Bernadette Peters (born February 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of a career that has already spanned five decades, starting at an early age, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings. She is one of the most critically-acclaimed Broadway performers, having been nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning two, and eight Drama Desk Awards, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.

Peters first performed on the stage as a child and then a teenage actor in the 1960s, and in film and television in the 1970s. She was praised for this early stage work, for her charming appearances on The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show and in other television work, and for her comic characters in films like Silent Movie, The Jerk and Pennies from Heaven. In the 1980s she returned to the theatre, where she became one of the best-known Broadway stars over the next three decades. Peters also continues to act in films and on television, where she has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, winning once.

Peters is particularly noted for her starring roles in stage musicals, including Song and Dance, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Annie Get Your Gun, and Gypsy, becoming closely associated with composer Stephen Sondheim.

Biography

Peters was born Bernadette Lazzara to an Italian-American family in Queens, New York, the youngest of three children. Her father Peter drove a bread delivery truck, and her mother, Marguerite (nee Maltese), started her in show business by putting her on the television show Juvenile Jury at the age of three-and-a-half. She later appeared on the television shows Name That Tune and The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. In her teen years, she attended the Quintano School for Young Professionals. Her siblings are casting director Donna DeSeta and Joseph Lazzara.

Early career

At age nine she obtained her Actors Equity Card in the name of Bernadette Peters to avoid ethnic stereotyping, with the stage name taken from her father's first name. She made her stage debut at nine in This is Goggle, a comedy directed by Otto Preminger that closed during out-of-town tryouts before reaching New York. She first appeared on the New York stage at age 10 in the New York City Center revival of The Most Happy Fella (1959). At 13 she was a "Hollywood Blonde" and appeared as Baby June in a touring company of Gypsy. Upon graduation from high school, she started working steadily, appearing Off-Broadway in the musicals The Penny Friend (1966) and Curley McDimple (1967) and as an understudy on Broadway in The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967). She made her Broadway debut in Johnny No-Trump in 1967 and next appeared as George M. Cohan's sister opposite Joel Grey in George M! (1968), winning the Theatre World Award.

It was Peters' performance as "Ruby" in the 1968 off-Broadway Dames at Sea, a spoof of 1930s musicals, that brought her critical acclaim and her first Drama Desk Award. She had appeared in an earlier 1966 version of Dames at Sea at the off-off-Broadway performance club Caffe Cino. Peters had starring roles in her next Broadway vehicles — Gelsomina in La Strada (1969), Hildy in On the Town (1971), and Mabel Normand in Mack and Mabel (1974). Although these had short runs, Peters was singled out for praise by the critics, and the Mack and Mabel cast album became popular among musical theatre fans. She moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s to concentrate on television and film work.

Film appearances

Peters has appeared in 31 feature films or television movies beginning in 1973, including Mel Brooks' Silent Movie (1976 for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award), Heartbeeps (1981), the musical Annie (1982) and Pink Cadillac (1989), in which she co-starred with Clint Eastwood.

She appeared opposite Steve Martin, in the The Jerk (1979), whom she dated beginning in 1977, and Pennies From Heaven (1981), for which she won the Golden Globe Award as Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical. By 1981, her popularity and appearance had led to Peters becoming much photographed, and she appeared on the cover and in a spread in the December issue of Playboy Magazine, in which she posed in lingerie designed by Bob Mackie.

Peters appeared with three generations of the Kirk Douglas family in the 2003 film It Runs in the Family. In May 2006 she filmed a movie Come le formiche (Wine and Kisses) with F. Murray Abraham in Italy; the DVD was released on June 22, 2007 in Italy.

Theatre

Peters returned to the New York stage after an eight-year absence in the off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club production of the comedy-drama Sally and Marsha (1982), for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She then returned to Broadway as Dot/Marie in the Stephen Sondheim — James Lapine musical Sunday in the Park with George (1984), for which she won her third Tony Award nomination, followed by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance (1985), gaining her first Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in the role of Emma. Theater critic Frank Rich wrote in an otherwise negative review of the show that Peters "has no peer in the musical theater right now.

She then created the role of the Witch in Sondheim-Lapine's Into the Woods (1987). Peters is "considered by many to be the premier interpreter of his [Sondheim's] work," according to writer Alex Witchel. Raymond Knapp writes that Peters "achieved her definitive stardom" in Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods. Sondheim has said of Peters, "Like very few others, she sings and acts at the same time," he says. "Most performers act and then sing, act and then sing ... Bernadette is flawless as far as I'm concerned. I can't think of anything negative. Peters continued her association with Sondheim with a 1995 benefit concert of Anyone Can Whistle. Additionally, she performed at several concerts featuring Sondheim's work, and performed for him at his 1993 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.

