Christine Ebersole

Last updated

Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole and our new friend2.jpg
Ebersole on February 7, 2005
Born (1953-02-21) February 21, 1953 (age 70)
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1972–present
Spouses
    (m. 1976;div. 1981)
      Bill Moloney
      (m. 1988)
Children3
Ebersole performing in Broadway on Broadway, a free promotional concert for Broadway shows, 2006 Ebersole, Christine (2006).jpg
Ebersole performing in Broadway on Broadway , a free promotional concert for Broadway shows, 2006

Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens , winning two Tony Awards. She has co-starred on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son , in which she played Carol Walsh, and earned an Emmy Award nomination for her work in One Life to Live . She is also known for her recurring roles as Ms. Newberg on Royal Pains and White Diamond in the Steven Universe franchise. Since 2019, she has played the role of Dottie on Bob Hearts Abishola .

Contents

Early life

Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, the daughter of Marian Esther (née Goodley) and Robert "Bob" Ebersole. [1] [2] Her father was the president of a steel company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [3] She has Swiss-German and Irish ancestry. [4] Ebersole graduated from New Trier High School in 1971. She attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, [5] class of 1975, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. [6]

Career

She met Marc Shaiman when he was 19 and the musical director of her first club act. [7] She appeared in two different parts on Ryan's Hope in 1977 (as a nurse) and 1980 (as Lily Darnell), and was a cast member of Saturday Night Live during 1981–82, the first full season under new producer Dick Ebersol (their similar surnames being a coincidence), [8] acting as "Weekend Update" co-anchor with Brian Doyle-Murray and at times impersonating Mary Travers, Cheryl Tiegs, Barbara Mandrell, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Rona Barrett. [9] Following SNL, she appeared in One Life to Live as daffy Maxie McDermott (receiving an Emmy nomination) and Valerie . She co-starred with Barnard Hughes on the sitcom The Cavanaughs , played the title role in the short-lived sitcom Rachel Gunn, R.N. , and guest-starred on Will & Grace , Dolly! , Just Shoot Me , Murphy Brown , Ally McBeal , Samantha Who , Boston Legal , The Colbert Report , and Royal Pains . In 1991, she appeared as the titular Miss Jones in a pilot for an ABC series about a single mother, but the series was not taken up. [10]

She appeared in the 1993 television movie adaptation of Gypsy starring Bette Midler, and in the 2000 ABC-TV movie Mary and Rhoda starring Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper.

In 2011, she had a recurring role on the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35 . [11] In 2014, she played Carol Walsh on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son. She has a recurring role on the USA Network television show Royal Pains as Ms. Newberg. [12] [13]

Ebersole's films have included Tootsie (1982), Amadeus (1984), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Mac and Me (1988), My Girl 2 (1994), Richie Rich (1994), Black Sheep (1996), and My Favorite Martian (1999).

Ebersole has found considerable success on stage. She appeared in Going Hollywood, a musical by David Zippel and Jeremy Shaeffer. She was in the chorus in 1983 with Jerry Mitchell. They were both excited about the possibility of going to Broadway but never made it. [7] She was featured in Paper Moon by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh and Carol Hall, which ran at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) in September 1993. [14] Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Three Sisters and Talking Heads , and her Broadway credits include On the Twentieth Century , the 1979 revival of Oklahoma! (as Ado Annie), the 1980 revival of Camelot and the 2000 revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man .

In 2001, she appeared in the Broadway revival of 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock, for which she won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, [15] She next appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival of Dinner at Eight as Millicent Jordan for which she was nominated for the Tony Award, Featured Actress in a Play. [16] In 2005 she played M'Lynn in the Broadway production of Steel Magnolias . [17]

In 2006, Ebersole took the dual roles of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") in Grey Gardens , a musical based upon the film of the same name. After a sold-out off-Broadway run, Ebersole remained with the roles when the production moved to Broadway in November 2006, and remained with the show through its closing in July 2007. For this role, she won her second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. [18] She appeared as Elvira in the 2009 Broadway revival of the Noël Coward comedy Blithe Spirit . [19]

She appeared in the new musical War Paint , which premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago on June 28, 2016, for a run through August 2016. The show began previews at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway on March 7, 2017, and opened on April 6, 2017. It closed on November 5, 2017. She played the role of Elizabeth Arden, opposite Patti LuPone as Helena Rubinstein. The musical had a book by Doug Wright with the music composed by Scott Frankel (music) and Michael Korie (lyrics). [20] [21]

Concerts

Ebersole appears in concerts and cabaret engagements at venues such as the Cinegrill and Cafe Carlyle. She won the 2010 Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement for her 2009 Café Carlyle cabaret. [22] In 2009 she performed with Michael Feinstein at his club, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, (New York City) in a cabaret titled "Good Friends". [23] She was one of the performers on the Playbill Cruise in September 2011. [24] In November 2011, she performed for two sold-out nights at Birdland in New York City with jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein and his trio. [25]

In 2015, Ebersole toured her show Big Noise from Winnetka, which included the 1938 jazz song Big Noise from Winnetka and a stop in Illinois. [26]

Recording

She also has appeared on several albums. She was featured on the Bright Lights, Big City concept album. [7] She also released an album of Noël Coward songs after browsing through them for scene change music for Blithe Spirit. [27] She is also the voice actress for White Diamond on the popular show Steven Universe .

