JoAnne Astrow | |
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| Born | June 24, 1938 [1] Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
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| Children | Claudia Lonow |
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JoAnne Astrow (born 1938) is an American actress, comedian, producer, and talent manager.
Astrow was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a Jewish family of Russian, Hungarian, and Austrian descent. [1] She wanted to become a performer at an early age. [1] Her brother, Herb, also acted growing up and then worked in the textile industry and owned a restaurant. [2]
Astrow began her career as an improv comedian and commercial actress in New York City. [1] [3] She and her husband, Mark Lonow, created the improv show Off the Wall with other actors including Henry Winkler. [4]
In 1976, Astrow and her family drove to Los Angeles for a vacation and then stayed there to pursue their careers. [3] Her friend Elayne Boosler encouraged her to begin doing stand-up comedy at a time when that was relatively rare for women. [5] [6] She became a successful touring comedian and appeared on shows including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . [7] [8] In 1979, she helped lead the strike at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood, which resulted in the club's owner, Mitzi Shore, beginning to pay performers at the venue. [9] However, Shore subsequently banned Astrow from performing at the Comedy Store. [10] After the strike, Astrow succeeded Tom Dreesen as the acting chair of Comedians for Compensation, the union that formed for the purposes of the strike. [11]
After retiring from stand-up, Astrow became a talent manager for comedians including Lewis Black, Kathleen Madigan, Niecy Nash, and Doug Stanhope. [1] [8] In 2007, she and her husband earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special as executive producers for Black's special Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed. [12] In 2012, they co-produced Black's one-man Broadway show Running on Empty. [13]
In 2017, Astrow and Lonow co-produced the off-Broadway play Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical . [14] Other production credits on Broadway included The Prom and A Christmas Carol . [15] They co-wrote the play Jews, Christians, and Screwing Stalin, inspired by Lonow's family, which premiered at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles in 2018. [16] In 2025, they acted in the dark comedy film D(e)ad , which was directed by her daughter, Claudia Lonow, and written by and starring her granddaughter, Isabella Roland. [17]
Astrow's first marriage was to David Rapaport, the father of actor Michael Rapaport. [1] They had a daughter, Claudia, who also became an actress and comedian. [1] Astrow met her second husband, Mark Lonow, while studying at the Herbert Berghof Studio. [3] The couple married on February 9, 1969. [1] [18] After becoming grandparents, they shared a household for many years with Claudia and their granddaughter, Isabella Roland. [8] The living arrangement inspired Claudia's show How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) , in which the grandmother is played by Elizabeth Perkins. [19]
Works cited