She next starred in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl with music by Marvin Hamlisch (1993). Peters won her second Tony for her performance as Annie Oakley in the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun opposite Tom Wopat. Critic Lloyd Rose of the Washington Post wrote: "...she [Peters] banishes all thoughts of Ethel Merman about two bars into her first number, 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly.' Partly this is because Merman's Annie was a hearty, boisterous gal, while Peters plays an adorable, slightly goofy gamine... For anyone who cares about the American musical theater, the chance to see Peters in this role is reason enough to see the show.

In 2003, Peters took on the role of Mama Rose in the Broadway revival of Gypsy. Ben Brantley in his New York Times review wrote, "Working against type and expectation under the direction of Sam Mendes, Ms. Peters has created the most complex and compelling portrait of her long career, and she has done this in ways that deviate radically from the Merman blueprint. Arthur Laurents said: "But in 2003 there was a new Rose on Broadway: Bernadette Peters! Brilliant, original, totally unlike any of the others. In February 2006, she participated in a reading of the Sondheim-Weidman musical Bounce. On September 24, 2007, Peters participated in a one-time only charity reading of the play Love Letters with her former Gypsy co-star, John Dossett.

Peters has been nominated for the Tony Award seven times and won twice. She has also been nominated for the Drama Desk Award eight times and won three times (Annie Get Your Gun, Song and Dance, and Dames at Sea).

Television appearances

Peters was nominated for Emmy Awards for her guest-starring roles on the Fox situation comedy Ally McBeal (2001), and The Muppet Show (1977). She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special, for her work in the made-for-television movie Bobbie's Girl. She won the 1987 "CableACE Award" for her role as Dot in the television version of Sunday in the Park With George.

She has appeared in many variety shows with stars such as Sonny and Cher and George Burns and has performed on the Academy Awards broadcasts. Peters has been a presenter at the annual Tony Awards ceremony and co-hosted the ceremony with Gregory Hines in June 2002 (the ceremony is televised on the CBS television network). She also hosted Saturday Night Live in November 1981. She made 12 guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show as well as appearing with Burnett in the made-for-television version of Once Upon a Mattress and the 1982 film Annie. She also performed at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony for Burnett (2003). Peters appeared often on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and on the day–time talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, both as a co-host and a guest. Peters voiced stray cat Rita in the Rita and Runt segments of the animated series Animaniacs. Rita often sang on the show, sometimes in parodies of songs from Broadway musicals. She appeared on Inside the Actor's Studio in November 2000, discussing her career and craft.

Peters has co-starred in a number of television movies, including The Last Best Year (1990) with Mary Tyler Moore, Cinderella (1997) with Brandy (receiving a nomination for the "Golden Satellite Award" for her role), and Prince Charming (2003) with Martin Short. She co-starred in her own television series, All's Fair, with Richard Crenna in 1976–77, for which Peters was nominated for a Golden Globe award as Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy. In March 2005, she made a pilot for an ABC situation comedy series titled Adopted, co-starring with Christine Baranski, but it was not picked up.

Peters' most recent television work includes guest appearances on several television series. She appeared as the sharp-tongued sister of Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) on the penultimate episode of the NBC series Will & Grace, "Whatever Happened to Baby Gin?" (May 2006); as a defense attorney on the NBC series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (November 2006); and as a judge on the ABC series Boston Legal (May 2007). Peters is slated to appear in the upcoming television movie Living Proof, expected to air in October 2008.

Recordings and concerts

Peters has recorded six solo albums (and several singles) Three have been nominated for the Grammy Award. Peters' 1980 single "Gee Whiz" reached the top forty on the U.S. pop singles charts She has recorded most of the Broadway and off-Broadway musicals she has appeared in, and four of these cast albums have won Grammy Awards.

Peters' debut album in 1980, entitled Bernadette, included an eclectic mix of cover tunes by a range of artists such as Elvis Presley, Marvin Hamlisch, and Fats Waller. Her next solo album, Now Playing (1981), featured songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch, and Stephen Sondheim (for example, "Broadway Baby"). In 1996, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for her best-selling album, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, which includes popular songs by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Lyle Lovett, Hank Williams, Sam Cooke, and Billy Joel, as well as Broadway classics by Leonard Bernstein and Rogers and Hammerstein Her next studio album, in 2002, Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein, consisted entirely of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, including two that she sings in her concerts, "Some Enchanted Evening" and "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame". This album, which reached position 14 in the "Top Internet Charts", was the basis of her Radio City Music Hall solo concert debut in June 2002.