In 2012, Christine Ebersole appeared on InfoWars' The Alex Jones Show, expressing her misgivings about the Federal Reserve System and the Council on Foreign Relations. [28]

Personal life

Ebersole has been married twice, to actor Peter Bergman from 1976 through 1981, and since 1988 to Bill Moloney, with whom she has adopted three children. [29] She lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with her family. [30]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982 Tootsie Linda
1984 Amadeus Caterina Cavalieri
1984 Thief of Hearts Janie Pointer
1988 Mac and Me Janet Cruise
1990 Ghost Dad Carol
1991 Dead Again Lydia Larsen
1992 Folks! Arlene Aldrich
1992The Lounge PeopleCynthia Lewis
1994 My Girl 2 Rose Zsigmond
1994 Richie Rich Regina Rich
1996 Black Sheep Governor Evelyn Tracy
1996 Pie in the Sky Mom Dunlap
1997 'Til There Was You Beebee Moss
1999 My Favorite Martian Mrs. Brown
1999 True Crime Bridget Rossiter
2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic TV show host
2010 The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie Bossom Buddies Singer
2013 The Big Wedding Muffin
2013 The Wolf of Wall Street Leah Belfort
2019 Steven Universe: The Movie White DiamondVoice role
2019 Driveways Linda
2021 Licorice Pizza Lucille Doolittle

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1977–80 Ryan's Hope Lily Darnell 12 episodes
1981–82 Saturday Night Live Various20 episodes
1982 Love, Sidney Nurse LoringEpisode: "The Accident"
1983–85 One Life to Live Maxie McDermottUnknown episodes
1984 The Dollmaker Miss VashinskiTelevision movie
1986 Valerie Barbara Goodwin6 episodes
1986Acceptable RisksLee SnyderTelevision movie
1986-89 The Cavanaughs Kit Cavanaugh26 episodes
1990 American Dreamer Kathleen2 episodes
1990 Murphy Brown MaddyEpisode: "The Bummer of 42"
1991 Empty Nest LauraEpisode: "All About Harry"
1992 Rachel Gunn, R.N. Rachel Gunn13 episodes
1993Dying to Love YouCheryl NewTelevision movie
1993 Gypsy Tessie TuraTelevision movie
1996 Hey Arnold! Lana VailVoice role; Episode: "Heat/Snow"
1998 Ally McBeal Marie StokesEpisode: "Just Looking"
1996An Unexpected FamilyRuth WhitneyTelevision movie
1998 Just Shoot Me! Margo LanghorneEpisode: "How Nina Got Her Groove Back"
1999 Double Platinum PeggyTelevision movie
2000 Mary and Rhoda Cecile AndrewsTelevision movie
2001 Will & Grace Candy PruittEpisode: "Poker? I Don't Even Like Her"
2003 The Electric Piper Pat DixonVoice role; Television movie
2003 An Unexpected Love SandyTelevision movie
2004 Crossing Jordan Mrs. MaguireEpisode: "Fire in the Sky"
2005–06 Related Renee10 episodes
2008 Cashmere Mafia Lily Parrish2 episodes
2008 Boston Legal Sunny FieldsEpisode: "Indecent Proposals"
2008 Lipstick Jungle MaureenEpisode: "Chapter Fifteen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Prada"
2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Hilary RegnierEpisode: "Smut"
2009 Samantha Who? AmyEpisode: "The Sister"
2009–16 Royal Pains Ms. Newbergrecurring
2010 Ugly Betty FrancesEpisode: "The Passion of the Betty"
2011 Retired at 35 Susan4 episodes
2012–14 Sullivan & Son Carol Walsh33 episodes
2013 American Horror Story: Coven Anna-Lee Leighton 2 episodes
2015 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt HeleneEpisode "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!"
2015 Madam Secretary First Lady Lydia DaltonEpisode "Waiting For Taleju"
2016 Crisis in Six Scenes EveEpisode: "Episode 6"
2016 Search Party Mariel2 episodes
2018 Pose BobbiEpisode: "Giving and Receiving"
2018–2019 Steven Universe White DiamondVoice role; 3 episodes
2018–2019 Blue Bloods Lena Janko3 episodes
2019–present Bob Hearts Abishola Dorothy "Dottie" WheelerMain role
2020 Steven Universe Future White DiamondVoice role, 2 episodes
2021 The Kominsky Method Estelle2 episodes, Season 3

