# Jill Wagner
**Jill Wagner** (birth name Jill Suzanne Wagner) is an American actress, television host, and producer, born in 1979 in [Winston-Salem, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/winston-salem-north-carolina). She is known for hosting the ABC obstacle-course game show *Wipeout*, playing Kate Argent on MTV's *Teen Wolf*, starring in made-for-television films for Hallmark and [Great American Family](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-american-family), and playing CIA team leader Bobby on the [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) spy series *Lioness* (2023–present), on which she also serves as executive producer.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; birth name Jill Suzanne Wagner[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) |
| Education | North Carolina State University, bachelor's degree in business management, 2001[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) |
| Hosting | On-field host of ABC's *Wipeout* from 2008 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2014; also hosted INSP's *Handcrafted America*[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html) |
| Signature acting roles | Krista Starr in *Blade: The Series* (Spike, 2006); Kate Argent in *Teen Wolf*; Bobby in *Lioness* (2023–present)[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) |
| Television films | Regular lead in Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries films from 2015 to 2021, later Great American Family; starred in and executive produced the *Mystery 101* series[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jill_wagner) |
| Family | Married Canadian producer and former minor-league hockey player David Lemanowicz in April 2017; three children[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) |
| Award | 2021 Family Film Award, Outstanding Actress in a Television Film (winner); 2020 Grace Award nominee[6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jill-wagner/bio/3030095798/) |
## Early life and education
Wagner was raised primarily by her father, David Wagner, a U.S. Marine, and her grandmother, after her mother passed away shortly after she was born; she has an older brother.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) She attended Ledford Senior High School in Wallburg, North Carolina, and trained at the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Raleigh during her teens.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner)
She graduated from [North Carolina State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-carolina-state-university) in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in business management. She had planned to go into business, but instead moved to Los Angeles after graduation to pursue modeling and, ultimately, acting.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) In a later interview she described the decision as a choice between going for an acting career or regretting not trying.[7](https://flickdirect.com/news/4423/exclusive-interview-jill-wagner-on-blade-the-series/article.ashx)
## Breakthrough: Punk'd, Mercury, and Blade
Wagner's professional on-screen debut came as a "field agent" on MTV's hidden-camera prank series *Punk'd* (2003–07), where she was the first female regular sketch performer on the show, working opposite [Ashton Kutcher](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashton-kutcher).[6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jill-wagner/bio/3030095798/) • [3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html) She has said she had no formal acting training, taking only a few classes after arriving in Los Angeles.[7](https://flickdirect.com/news/4423/exclusive-interview-jill-wagner-on-blade-the-series/article.ashx)
**The Mercury campaign.** A long-running series of television commercials for [Ford Motor Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/ford-motor-company)'s Mercury brand, aired between 2005 and 2011, made her widely recognizable and earned her the nickname "Mercury Chick." The campaign ended with Ford's discontinuation of the Mercury line in 2010.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/)
The visibility from *Punk'd* and the commercials led to her first role as a series regular: Krista Starr in *Blade: The Series* (Spike, 2006), an extension of the [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics) vampire films, cast opposite rapper-turned-actor [Sticky Fingaz](https://www.edgepedia.org/sticky-fingaz). She played a military veteran who joins Blade after being turned into a vampire by her brother's killer. Though initially a high-rated program for the network, Spike canceled the series after its first season.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) She has described it as her first series lead.[7](https://flickdirect.com/news/4423/exclusive-interview-jill-wagner-on-blade-the-series/article.ashx)
## Wipeout and Teen Wolf
In 2008 Wagner became the on-field host of *Wipeout*, ABC's Americanized version of Japanese obstacle-course game shows, which became one of the network's most popular programs. She interviewed contestants and reported the action to commentators John Anderson and John Henson.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) She hosted from 2008 to 2011, left briefly during the fifth season in 2012, and returned from 2013 to 2014.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner)
She departed *Wipeout* in 2011 to take the recurring role of Kate Argent, a werewolf hunter and one of the primary antagonists through the first four seasons of MTV's *Teen Wolf*, and returned to her *Wipeout* duties in the summer of 2013 while dividing her time between acting assignments.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) She also hosted the show's after-show, *Wolf Watch*.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html)
Her film work in this period included the female lead in the independent horror film *Splinter* (2008), her feature debut, and a role opposite [Jason Momoa](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-momoa) in the indie film *Braven* (2018), which Rotten Tomatoes lists as her highest-rated film at 80 percent with critics.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/) • [3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jill_wagner)
