Brooke Elliott (born November 16, 1974) is an American actress and singer. She has previously appeared in musical theatre, including the US tours of Beauty and the Beast and Wicked, and the Broadway productions of Taboo and The Pirate Queen. She is best known for her roles in the 2000 Mel Gibson film What Women Want, her big-screen debut, and as Jane Bingum on the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva.
Elliott was born in Fridley, Minnesota, to Robert, a city manager, and Kathleen Elliott, on November 16, 1974. Elliott has one sister, Jamie Alexander, and one brother, Adam Elliott. Her parents have said that she began to sing when she was three years old, and footage exists of her at that age singing You Light Up My Life. Her family moved on several occasions, first to Blaine, Minnesota, and then out of state to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Illinois. The family settled in Riverview, Michigan, when Elliott was a junior in high school. She graduated from Gabriel Richard Catholic High School in 1993; she appeared in high school productions while there, including in Richard III and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Elliott went on to Western Michigan University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Performance in 1998.