Additionally, she has recorded songs on other albums, such as "Dublin Lady" on John Whelan's Flirting with the Edge (Narada, 1998). On the Mandy Patinkin Dress Casual 1990 album, Patinkin and Peters recorded the songs from Stephen Sondheim's 1966 television play, Evening Primrose. On the soon-to-be released tribute album Born To The Breed – A Tribute To Judy Collins Peters sings "Trust Your Heart".

Peters has been performing her one-woman concert in the United States and Canada for many years. She made her solo concert debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1996, devoting the second half to the work of Stephen Sondheim. She performed a similar concert in London, which was taped and released on video, and also aired on U.S. Public Television stations in 1999. She continues to perform her solo concert at venues around the U.S., such as the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, and with symphony orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra , the Dallas Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall.

In a review of her 2002 Radio City Music Hall concert, Steven Holden of the New York Times described Peters as "the peaches-and-cream embodiment of an ageless storybook princess... inside a giant soap bubble floating toward heaven. A belief in the power of the dreams behind Rodgers and Hammerstein's songs, if not in their reality, was possible.

Personal

Peters married investment adviser Michael Wittenberg on July 20, 1996 at the upstate New York home of long-time friend Mary Tyler Moore. Wittenberg died at age 43 on September 26, 2005 in a helicopter crash in Montenegro while on a business trip. Three other people were killed in the crash, which occurred when the aircraft struck a high-voltage cable according to the police in Montenegro's capital.

Peters lends her time and talents to many charitable efforts. In 1999 Peters and Mary Tyler Moore co-founded "Broadway Barks", an annual animal adopt-a-thon held in New York City. Their goals are to promote adopting animals from shelters and to make New York City a no-kill city. To support this cause, Peters has written a children's book titled Broadway Barks (Blue Apple Books, April 2008) and a lullaby called "Kramer's Song" to go with it, included on a CD in the book. Peters sings four songs on the CD accompanying the children's picture book Dewey Doo-it Helps Owlie Fly Again, for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Her co-star from Sunday in the Park With George, Mandy Patinkin, also sings on the CD. She is on the Board of Trustees of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In addition, the 1995 Anyone Can Whistle concert and her "Carnegie Hall" 1996 concert were benefits for the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Honorary awards

Peters has received many honorary awards over the years, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (April 1987); the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year (1987); the Sarah Siddons Award for outstanding performance in a Chicago theatrical production (1994); the American Theatre Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City (1996), becoming the youngest person so honored; The Actors' Fund Artistic Achievement Medal (1999); an Honorary Doctorate from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (May 19, 2002); and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame (June 28, 2002).

Work

Stage (selected)

• The Most Happy Fella (1959)
• George M! (1968) (Theatre World Award for Debut Performance)
• Dames at Sea (1968) (Drama Desk Award winner)
• On the Town (revival, 1971) (Tony Award nominee)
• Mack and Mabel (1974) (Tony Award nominee)
• Sunday in the Park with George (1984) (Tony Award nominee)
• Song and Dance (1986) (Tony Award winner; Drama Desk Award winner)
• Into the Woods (1987) (Drama Desk Award nominee)
• The Goodbye Girl (1993) (Tony Award nominee)
• Annie Get Your Gun (revival, 1999) (Tony Award winner; Drama Desk Award winner)
• Gypsy (revival, 2003) (Tony Award nominee)

Filmography

• 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 and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) (voice)
• Anastasia (1997) (voice)
• Barney's Great Adventure (1998) (singer, title song)
• ''Wakko's Wish (1999) (voice)
• Let It Snow (2001)
• 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)
• Come le formiche (Wine and Kisses) (2007) (DVD released in Italy)

Television

• The Carol Burnett Show (various shows, 1969–1991)
• George M! (1970)
• Once Upon a Mattress (1972)
• Paradise Lost (TV film, 1974)
• Maude (1975)
• All in the Family (1975)
• All's Fair (TV series) (1976 - 1977)
• McCloud (1976)
• The Muppet Show (1977)
• The Islander (1978)
• The Martian Chronicles (1980) (miniseries)
• Saturday Night Live (1981) (host and performer)
• Faerie Tale Theatre – Sleeping Beauty (1983)
• Sunday in the Park with George (1986)
• Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues (1987)
• David (TV film, 1988)
• Fall from Grace (TV film, 1990)
• The Last Best Year (TV film, 1990)
• Into the Woods (1991)

