Janney’s mother was a former actress who decided to forgo an acting career to raise her family.
Her first role on stage was as Noah Claypole the undertaker’s son, in “Oliver Twist” at Miami Valley School, where she started honing her singing voice. Janney left the school after her ninth-grade year to attend boarding school at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut.
Janney, still a supporter of Miami Valley School, held her first job as a bus girl at the former Holland House restaurant. She later sold handbags and hosiery at now-closed Rike’s department store in downtown Dayton.
Connected to Dayton
Janney worked with fellow Daytonians Martin Sheen and Rob Lowe on “The West Wing.” Janney played Dayton native C.J. Cregg.
Credit: NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater
Credit: NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater
The movie and television star joined a long list of Dayton innovators when she was inducted into the Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame on Sept. 28, 2018, at Sinclair Community College in downtown Dayton.
“I am proud to be from Dayton,” she said. “I am really happy that I will be forever part of Dayton on the Walk of Fame and at the Miami Valley School, where I started my whole education and I learned about theater.”
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