Suzanne Shepherd
Suzanne Shepherd | |
---|---|
Born | Sadie Gertrude Stern October 31, 1934 |
Died | November 17, 2023 Manhattan, New York,U.S. | (aged 89)
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1960s–2023 |
Spouses |
|
Children | 2, includingKate |
Sadie Gertrude Stern(October 31, 1934 – November 17, 2023), known professionally asSuzanne Shepherd,was an American actress and theater director.[1][2]
Background[edit]
Shepherd was bornSadie Gertrude Sternon October 31, 1934, to a Jewish family inElizabeth, New Jersey,the daughter of Dora (Mendelson), a cook, and David Stern, a distributor of jukeboxes and vending machines.[3]She began using the name "Suzanne" when she was 13.[3]She attendedBattin High SchoolandBennington College,and studied acting withSanford Meisner.[3][4]She later went on to teach Meisner's program of acting study, the first woman to do so.[5]
Career[edit]
Shepherd was a founding member of theCompass Playersin the early 1960s, along withAlan AldaandAlan Arkin.
Shepherd was known for her portrayal of Aunt Tweedy in the filmMystic Pizza,Karen's overbearing mother in the filmGoodfellas,Carmela Soprano's motherMary DeAngelisin theHBOtelevision seriesThe Sopranos,and the assistant school principal inUncle Buck.[4]She also played the role of Mrs. Scarlini in the 2000 filmRequiem for a Dream,and Big Ethel inA Dirty Shame.In 2016, she played the role of Lucille Abetemarco the mother ofDetective Anthony Abetemarcoplayed by formerSopranosco-starSteve Schirripain"Good Cop Bad Cop"the second episode of the seventh season of theCBSpolice procedural dramaBlue Bloods.In 2018, she reprised the role of Lucille Abetemarco in"Trust"the sixth episode of the ninth season ofBlue Bloods.[4]
Shepherd was also a theatre director, working in New York and in regional theatre.[4]
Personal life and death[edit]
From a marriage to David Shepherd, which lasted from 1957 until their divorce in 1966, she had a son, who died in 2011, and a daughter, artistKate Shepherd.[3][6]Her second marriage, to Carroll Calkins, lasted from 1996 until his death in 2006.[3]
Shepherd died fromchronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseand kidney failure at her home inManhattanon November 17, 2023, at the age of 89.[3][4][7]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Mystic Pizza | Aunt Tweedy | [4] |
1988 | Working Girl | Trask Receptionist | [4] |
1989 | Uncle Buck | Mrs. Hoargarth | |
1989 | Second Sight | Marilyn Bloom | |
1990 | Goodfellas | Karen's Mother | [4] |
1990 | Jacob's Ladder | Hospital Receptionist | |
1995 | The Jerky Boys: The Movie | Mrs. B | |
1995 | Palookaville | Mother | |
1996 | Bullet | Cookie Stein | |
1996 | Trees Lounge | Jackie | |
1997 | Lolita | Miss Pratt | [4] |
1998 | Illuminata | Marco's mother | |
1998 | Living Out Loud | Mary | [4] |
1998 | American Cuisine | Martha | |
1999 | On the Run | Lady in Travel Agency | |
2000 | Requiem for a Dream | Mrs. Scarlini | [4] |
2001 | Never Again | Mother | |
2004 | A Dirty Shame | Big Ethel | [4] |
2008 | Choke | Waitress | |
2008 | Harold | Maude Sellers | |
2009 | I Hate Valentine's Day | Edie | |
2012 | Delivering the Goods | Mrs. Weinbaum | |
2013 | Jerome's Bouquet | Elana Klein | Short film |
2017 | Where Is Kyra? | Ruth | [3] |
2018 | Furlough | Elizabeth Anderson | |
2018 | The Week Of | Aunt Iris | |
2023 | The Performance | Tess | [4] |
Television[edit]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Law & Order | Arraignment Judge Victoria Sawyer | Episode: "The Reaper's Helper" |
1998 | Vig | Agnes | Television film |
2000 | Third Watch[4] | Sheats | Episode: "Young Men and Fire..." |
2000, 2004 | Ed[4] | Elaine / Edna | 2 episodes |
2000–2007 | The Sopranos[4] | Mary DeAngelis | 20 episodes |
2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Joan | Episode: "Homo Homini Lupus" |
2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Old Woman | Episode: "Desperate" |
2010 | Gravity | Scarf Woman | Episode: "Dogg Day Afternoon" |
2016–2018 | Blue Bloods[4] | Lucille Abetemarco | 2 episodes |
References[edit]
- ^Brantley, Ben (February 23, 1994)."Theater in Review".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 16,2021.
- ^Genzlinger, Neil (June 22, 2005)."From South Africa to New Jersey, Where Things Go No Better".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 16,2021.
- ^abcdefgWilliams, Alex (November 23, 2023)."Suzanne Shepherd, Actress Known for Playing Mothers, Dies at 89".The New York Times.RetrievedNovember 23,2023.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqLewis, Hilary (November 19, 2023)."Suzanne Shepherd, 'Sopranos' and 'Goodfellas' Mother, Dies at 89".The Hollywood Reporter.RetrievedNovember 19,2023.
- ^Suzanne Shepherd, interview with Sanford Meisner,Yale Theatre8, nos. 2 and 3 (1977): 38–43.
- ^BWW News Desk."Photos: People Are Living There Opening Night".BroadwayWorld.com.RetrievedMay 16,2021.
- ^"Actor Suzanne Shepherd, who played mothers in 'The Sopranos' and 'Goodfellas,' dead at 89".NJ. November 18, 2023.RetrievedNovember 19,2023.
External links[edit]
- 1934 births
- 2023 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American theatre directors
- Bennington College alumni
- Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Deaths from kidney failure in the United States
- Jewish American actresses
- New Jersey Democrats
- New York (state) Democrats
- People from Elizabeth, New Jersey