• The Last Mile (1992)
• Animaniacs (Rita and Runt, 1993 - 1994) (voice)
• The Larry Sanders Show – Episode titled "Montana" (1994)
• Live with Regis and Kelly (various appearances; 1996–2008)
• The Odyssey (1997) (miniseries)
• Cinderella (TV film, 1997)
• What the Deaf Man Heard (TV film, 1997)
• Holiday in Your Heart (TV film, 1997)
• The Closer (1998)
• Inside the Actors Studio (2000)
• Frasier ("Sliding Frasiers") (2001) (celebrity call-in)
• Ally McBeal (2001)
• Bobbie's Girl (TV film, 2002)
• Prince Charming (TV film, 2003)
• Adopted (2005) (unsold ABC pilot)
• Will & Grace – Episode titled "Whatever Happened to Baby Gin?" (2006)
• SVU – Episode titled "Choreographed" (2006)
• Boston Legal – Episode titled "Guantanamo By The Bay" (2007)
• Living Proof (TV film, 2008)

Concerts

Major solo concerts

• Various venues, summer of 1989: 10-city concert tour with Peter Allen
• Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California on September 6 and 7, 1996
• Carnegie Hall, New York City on December 9, 1996 (recorded on CD)
• Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia on January 7 & 8, 1998
• Royal Festival Hall, London on September 17, 1998 (recorded on video)
• Radio City Music Hall, New York City on June 19, 2002
• Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall), New York City, on May 1, 2006Other notable concerts in which Peters participated
• Sondheim: A Celebration At Carnegie Hall (broadcast on PBS Great Performances in 1993) — June 10, 1992
• Hey Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh — June 7, 1998
• Hollywood Bowl Sondheim Concert — July 8, 2005

Discography

Solo recordings

• Bernadette (1980) MCA
• Now Playing (1981) MCA
• I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (1996) Angel Records – Grammy Award nominee
• Sondheim, Etc. - Bernadette Peters Live At Carnegie Hall (1997) Angel Records – Grammy Award nominee
• Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein (2002) Angel Records – Grammy Award nominee
• Sondheim Etc., Etc.Live At Carnegie Hall: The Rest of It (2005) Angel Records
• Kramer's Song (2008) Blue Apple Books (single)Cast recordings
• George M! – Sony (1968)
• Dames At Sea – Columbia Masterworks (1969)
• Mack and Mabel – MCA (1974)
• Sunday in the Park with George – RCA Records (1984) – Grammy Award winner (Best Cast Show Album, 1985)
• Song and Dance – The Songs – RCA Victor (1985)
• Into The Woods – RCA Victor Records (1988) – Grammy Award winner (Best Musical Cast Show Album, 1989)
• The Goodbye Girl – Columbia Records (1993)
• Anyone Can Whistle Live At Carnegie Hall – Columbia Records (1995)
• Annie Get Your Gun The New Broadway Cast Recording – Angel Records (1999) – Grammy Award winner (Best Musical Show Album, 2000)
• Gypsy The New Broadway Cast Recording – Angel Records (2003) – Grammy Award winner (Best Musical Show Album, 2004)
• Sherry! – Studio Cast Recording – Angel Records (2004)
• Legends Of Broadway-Bernadette Peters Compilation (2006) – Sony Masterworks BroadwayOther recordings
• Dress Casual – select tracks with Mandy Patinkin – CBS Records (1990)
• Sondheim – A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (Concert Cast) RCA Victor Broadway (1992)
• Hey Mr. Producer!: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh – Philips Records (1998)
• Flirting with the Edge – John Whelan – Narada (1998)
• Dewey Doo-It Helps Owlie Fly Again – RandallFraser Publishing (2005)
• Born To The Breed - A Tribute To Judy Collins – Wildflower Records (2008)

Watch and listen

• To see Peters sing "Sooner or Later" by Sondheim (concert at Royal Festival Hall, September 17, 1998), click here.
• To see a clip from Peters' performance in Sondheim's Into the Woods (video aired on Public Television in March 1991), click here.

Notes

References

• Bryer, Jackson R. and Richard Allan Davison. The Art Of The American Musical: Conversations With The Creators (2005), Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0813536138
• Crespy, David Allison. Off-Off-Broadway Explosion (2003), Back Stage Books, ISBN 0823088324
• Knapp, Raymond. The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity (2006), Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691125244

External links

• Bernadette Peters official website
• Bernadette Peters at the Internet off-Broadway Database
• Side by Side With Bernadette Peters Interview on www.sondheim.com, approximately 1997
• DIVA TALK: Lost In Her Charms - an Interview with Bernadette Peters, February 19, 1999
• Playbill On-Line's Brief Encounter with Bernadette Peters, March 12, 2002
• Bernadette Peters - Broadway's Best, A fan website on Bernadette Peters.
• Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Listing of Peters stage, film and TV credits and awards at Broadway.com
• Christopher Reeve Foundation Dooits site, with photo of Peters and the Doo-its
• The Carol Burnett Show screengrabs, "As the Stomach Turns" episode
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Bernadette Peters