Christine Ebersole

Christine Ebersole
Ebersole on February 7, 2005
Born	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	MacMurray College (1975) American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, comedian
Years active	1972–present
Spouses	Peter Bergman ​ ​ (m. 1976;div. 1981)​ Bill Moloney ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	3

Christine Ebersole is an American actress, singer and comedian. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She has received two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Ebersole made her Broadway debut in the play Angel Street (1975). She won two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for playing a prima donna in the musical revival 42nd Street (2001) and for her dual roles as Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale in the original musical Grey Gardens (2006). She was Tony-nominated for playing a society matron in Dinner at Eight (2003), and Elizabeth Arden in War Paint (2017).

On film, she made her film debut with a minor role as an actress the romantic comedy Tootsie (1982) before portraying Caterina Cavalieri in Academy Award-winning period biographical drama film Amadeus (1984). She has also acted in films such as Mac and Me (1988), Dead Again (1991), Black Sheep (1996), True Crime (1999), The Big Wedding (2013), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Licorice Pizza (2021).

On television, she got her start on the soap opera Ryan's Hope (1977–1980) and as a cast member of Saturday Night Live (1981–1982). She earned an Emmy Award nomination for her work in One Life to Live . She has co-starred on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son (2012–2014), the comedy-drama Royal Pains , the animated series Steven Universe (2018–2019), and the CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola (2019–2024)

Early life, family and education

Ebersole was born outside of Chicago 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

Ebersole in a Saturday Night Live promotional photo, 1981

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).

Ebersole 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. Among her impersonations were 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 film adaptation of Gypsy starring Bette Midler, and in the 2000 ABC-TV film 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).

Stage career

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]

Ebersole performing in Broadway on Broadway , a free promotional concert for Broadway shows, 2006

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 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 also voiced White Diamond in Steven Universe .

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. ^[28] She lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with her family. ^[29]

Ebersole claims to have experienced psychic phenomena. ^[30] In 2012, Ebersole appeared on InfoWars' radio program The Alex Jones Show, expressing her misgivings about the Federal Reserve System and the Council on Foreign Relations. ^[31] She has professed belief in the conspiracy theory that the September 11 attacks were carried out by the United States government. ^{[30] [32]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
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
1992	The Lounge People	Cynthia 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 Diamond	Voice role
2019	Driveways	Linda
2021	Licorice Pizza	Lucille Doolittle