## Hallmark and Great American Family films
From 2015 to 2021 Wagner starred in television movies for [Hallmark Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/hallmark-channel) and Hallmark Movies & [Mysteries](https://www.edgepedia.org/mysteries), a run that earned her the nickname "Miss Hallmark."[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) Her Hallmark credits include *Autumn Dreams*, *A Harvest Wedding*, *Christmas Cookies*, *Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa*, and the seven-film *Mystery 101* mystery series, in which she played professor Amy Winslow.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jill_wagner) • [1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner)
She later moved to Great American Family, the family-oriented network established in 2021, starring in and executive producing films including *A Merry Christmas Wish* (2022), *A Christmas Miracle for Daisy* (2021), *Bringing Christmas Home* (2023), and *Christmas Under the Northern Lights* (2024).[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jill_wagner) • [8](https://www.greatamericanfamily.com/tag/jill-wagner/) In 2026 she starred in *A Very Arctic Christmas* opposite [Cameron Mathison](https://www.edgepedia.org/cameron-mathison), part of the network's Great American Christmas slate.[9](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/lioness-jill-wagner-brings-christmas-magic-to-great-american-family)
## Lioness
Since 2023 Wagner has starred as Bobby, the leader of the quick reaction force team, in *Lioness*, [Taylor Sheridan](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-sheridan)'s Paramount+ spy series about a real-life covert female undercover operations program, alongside [Zoe Saldaña](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-saldana) and [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman). She also serves as an executive producer on the series.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html)
The project has a personal origin: her husband, David Lemanowicz, a U.S. Army major, told her about the real-life program, and she and her husband developed the concept and pitched it to Sheridan.[10](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jill-wagner-pitched-taylor-sheridan-lioness-after-military-husband-revealed-real-life-program-what-know) • [11](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/jill-wagner-talks-taylor-sheridan-and-lioness-season-3-exclusive) Wagner has said Sheridan was her acting coach in her twenties, when he was writing the screenplay for *Sicario*.[12](https://www.tvinsider.com/1285408/) The show's later seasons have filmed in Fort Worth, Texas, where Wagner has said the summer heat during filming was the one drawback of an otherwise positive experience.[13](https://www.aol.com/articles/lioness-star-jill-wagner-texas-160000000.html)
## Personal life and charity work
Wagner married David Lemanowicz, a Canadian producer and former minor-league ice hockey player, in April 2017. Their daughters are Army Gray Lemanowicz (born 2020) and Daisy Roberta Lemanowicz (born 2021); Wagner is also mother to Lija Lemanowicz.[1](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) The family lives on a farm in Tennessee.[10](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jill-wagner-pitched-taylor-sheridan-lioness-after-military-husband-revealed-real-life-program-what-know)
She actively supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and runs her own charity, Jill's Closet for a Cure, which raises money and awareness for blood-cancer research, a cause she has said touches her own family.[6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jill-wagner/bio/3030095798/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/) • [3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html) She has also traveled internationally, including to Afghanistan, to support troops.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html)
## References
1. [Jill Wagner, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/32563/jill-wagner)
2. [Jill Wagner – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489978/bio/)
3. ["Lioness" Star/EP Jill Wagner Signs With CESD, Deadline via Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lioness-star-ep-jill-wagner-205214535.html)
4. [Jill Wagner – Actress, Host, Personality, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jill-wagner/)
5. [Jill Wagner Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jill_wagner)
6. [Jill Wagner Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jill-wagner/bio/3030095798/)
7. [Exclusive Interview: Jill Wagner on Blade: The Series, FlickDirect](https://flickdirect.com/news/4423/exclusive-interview-jill-wagner-on-blade-the-series/article.ashx)
8. [Jill Wagner – Great American Family](https://www.greatamericanfamily.com/tag/jill-wagner/)
9. [Jill Wagner's "Lioness" Toughness Meets Christmas Magic in Great American Family's Arctic Adventure, Woman's World](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/lioness-jill-wagner-brings-christmas-magic-to-great-american-family)
10. [Jill Wagner pitched Taylor Sheridan "Lioness" after military husband revealed real-life program, Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jill-wagner-pitched-taylor-sheridan-lioness-after-military-husband-revealed-real-life-program-what-know)
11. [Jill Wagner Reveals What It's Really Like Working With Taylor Sheridan on "Lioness", Woman's World](https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/jill-wagner-talks-taylor-sheridan-and-lioness-season-3-exclusive)
12. [How Jill Wagner's Bond With Taylor Sheridan Inspired Her "Lioness" Catchphrase, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1285408/)
13. ["Lioness" star Jill Wagner on Texas heat and where the cast hung out in Fort Worth, Star-Telegram via AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/lioness-star-jill-wagner-texas-160000000.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames U to We*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license