Hallmark Actress: Jill Wagner
Crown Media
Jill Wagner was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on January 13, 1979. Her mother died a few days after she was born. She was raised primarily by her father, David Wagner, and her grandmother.
Jill graduated cum laude with a degree in business management from North Carolina State University in 2001. She also graduated from the Barbizon Modeling and Acting school in Raleigh, North Carolina.
After receiving a degree in business management, Jill had planned to have a career in business. Instead, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Her acting career officially began in 2003.
Jill Wagner and Hallmark Channels
Jill is often seen on both the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel, but she did not come on board with Hallmark until 2014. Since then, she has had a starring role in 17 Hallmark original television movies.
Jill doesn't agree to act in just any movie. Family is very important to her, and she usually chooses family-themed movies based on her grandmother's approval. Jill says her grandma loves to watch those kinds of films. So the two of them made an agreement that when scripts come Jill's way, she would send them to her grandma. If her grandma likes them, then Jill would act in those films. Jill says, " I'll do them. I will do those films for her."
Perhaps you have noticed that the Hallmark movies starring Jill Wagner are centered around families including the following ones.
- Autumn Dreams (2015)
- Christmas Cookies (2016)
- A Harvest Wedding (2017)
- Karen Kingsbury's Maggie's Christmas Miracle (2017)
- Pearl in Paradise (2018)
- Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa (2018)
| MOVIE/PREMIERE DATE | CO-STAR | BRIEF SYNOPSIS |
|---|---|---|
Autumn Dreams, October 3, 2015 | Colin Egglesfield | A young man and woman thought the woman's father had filed their annulment papers after he insisted they shouldn't be married. Many years later, they found out they are still married. Something unexpected happened later. |
Christmas Cookies, November 13, 2016 | Wes Brown | A woman goes to a small town to buy a cookie company. She falls in love with the owner after she begins to be filled with the Christmas spirit.. |
A Harvest Wedding, October 21, 2017 | Victor Webster | A wedding planner is hired to plan the most anticipated wedding of the season. The bride wants her wedding to be on the groom's family farm run by the ex-boyfriend of the wedding planner. |
Maggie's Christmas Miracle, December 10, 2017 | Luke Macfarlane | A single mother helps at her son's school and quickly bond with a single man. Her son sees the man as a father figure and a good match for his mother. |
Pearl in Paradise, August 18, 2018 | Kristoffer Polaha | A travel magazine photographer teams up with a best-selling author to find an elusive Fijian pearl. While looking for the pearl, they find each other. |
Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa, November 18, 2018 | Mark Deklin | A woman's trip home for the holidays to fulfill Christian wishes of the past. She finds a romance full of Christmas magic. |
Mystery 101, January 27, 2019 | Kristoffer Polaha | A college professor who teaches "Whodunnit" fiction helps the police solve murder mysteries. |
Mystery 101, Playing Dead, June 23, 2019 | Kristoffer Polaha | A college professor is working on a play when the main actress' life is threatened. She works with the detective to help solve the mystery. |
Mystery 101: Words Can Kill, September 15, 2019 | Kristoffer Polaha | When a guest at the college book festival is murdered, the someone is arrested. A college professor fights to prove the wrong person is in prison. |
Mystery 101: Dead Talk, September 22, 2019 | Kristoffer Polaha | When the owner of a crime solving software company is found dead, a college professor works with the detective to solve the mystery |
Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses, October 26, 2019 | Matthew Davis | An interior designer is hired to decorate a lavish mansion for the Christmas season. |
Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy, November 29, 2019 | Maggie Lawson, Paul Greene | A writer shows up in Evergreen to find out about the town's well-known passion for Christmas. |
Hearts of Winter, January 25, 2020 | Victor Webster | An interior designer redesigns the house of a widower and his daughter. She finds romance in the process. |
Mystery 101: An Education in Murder, March 29, 2020 | Kristoffer Polaha | A colleague of the professor is convicted of a murder that another professor and the detective fight hard to solve the murder mystery. |
The Angel Tree, November 21, 2020 | Lucas Bryant | A person helps grant wishes that are on an angel tree, and in the process, reconnects with her childhood friend. |
Mystery 101: Killer Timing, March 21, 2021 | Kristoffer Polaha and Erin Cahill | The college professor and detective deal with their most dangerous case when an attempt is on the detective's life by an escaped serial killer. |
Mystery 101: Deadly History, August 1, 2021 | Kristoffer Polaha | The college professor and detective travel to New York to investigate after a relative goes missing. Their initial clues make them fear the worst. |
Jill Wagner's Mystery 101 and Christmas Movies
Notice the seven Mystery 101 movies Jill has acted in with co-star Kristoffer Polaha. She has also starred in six Christmas movies.
- Maggie’s Christmas Miracle
- Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses
- Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa
- A Harvest Wedding
- Christmas Cookies Film
- Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy
Jill Wagner's Family
Jill Wagner Instagram
Personal Life
Jill first met her husband when she was 17 years old. After going their separate ways, they reconnected and started dating. She and former pro hockey player David Lemanowicz became engaged in 2016. They tied the knot on April 8, 2017. Their first child, *Army Gray" was born on April 17, 2020. They have a second daughter, Daisy Roberta, who was born on August 19, 2021. The actress is also a step-mom to her husband’s daughter, Lija, who was born in 2010. Jill and her husband live in a small town in Tennessee.
*Some people think Jill's first daughter was named Amy Gray. Actually, it is "Army Gray." It is not a typographical error. Jill says her first child was conceived on July 4. Since her husband was in the military, they wanted a patriotic name. So, they chose Army to be her first name. Her middle name is Gray because Jill says she always loved that name.
