Jenna Ushkowitz

Jenna Noelle Ushkowitz (born April 28, 1986) is an American stage and television actress and singer, who is known for her roles in Broadway musicals and the 2009 TV series Glee.

Early life
Ushkowitz was born in Seoul, South Korea; she was adopted and raised in East Meadow, Long Island, New York. She attended Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, a Catholic school known for its theatre department in Hicksville, Long Island. She graduated in 2004, having performed in the first high school production of Les Misérables, along with the role of Penny in Honk!, Inez in The Baker's Wife, Little Red Ridinghood in Into the Woods and Romaine Patterson in The Laramie Project. Ushkowitz graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2007, performing again as Little Red Ridinghood, in Into the Woods.

Ushkowitz has known Glee costar Lea Michele since they were eight years old.

Career
Ushkowitz has been in show business since the age of 3. She has been on Sesame Street, As the World Turns, and other TV shows. Her first role in a Broadway musical was in a 1996 revival of The King and I.

Ushkowitz sang the American National Anthem at a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden when she was 13. Before joining the cast of Glee, she was an understudy for the roles of Anna, Martha, Thea and Ilse in the Broadway musical Spring Awakening.