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977–80	Ryan's Hope	Lily Darnell	12 episodes
1981–82	Saturday Night Live	Various	20 episodes
1982	Love, Sidney	Nurse Loring	Episode: "The Accident"
1983–85	One Life to Live	Maxie McDermott	Unknown episodes
1984	The Dollmaker	Miss Vashinski	Television film
1986	Valerie	Barbara Goodwin	6 episodes
1986	Acceptable Risks	Lee Snyder	Television film
1986-89	The Cavanaughs	Kit Cavanaugh	26 episodes
1990	American Dreamer	Kathleen	2 episodes
1990	Murphy Brown	Maddy	Episode: "The Bummer of 42"
1991	Empty Nest	Laura	Episode: "All About Harry"
1992	Rachel Gunn, R.N.	Rachel Gunn	13 episodes
1993	Dying to Love You	Cheryl New	Television film
1993	Gypsy	Tessie Tura	Television film
1996	Hey Arnold!	Lana Vail	Voice, episode: "Heat/Snow"
1998	Ally McBeal	Marie Stokes	Episode: "Just Looking"
1996	An Unexpected Family	Ruth Whitney	Television film
1998	Just Shoot Me!	Margo Langhorne	Episode: "How Nina Got Her Groove Back"
1999	Double Platinum	Peggy	Television film
2000	Mary and Rhoda	Cecile Andrews	Television film
2001	Will & Grace	Candy Pruitt	Episode: "Poker? I Don't Even Like Her"
2003	The Electric Piper	Pat Dixon	Voice, television film
2003	An Unexpected Love	Sandy	Television film
2004	Crossing Jordan	Mrs. Maguire	Episode: "Fire in the Sky"
2005–06	Related	Renee	10 episodes
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Lily Parrish	2 episodes
2008	Boston Legal	Sunny Fields	Episode: "Indecent Proposals"
2008	Lipstick Jungle	Maureen	Chapter Fifteen: "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Prada"
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Hilary Regnier	Episode: "Smut"
2009	Samantha Who?	Amy	Episode: "The Sister"
2009–16	Royal Pains	Ms. Newberg	14 episodes
2010	Ugly Betty	Frances	Episode: "The Passion of the Betty"
2011	Retired at 35	Susan	4 episodes
2012–14	Sullivan & Son	Carol Walsh	33 episodes
2013	American Horror Story: Coven	Anna-Lee Leighton	2 episodes
2015	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Helene	Episode "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!"
2015-2018	Madam Secretary	First Lady Lydia Dalton	4 episodes
2016	Crisis in Six Scenes	Eve	Episode: "Episode 6"
2016	Search Party	Mariel	2 episodes
2018	Pose	Bobbi	Episode: "Giving and Receiving"
2018–2019	Steven Universe	White Diamond	Voice, 3 episodes
2018–2019	Blue Bloods	Lena Janko	3 episodes
2019–2024	Bob Hearts Abishola	Dorothy "Dottie" Wheeler	Main role
2020	Steven Universe Future	White Diamond	Voice, 2 episodes
2021	The Kominsky Method	Estelle	2 episodes, Season 3
2024	Accused	Debra	Episode: "Margot's Story"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role(s)	Venue	Ref.
1975–76	Angel Street	Nancy (Replacement)	Lyceum Theatre	[33]
1978–79	On the 20th Century	Agnes (Understudy)	St. James Theatre
1979–80	Oklahoma!	Ado Annie	Palace Theatre
1980-81	Camelot	Guenevere	New York State Theatre
1985	Harrigan 'N Hart	Greta Granville	Longacre Theatre
1993	Paper Moon	Trixie Delight	Paper Mill Playhouse	[34]
1994	Allegro	Emily	New York City Center	[35]
1994	Lady in the Dark	Liza Elliott	New York City Center	[36]
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Dossie Lustig	Broadhurst Theatre	[33]
1999	Ziegfeld Follies of 1936	performer	New York City Center	[37]
1999	Mame	Mame Dennis	Paper Mill Playhouse	[38]
2000	Current Events	Diana	Manhattan Theatre Club	[39]
2000	Gore Vidal's The Best Man	Mabel Cantwell	Virginia Theatre	[33]
2000	A Connecticut Yankee	Morgan LeFay	New York City Center	[40]
2001–02	42nd Street	Dorothy Brock	Ford Center for the Performing Arts	[33]
2002–03	Dinner at Eight	Millicent Jordan	Vivian Beaumont Theatre
2003	Talking Heads	Irene Ruddock	Minetta Lane Theatre	[41]
2005	Steel Magnolias	M'Lynn	Lyceum Theatre	[33]
2006–07	Grey Gardens	Edith Bouvier Beale Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale	Playwrights Horizons Walter Kerr Theatre	[42]
2008	Applause	Margo Channing	New York City Center	[43]
2009	Blithe Spirit	Elvira	Shubert Theatre	[33]
2014	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	Masha	Mark Taper Forum	[44]
2015	Ever After	Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent	Paper Mill Playhouse	[45]
2016	War Paint	Elizabeth Arden	Goodman Theatre	[46]
2017			Nederlander Theatre	[33]

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
Daytime Emmy Award	1984	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	One Life to Live	Nominated
Tony Awards	2001	Best Actress in a Musical	42nd Street	Won
	2003	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Dinner at Eight	Nominated
	2007	Best Actress in a Musical	Grey Gardens	Won
	2017		War Paint	Nominated
Drama Desk Awards	2001	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	42nd Street	Nominated
	2003	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	Talking Heads	Nominated
	2006	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Grey Gardens	Won
	2017		War Paint	Nominated
Drama League Award	2006	Outstanding Distinguished Performance	Grey Gardens	Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle	2006	Special Citation	Grey Gardens	Honored	[47]
Outer Critics Circle	2001	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	42nd Street	Won
	2003	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Dinner at Eight	Nominated
	2006	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Grey Gardens	Won
	2017		War Paint	Nominated