Theatre

YearTitleRoleVenueRef.
1975–76 Angel Street Nancy (Replacement) Lyceum Theatre [31]
1978–79 On the 20th Century Agnes (Understudy) St. James Theatre
1979–80 Oklahoma! Ado Annie Palace Theatre
1980 Camelot Guenevere New York State Theatre
1985 Harrigan 'N Hart Greta Granville Longacre Theatre
1996 Getting Away with Murder Dossie Lustig Broadhurst Theatre
2000 Gore Vidal's The Best Man Mabel Cantwell Virginia Theatre
2001–02 42nd Street Dorothy Brock Ford Center for the Performing Arts
2002–03 Dinner at Eight Millicent Jordan Vivian Beaumont Theatre
2005 Steel Magnolias M'Lynn Lyceum Theatre
2006–07 Grey Gardens Little Edie Beale Walter Kerr Theatre
2009 Blithe Spirit Elvira Shubert Theatre
2017 War Paint Elizabeth Arden Nederlander Theatre

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernadette Peters</span> American actress and singer (born 1948)

Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released recordings. She is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received seven nominations for Tony Awards, winning two, and nine Drama Desk Award nominations, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patti LuPone</span> American actress and singer

Patti Ann LuPone is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. After starting her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972 she soon gained acclaim for her leading performances on the Broadway and West End stage. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Grey</span> American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer (born 1932)

Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway as well as in the 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Finneran</span> American actress

Katie Finneran is an American actress best known for her Tony Award-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises in 2010.

Faith Prince is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on Broadway in musical theatre. She won the Tony Award as Best Actress in Guys and Dolls in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audra McDonald</span> American actress and singer

Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as A Moon for the Misbegotten, 110 in the Shade, Carousel, Ragtime, Master Class, and Porgy and Bess. In addition to her six Tony Awards she's received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 2016 from President Barack Obama and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton Foster</span> American actress and singer (born 1975)

Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, and The Music Man. On television, Foster played the lead role in the short-lived ABC Family comedy-drama Bunheads from 2012 to 2013. From 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Clark</span> American musical theatre actress (born 1959)

Victoria Clark is an American actress, musical theatre singer and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her soprano voice can also be heard on innumerable cast albums and several animated films. In 2008, she released her first solo album titled Fifteen Seconds of Grace. In 2005, she won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role in The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for her performances in the same show.

Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018), which earned her a Tony Award. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelli O'Hara</span> American actress and singer (born 1976)

Kelli Christine O'Hara is an American actress and singer, most known for her work on the Broadway and opera stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carole Shelley</span> English actress (1939–2018)

Carole Augusta Shelley was an English-American actress who made her career in the United States and United Kingdom. Her many stage roles included Gwendolyn Pigeon in The Odd Couple and Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of the musical Wicked. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Elephant Man in 1979.

Marin Joy Mazzie was an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Maxwell</span> American actress

Janice Elaine Maxwell was an American stage and television actress. She was a five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk Award winner. In a career spanning over thirty years, Maxwell was one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed stage actresses of her time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Benanti</span> American actress and singer

Laura Ilene Benanti is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, winning the 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Benanti then appeared in the Broadway musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2010, winning the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She played Elsa Schräder in the 2013 NBC television production of The Sound of Music Live! and, in 2015, began playing twin sisters Alura and Astra in the TV series Supergirl. Benanti appeared as Edie Randall in the TBS comedy The Detour from 2017 until the show's cancellation in 2019. Since 2016, she has had a recurring role as First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dossett</span> American actor and singer

John Dossett is an American actor and singer.

Tammy Blanchard is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as teenage Judy Garland in the critically acclaimed television film Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a Primetime Emmy Award. Her other notable film roles were in The Good Shepherd (2006), Sybil (2007), Into the Woods (2014) and The Invitation (2015).

Christine Pedi born in 1961-1962, is an American television and theatre actress, as well as a cabaret performer and radio personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Leavel</span> American actress

Beth Leavel is a Tony Award-winning American stage and screen actress and singer.

Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American stage actor and singer. She has played leading roles in such Broadway productions as Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patina Miller</span> American actress and singer (born 1984)

Patina Renea Miller is an American actress and singer. Miller's breakout role was as originating the role of disco diva wannabe Deloris Van Cartier in the 2009 West End and 2011 Broadway productions of Sister Act for which she earned a Laurence Olivier Award and Tony Award nominations respectively. She also starred as the Leading Player in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She later returned to Broadway to star as the Witch in the 2022 Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods.

