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Karen Lynn Gorney | |
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 Gorney and Richard Hatch in All My Children, January 1970 | |
| Born | 1945or1946(age 77–78) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Parent |
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Karen Lynn Gorney (born 1945or1946) [1] is an American actress who had roles in television shows and films including the soap opera All My Children and the movie Saturday Night Fever .
Born in Los Angeles and raised in New York City, Gorney was one of three children of Jay Gorney, [2] the Polish-born composer who wrote the music for the song about America's Great Depression, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" [1] Her family is Jewish. [3] She attended the High School of Performing Arts [2] and then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Fine Arts from Brandeis University. [1] Karen is the sister of Daniel Gorney, and half-sister of author, professor, and physician Roderic Gorney, who has taught for many years at UCLA. [4]
Gorney made her film debut as a teenage resident of a mental health treatment center in David and Lisa (1962). Her next work on the big screen came in 1970 with the film The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart . From 1970 to 1974, Gorney played the role of Tara Martin on the soap opera All My Children . [1] After she left the show, Gorney had agreed to return when her replacement, actress/writer Stephanie Braxton, decided to leave the show. She returned for the 1976–1977 season but was eventually fired as Tara and did not return to the show until almost 20 years later.
In 1977, Gorney co-starred in her third film, and biggest role to date, as Stephanie Mangano in Saturday Night Fever , alongside John Travolta. [1] The next year, she appeared as a celebrity panelist on Hollywood Squares .
After a lengthy gap, during which she managed an art gallery in Manhattan, New York, Gorney eventually returned to acting in the early 1990s, appearing in small roles in such films as The Hard Way (1991), Ripe (1996), and Creating Karma (2006), and returning to All My Children during 1995 in cameo spots. More recently, she has guest-starred in a number of TV shows, including Law & Order , The Sopranos , and Six Degrees , as well as doing independent films and off-Broadway shows.
Due to her connection with disco music, and her popular role in Saturday Night Fever, she has been featured on a number of disco documentaries and specials, including Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion , which she co-hosted with Saturday Night Fever choreographer Deney Terrio for PBS. During the show, Gorney and Terrio dance to Bee Gees' hit single "More Than a Woman" as she did with co-star John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever back in 1977. She appeared on VH1's When Disco Ruled the World and was interviewed for the disco video documentary Disco: Spinning the Story. In 1997, Gorney had an uncredited role as an announcer in the film 'Men in Black.'
She appeared in the UK on ITV1's lunchtime programme Loose Women (a topical debate programme from a woman's perspective) on 28 September 2007, helping to promote the 30th anniversary of the launch of the film Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees's new Greatest Hits album.
She was featured in the role of the Judge in the 2008 independent feature film Dear J .
Gorney is a long-time resident of New York City. In 2008, she appeared in the stage production Monsterface at the Irish Rep Theater. [5] In October 2010, Gorney performed the role of "Belaria" in Frog and Peach Theatre Company's production of Cymbeline at the West End Theatre, in Manhattan, New York. [6]
In 2016, she appeared as Eshter in theater play From Silence by Anne Marilyn Lucas, it narrates the stories of Holocaust survivors and their families. [7]
Along with her acting work, Gorney is a singer and has released three albums: Used to Love You Madly, Hot Moonlight!, and The Dance of the Deadly's. She has performed at various jazz clubs and cafes.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2021) |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | David and Lisa | Josette | |
| 1970 | The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart | Alicia | Uncredited |
| 1977 | Saturday Night Fever | Stephanie Mangano | |
| 1991 | The Hard Way | Woman in Subway | |
| 1996 | Ripe | Janet Wyman | |
| 1997 | Men in Black | Announcer | Uncredited |
| Year | Serial | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-1976 | All My Children | Tara Martin | ||
| 1992-98 | Law & Order | Iris Corman / Monk | Episodes: "Cradle to Grave" & "Grief" | |
| 2000 | Saturday Night Live | The Elvis Apostle | Episode: "Jackie Chan/Kid Rock" (Uncredited) | |
| 2006 | The Sopranos | Judy | Episode: "Moe n' Joe" | |
| Six Degrees | Waitress | Episode: "A New Light" |
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Used to Love You Madly |
| 2005 | Hot Moonlight |
| 2008 | The Dance of the Deadly's |
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor. Travolta began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a BAFTA Award.