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. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
6. Timberg, Scott (October 26, 2011). "Influences: Actress and singer Christine Ebersole" (blog). Los Angeles Times .
7. Cerasaro, Pat (October 22, 2010). "InDepth InterView: Christine Ebersole". broadwayworld.com (Interview).
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 (January 19, 2011). "New Comedy 'Retired at 35', With Christine Ebersole, George Segal, Jessica Walter, Debuts Jan. 19". Playbill . Archived from the original on February 22, 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 (September 26, 1993). "THEATER; 'Paper Moon' Changes Its Outlook as a Musical". The New York Times.
15. Jones, Kenneth and Simonson, Robert. "Tony-Winner Ebersole Returns to '42nd Street' March 12" Playbill, March 12, 2002
16. Gans, Andrew (May 17, 2003). "Christine Ebersole Surprised By 2003 Tony Nomination". playbill.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
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. Drexel, Paul. "Night and Day" New Jersey Monthly , December 19, 2007
29. La Gorce, Tammy (October 14, 2007). "For Future Teachers, a New Look on the Runway". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
30. Witchel, Alex (June 3, 2007). "Between a Mother and a Daughter". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
31. Ebersole, Christine (April 7, 2012). "The Alex Jones Show_Actress Singer Christine Ebersole pt1" (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Jones. InfoWarsReserve. Retrieved May 5, 2024– via YouTube.
32. "Actress Singer Christine Ebersole Pt2". The Alex Jones Show. April 8, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2023. What I said to him was, 'All of my politics are shaped by 9/11.That's how my politics are shaped.' He said, 'Well, what do you mean, you think it's some kind of like vast Muslim conspiracy?' I said, 'No, no, darling. The terrorists are homegrown. They're right here, at the highest levels of government.' … [When] they tell you that two buildings, 210-story steel buildings, fell in ten seconds on their own footprint after burning for 45 minutes because of jet fuel—no. I don't think that's the truth.
33. "Christine Ebersole – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
34. Daniels, Robert L. (September 27, 1993). "Paper Moon". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
35. Holden, Stephen (March 5, 1994). "Review/Theater: Allegro; Revival of a Famous Pair's First Flop". New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
36. Holden, Stephen (May 6, 1994). "Review/Theater; Fashion, Freud And Frigidity, With 40's Fizz". New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
37. Marks, Peter (March 27, 1999). "THEATER REVIEW; No-Frills 'Follies' Still Has Songs and Legs". New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
38. Lyons, Donald (September 15, 1999). "THIS 'MAME' IS LAME". New York Post. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
39. Isherwood, Charles (June 14, 2000). "Current Events". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
40. Isherwood, Charles (February 11, 2001). "A Connecticut Yankee". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
41. Brantley, Ben (April 7, 2003). "THEATER REVIEW; Life a Bit of a Mess? Just Carry On, Dear". New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
42. McCarter, Jeremy (November 2, 2006). "The East Hampton Star". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
43. Brantley, Ben (February 9, 2008). "An Indomitable Diva Played by, Well, an ..." New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
44. Meisel, Myron. "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike: Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. No. 13 February 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
45. Isherwood, Charles (June 1, 2015). "Review: 'Ever After,' a Slipperless Cinderella Tale, at the Paper Mill Playhouse". New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
46. Oxman, Steven (July 19, 2016). "Chicago Theater Review: 'War Paint' Starring Patti LuPone, Christine Ebersole". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
47. "New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards Past Winners". New York Drama Critics' Circle. Retrieved January 31, 2025.

External links

• Official website
• Christine Ebersole at IMDb
• Christine Ebersole at the Internet Broadway Database
• Christine Ebersole at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Production: Grey Gardens Working in the Theatre by the American Theatre Wing, November 2006
• Performance Working in the Theatre video from the American Theatre Wing, September 2001
• Star File: Christine Ebersole at Broadway.com
• Interview with Christine Ebersole, TonyAwards.com
• interview with Christine Ebersole, BroadwayWorld.com, August 16, 2007

Media offices
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