Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is the stage name of
Bernadette Lazzara (born
February 28,
1948 in
Ozone Park,
Queens,
New York City), an
actress and
singer.
Ms. Peters' mother, Marguerite, started her off in show business by putting her on the television show
Juvenile Jury at the age of three-and-a-half. She later appeared on
Name That Tune and
The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. She took tap lessons, and at the age of nine got her
Equity Card, under the name of Bernadette Peters, to avoid ethnic stereotyping. The stage name was taken from her father's first name.
In her teen years she appeared in
The Most Happy Fella (1959), was an understudy for
Dainty June in the touring company of
Gypsy, and was in
The Penny Friend (1966) and
The Girl In The Freudian Slip (1967).
She first attracted critical notice in the Off-Broadway spoof of 1930s musicals,
Dames at Sea, for which she received a
Drama Desk Award as an Outstanding Performer, 1968-1969.
In films she is remembered mainly for the 1979 comedy classic
The Jerk co-starring
Steve Martin, whom she briefly dated. She won the
Golden Globe Award as Best Motion Picture Actress - Comedy/Musical for her role as "Eileen" in the 1981 movie "Pennies From Heaven", again co-starring with Steve Martin. In theatre, she has come to be associated with
Stephen Sondheim's work, appearing in his
Sunday in the Park with George,
Into the Woods, and, in 2003, returning to
Gypsy as
Mama Rose (the role made legendary by
Ethel Merman).
She has won a
Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical twice: 1985 for
Song and Dance and 1999 for a revival of
Annie Get Your Gun opposite
Tom Wopat.
However, she was nominated several times:
Mack and Mabel (1975),
Sunday in the Park with George (1984),
The Goodbye Girl (1993), and
Gypsy (2003), as well as 1972 as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for
On the Town. She was also nominated for the
Drama Desk Award for her work as the Witch in "Into the Woods". In 1994, she earned the
Sarah Siddons Award for dramatic achievement in
Chicago theatre.
In 1985 in an otherwise negative review of
Song and Dance, critic
Frank Rich remarked that "she has no peer in the musical theater right now." (New York Times, September 19, 1985) The difficult-to-please
John Simon also raved about her performance in that show.
She is frequently named one of the greatest current living musical theater divas alongside
Angela Lansbury,
Patti LuPone and the late Mary Martin.
In April 1987 she received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, located in Hollywood, California. She was inducted into the
Theater Hall of Fame for 1995, in a ceremony at the Gershwin Theatre, New York, becoming the youngest person so honored.
Bernadette Peters was married to Michael Wittenberg, who died, at age 43, on
September 26,
2005 in a
helicopter crash in
Montenegro. Wittenberg and Peters had been wed on July 20, 1996 at the bucolic upstate New York home of
Mary Tyler Moore, a longtime friend of Peters.
Ms. Peters has been performing her one-woman concert around the United States and Canada for many years. She made her solo concert debut at
Carnegie Hall in New York City on December 9, 1996; on Sept. 17, 1998 at the
Royal Festival Hall, London; on June 19, 2002 at
Radio City Music Hall in New York City; and at
Lincoln Center(Avery Fisher Hall), New York, on May 1, 2006.
She is also a good friend of
Carol Burnett and has made guest appearances on all of Burnett's television series.
Peters most recently guest starred on the penultimate episode of
NBC's
Will & Grace as the sharp-tongued sister of
Karen Walker (
Megan Mullally), which aired on
May 11,
2006. She previously guest-starred on the Fox series
Ally McBeal in 2001 and received an Emmy nomination for her work.
* "
Bernadette" (1980)
* "
Now Playing" (1981)
* "Bernadette" (a compilation of the first 2 recordings-1992)
* "
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (1996)
* "
Sondheim, Etc., Bernadette Peters At Carnegie Hall" (1997)
* "
Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein" (2002)
* "
Sondheim Etc., Etc., Live At Carnegie Hall:The Rest of It" (2005)
*
Dames at Sea (1967)
* "Sally and Marsha" (1982)
The Most Happy Fella (1959)
The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967)
Johnny No-Trump (1967)
George M! (1968)
La Strada (1969)
On the Town (1971) (revival)
Mack & Mabel (1974)
Sunday in the Park with George (1984)
Song and Dance (1985)
Into the Woods (1987)
The Goodbye Girl (1993)
Sunday in the Park with George (1994) (benefit concert)
Into the Woods (1997) (benefit concert)
Annie Get Your Gun (1999) (revival)
Gypsy (2003) (revival)
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973)
The Longest Yard (1974)
Silent Movie (1976)
W.C. Fields and Me (1976)
Vigilante Force (1976)
The Jerk (1979)
Tulips (1981)
Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Heartbeeps (1981)
Annie (1982)
Slaves of New York (1989)
Pink Cadillac (1989)
Alice (1990)
Impromptu (1991)
Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) (voice)
Anastasia (1997) (voice)
Cinderella (1997)
Let It Snow (1999)
The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002) (documentary)
It Runs in the Family (2003)
The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003) (voice)
George M! (1970)
Once Upon a Mattress (1972)
Paradise Lost (1974)
All's Fair (1976 - 1977)
The Muppet Show (1977)
The Islander (1978)
The Martian Chronicles (1980) (miniseries)
Sunday in the Park with George (1986)
David (1988)
Fall from Grace (1990)
The Last Best Year (1990)
Into the Woods (1991)
The Carol Burnett Show (1991) (canceled after 2 months)
The Last Mile (1992)
Animaniacs (1993 - 1998) (voice)
The Odyssey (1997)
Cinderella (1997)
What the Deaf Man Heard (1997)
Holiday in Your Heart (1997)
The Closer (
1998) (canceled after 10 episodes)
Prince Charming (2001)
Bobbie's Girl (2002)
Adopted (2005) (TV pilot for ABC that was not picked up)
Will & Grace (2006)
*
*
Official site for Bernadette Peters*
Her Stage Mother, Herself,
The New York Times, April 27, 2003 - profile by Jesse Green on Peters, her mother, and
Gypsy*
Bernadette Peters - Broadway's Best, A fan website to keep you up to date on Bernadette Peters.