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment in his working-class ethnic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The story is based on "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", a mostly fictional 1976 article by music writer Nik Cohn.
Grease is a 1978 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser from a screenplay by Bronté Woodard and an adaptation by co-producer Allan Carr, based on the stage musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The film depicts the lives of greaser Danny Zuko and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson, who develop an attraction for each other during a summer romance.
Robert Colin Stigwood was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and film productions including the successful Grease and Saturday Night Fever. On his death, one obituary judged that he had been for a time the most powerful tycoon in the entertainment industry: "Stigwood owned the record label that issued his artists’ albums and film soundtracks, and he also controlled publishing rights – not since Hollywood's golden days had so much power and wealth been concentrated in the hands of one mogul."
Finola Hughes is a British actress, best known for her role as Anna Devane on the ABC soap operas General Hospital and All My Children, and her portrayal of Laura in the 1983 film Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever.
Donna Gail Pescow is an American film and television actress and director. She is known for her roles as Annette in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, Angie Falco-Benson in the 1979–1980 sitcom Angie, Donna Garland in the sitcom Out of This World and Eileen Stevens in the Disney Channel sitcom Even Stevens.
David and Lisa is a 1962 American drama film directed by Frank Perry. It is based on the second story in the two-in-one novellas Jordi/Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin; the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor Perry, tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a mental illness which, among other symptoms, has instilled in him a fear of being touched. This lands him in a residential treatment center, where he meets Lisa, a similarly ill young woman who displays a split personality.
Staying Alive is a 1983 American sequel to Saturday Night Fever (1977). The film was directed by Sylvester Stallone, who co-produced and co-wrote the film with original Fever producer Robert Stigwood, and writer Norman Wexler. Staying Alive stars John Travolta, reprising his Saturday Night Fever role as Tony Manero, with Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, Joyce Hyser, Julie Bovasso, Viktor Manoel and Kevyn Morrow.
Carol Douglas is an American singer whose hit "Doctor's Orders" (1974) was a pioneering track in the disco genre.
Jay Gorney was an American theater and film song writer.
James Anthony Carpinello is an American actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom So Notorious. He also portrayed Stacee Jaxx in the Broadway production of the musical Rock of Ages.
"Saturday Night Grease" is the second episode of the eighth series of the British television comedy series The Goodies. The 65th episode of the show overall, it was first broadcast at 8.10pm on 21 January 1980 on BBC2.
Denis George Mahan, better known as Deney Terrio, is an American choreographer and hosted the television musical variety series Dance Fever from 1979 to 1987.
When Disco Ruled the World is a music documentary that aired on VH1 in 2005.
The Halloween That Almost Wasn't is a 1979 American television special that revolves around Dracula trying to save Halloween from the Witch who threatens it. It won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement – Children's Program" and was nominated for three others. On its VHS release, it was retitled The Night Dracula Saved the World.
Italo Valentino Bisoglio was an American character actor primarily known for his work on television.
Carla L. Benson is an American vocalist known for her recorded background vocals.
"Saturday Night Glee-ver" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the sixtieth overall. Written by Matthew Hodgson and directed by Bradley Buecker, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on April 17, 2012, and features a tribute to the 1970s movie Saturday Night Fever and its Bee Gees–infused soundtrack.
The second and final season of the American musical drama television series Smash premiered on February 5, 2013, on NBC and consisted of 17 episodes. On March 13, 2013, NBC announced they were moving the remaining season two episodes of Smash to Saturday nights at 9:00PM EST starting April 6 in order to play the full 17-episode order. The two-hour series finale aired on May 26, 2013, moving the show to a special Sunday slot.
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