Years active: 1974 - 2006 (started around 13 years old; 32 years in the business)
Tattoos: None
Piercings: None
About Janet Jones
Janet-Marie Jones (born January 10, 1961) is an American actress, dancer and fitness instructor. She is married to ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky.
Jones performed in Annie (1982), Staying Alive (1983) and Snow White Live (1980), and had a bit part in The Beastmaster (1982 in film|1982). Her big break came in The Flamingo Kid (1984), which was followed by the film version of A Chorus Line (1985). Later in 1986, she appeared in American Anthem, co-starring gymnast Mitch Gaylord. In 1987, she appeared in a semi-nude pictorial in the March issue of Playboy.
Other credits include 1988's Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach and the baseball film A League of Their Own with Geena Davis and Madonna (1992) and the Phys Ed teacher in the Van Halen music video Hot for Teacher.
Jones served as host of an infomercial for Jackie Chan and as the "master instructor" for a workout video produced by The FIRM. She and daughter Paulina were featured in the movie Alpha Dog.
Playing on her surname, she appeared in a 1986 TV commercial endorsing Jones Sausage along with other people who shared her last name.
Jones was born in Bridgeton, Missouri. She was engaged to tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis for three years before he broke the engagement. She also dated actors Bruce Willis and Nels Van Patten, son of Dick Van Patten.
Jones met Gretzky when he was a judge on Merv Griffin's show Dance Fever in 1984. They ran into each other at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 1987, and on 17 July 1988 they were married in a ceremony at St. Joseph's Basilica that was broadcast live across Canada. The fairy tale atmosphere and widespread publicity of their wedding has been compared to the famous wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. At the time of the wedding, Jones was four months pregnant with their daughter Paulina (born 19 December 1988). They have four other children: Ty Robert (b. 9 July 1990), Trevor Douglas (b. 14 September 1992), Tristan Wayne (b. 2 August 2000), and Emma Marie (b. 28 March 2003).
After Jones was knocked unconscious by a pane of Plexiglas during a 22 October 1997 New York Rangers-Chicago Blackhawks game, Gretzky continued to play while she was taken to the hospital.
On 7 February 2006, Jones and a half-dozen NHL players were among those implicated in a New Jersey-based sports gambling ring allegedly financed by Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet. Then-Coyotes' general manager and Gretzky's former agent, Michael Barnett, admitted to placing a bet on Super Bowl XL through Tocchet.
Gretzky told reporters that Jones "would sit down at some point and answer questions that everybody has for her and be her own person" while denying any involvement. Jones released a statement through the Coyotes: "At no time did I ever place a wager on my husband's behalf. Other than the occasional horse race, my husband does not bet on any sports." The New York Daily News reported that Gretzky took part in a private poker party at the Wynn Las Vegas with Pete Sampras and Matt Damon in June 2005. The NHL forbids its employees and those employed by its teams to gamble or make wagers of any kind.
The Newark Star-Ledger revealed that New Jersey State Police wiretaps have Gretzky speaking about the ring. Lawyers for the couple later announced that neither would face criminal charges. "They were trying to paint something that just wasn't true," Jones later told Chatelaine Magazine. "It's unfair that Wayne and I have had a great marriage for 20 years and a nice family, and the people in the media could care less [sic] if they are trying to cause friction in your marriage, trouble in your family, and make your kids feel a certain way. That was a little hurtful because it was like, 'Why? What have we ever done to you?'" In 2007, she took part in a high-stakes golf tournament broadcast by ESPN.
On 15 March 2006, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office announced it would subpoena Jones to testify about the alleged ring as soon as a grand jury convenes. On 8 May, Tocchet and Jones filed notices in New Jersey that they intend to sue the state for defamation, claiming each lost business opportunities in the wake of the investigation.