References

  1. Zwecker, Bill (February 16, 1997). "Good 'Ink'". Chicago Sun-Times .
  2. Penn State Alumni Directory . Penn State Alumni Association. 1998. p. 291 via Google Books.
  3. Witchel, Alex (June 3, 2007). "Between a Mother and a Daughter". The New York Times .
  4. "Ebersole Hoping A Bit O'luck Falls On 'Cavanaughs'". Chicago Tribune . August 21, 1988.
  5. LeVasseur, Andrea."Christine Ebersole biography" The New York Times (Rovi), accessed November 27, 2011
  6. Timberg, Scott."Influences: Actress and singer Christine Ebersole" Los Angeles Times (latimesblogs), October 26, 2011
  7. 1 2 3 Cerasaro, Pat."InDepth InterView: Christine Ebersole" broadwayworld.com, October 22, 2010
  8. Hamlin, Jesse."Christine Ebersole wraps up S.F. cabaret" San Francisco Chronicle , April 22, 2010
  9. Gus Wezerek (December 14, 2019). "The 'S.N.L.' Stars Who Lasted, and the Ones Who Flamed Out". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019. Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
  10. Prouty, Howard H. (1994). "Miss Jones" (Fri. (12), 9:30-10 p.m., ABC-TV). Variety TV Reviews 1991-92. Vol. 17. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-0824037963. It would be difficult to cram any more stereotypes into the premise of this ... Christine Ebersole is engagingly daffy, but strong-willed as Jones, turning in a far more successful performance acting than she does belting out the blah theme song"
  11. Gans, Andrew. "New Comedy "Retired at 35", With Christine Ebersole, George Segal, Jessica Walter, Debuts Jan. 19" Archived 2011-02-22 at the Wayback Machine Playbill , January 19, 2011
  12. Gans, Andrew. ""Royal Pains" TV Series, with Tony Winner Ebersole, Debuts June 4" Playbill, June 4, 2009
  13. Abrams, Natalie. "First Look: NBA star Muggsy Bogues cameos on 'Royal Pains'" Entertainment Weekly , May 28, 2015
  14. Klein, Alvin."THEATER; 'Paper Moon' Changes Its Outlook as a Musical" The New York Times, September 26, 1993
  15. Jones, Kenneth and Simonson, Robert. "Tony-Winner Ebersole Returns to '42nd Street' March 12" Playbill, March 12, 2002
  16. Gans, Andrew."Christine Ebersole Surprised By 2003 Tony Nomination" Archived January 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 17, 2003
  17. Jones, Kenneth. "Still Teasing: 'Steel Magnolias' Plays Its 100th Performance June 30" Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, June 30, 2005
  18. Gans, Andrew, and Jones, Kenneth."'Grey Gardens 'Will Close on Broadway July 29" Archived 2011-11-03 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, July 2, 2007
  19. Gans, Andrew."'Blithe Spirit' Revival, with Lansbury, Ebersole and Everett, Opens on Broadway March 15" Archived 2013-12-11 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, March 15, 2009
  20. Gans, Andrew. "Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole Apply 'War Paint', Starting Tonight" Playbill, June 28, 2016
  21. Gans, Andrew. "Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole Apply 'War Paint' on Broadway, Starting March 7" Playbill, March 7, 2017
  22. Gans, Andrew. "Tony Winner Christine Ebersole Begins Carlyle Engagement Jan. 11" Archived 2011-01-12 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, January 11, 2011
  23. Holden, Stephen. "Channeling a Chummier Time, in Tandem" The New York Times, September 11, 2009
  24. Rudetsky, Seth. "Onstage & Backstage: A Playbill Cruise With Christine Ebersole, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Andrea Martin and Debra Monk" Archived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, Sep 26, 2011
  25. Gans, Andrew. "Christine Ebersole Will Offer Strings Attached Concerts at Birdland" Playbill, November 22, 2011
  26. DeVore, Sheryl (October 20, 2015). "Christine Ebersole returns to roots with 'Big Noise from Winnetka'". Chicago Tribune.
  27. Jones, Kenneth. "Someday I'll Find You": Ebersole Will Record Blithe Spirit Interlude Songs for CD" Playbill, March 31, 2009
  28. InfoWars, April 7, 2012.
  29. Drexel, Paul. "Night and Day" New Jersey Monthly , December 19, 2007
  30. La Gorce, Tammy (October 14, 2007). "For Future Teachers, a New Look on the Runway". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
  31. "Christine Ebersole – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
Media offices
Preceded by
Brian Doyle-Murray as solo anchor
Weekend Update anchor
with Brian Doyle-Murray

1982
Succeeded by