Bernadette Peters

Infobox actor
name = Bernadette Peters

---

imagesize = 200px
caption = At a Broadway Barks book signing
(San Francisco, 2008)
birthname = Bernadette Lazzara
birthdate = birth date and age|1948|2|28
birthplace = Ozone Park, Queens, New York, United States
spouse = Michael Wittenberg (1996-2005)
website = http://www.bernadettepeters.com
goldenglobeawards = Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1982 "Pennies From Heaven"
tonyawards = Best Leading Actress - Musical
1986 "Song and Dance"
1999 "Annie Get Your Gun"

Bernadette Peters (born February 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer from New York City. Over the course of a career that has already spanned five decades, 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 received nominations 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 work and for appearances on "The Muppet Show", "The Carol Burnett Show" and in other television work, and for her 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. She also has recorded six solo albums and several singles, as well as many cast albums and performs regularly in her own concert act. 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. She had a four-year romantic relationship with comedian Steve Martin and was married to investment adviser Michael Wittenberg for over nine years until his death in 2005.

Early life and career

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),Speace, Geri. [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002510/Bernadette-Peters.html "Bernadette Peters Biography",] MusicianGuide.com] 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.Green, Jesse. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E4D8113AF934A15757C0A9659C8B63&scp=2&sq=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&st=nyt "Her Stage Mother, Herself",] "The New York Times", April 27, 2003, accessed March 28, 2008] Her siblings are casting director Donna DeSeta and Joseph Lazzara. [ [http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/bernadette_peters/index.shtml"Bernadette Peters - Biography",] NetGlimpse.com]

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). [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/peters_b.html "Bernadette Peters",] "The American Musical: Stars over Broadway", PBS.org] At 13 she appeared in the role of a "Hollywood Blonde" and was an understudy for "Dainty June" in a touring company of "". [Green, Adam. "People are Talking about Bernadette Peters", "Vogue Magazine", March 2003, pp. 408–10] (During this tour, in Kansas City, Peters first met her long-time accompanist, conductor and arranger Marvin Laird, who was playing in the Starlight Theatre pit orchestra.) 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. [Barnes, Clive. "Theater: Musical Pastiche of the 30's With Panache", "New York Times", December 22, 1968, p. 54] [Kerr, Walter. "Rudy, Ruby, Busby-and Julie", "New York Times", January 5, 1969, p. D1] [Crespy, p. 43] Peters had starring roles in her next Broadway vehicles—Gelsomina in "La Strada" (1969), Hildy in "On the Town" (1971), for which she received her first Tony Award nomination, and Mabel Normand in "Mack and Mabel" (1974), receiving another Tony nomination. 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' 1976 film "Silent Movie" (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award), the musical "Annie" (1982), "Pink Cadillac" (1989), in which she co-starred with Clint Eastwood, and Woody Allen's "Alice" (1990).

She began a romantic relationship with Steve Martin in 1977 that lasted approximately four years. [In a 1982 interview in "Rolling Stone" Magazine, the interviewer said to Martin: "You met Bernadette Peters, so the story goes, four years ago at a dinner in Las Vegas...." Fong-Torres, Ben. [http://www.stevemartin.com/stop_the_presses/rollingstone_82.php "Steve Martin Sings: The Rolling Stone Interview",] "Rolling Stone", 1982, accessed July 28, 2008] During that time, she starred opposite Martin in the "The Jerk" (1979) 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 had led to Peters appearing on the cover and in a spread in the December issue of "Playboy Magazine", in which she posed in lingerie designed by Bob Mackie. [ [http://www.playboy.com/magazine/cover-gallery/1981/12/ Playboy cover,] December 1981, Playboy.com]

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. [ [http://it.movies.yahoo.com/c/come-le-formiche/index-1843687.html "Come Le Formiche 2007",] Yahoo! Cinema Italia it icon, accessed July 3, 2008]

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 received 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." [Rich, Frank. "Stage:"Song and Dance", With Bernadette Peters", "The New York Times", September 19, 1985, p. C19]

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. [Witchel, Alex. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DB113DF93BA15751C0A96F958260&scp=1&sq=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&st=nyt "A True Star, Looking For Places to Shine",] "The New York Times", February 28, 1999, p. AR5, accessed March 28, 2008] Raymond Knapp wrote that Peters "achieved her definitive stardom" in "Sunday in the Park With George" and "Into the Woods". [Knapp, p. 215] 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." [Crews, Chip. "At Home in Her Range", "Washington Post", January 3, 1999, p. G01] Peters continued her association with Sondheim with a 1995 benefit concert of "Anyone Can Whistle". Additionally, she appeared in several concerts featuring Sondheim's work, and performed for him at his 1993 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony. [Sandler, Adam. [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117902189.html?categoryid=32&cs=1 "Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts",] "Variety", December 29, 1993, accessed July 5, 2008]

She next starred in the musical adaptation of 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. Among many glowing notices for this role, critic Lloyd Rose of the "Washington Post" commented: " [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." [Rose, Lloyd. "A Real Pistol: Bernadette Peters Puts Her Indelible Mark on 'Annie'", "The Washington Post", January 8, 1999, p. B01] "Playbill" went even further: "Arguably the most talented comedienne in the musical theatre today, Peters manages to extract a laugh from most every line she delivers." [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/65839.html "Diva Talk: Lost In Her Charms – an Interview with Bernadette Peters",] February 19, 1999, accessed July 28, 2008]

In 2003, Peters took on the role of Mama Rose in the Broadway revival of "", earning another Tony nomination. 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." [Brantley, Ben. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E0DB163CF931A35756C0A9659C8B63&scp=1&sq=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&st=nyt "New Momma Takes Charge",] "The New York Times", May 2, 2003, p. E1, accessed March 28, 2008] Arthur Laurents said: "But in 2003 there was a new Rose on Broadway: Bernadette Peters! Brilliant, original, totally unlike any of the others." [Bryer, p. 138] In February 2006, she participated in a reading of the Sondheim-Weidman musical "Bounce". [Simonson, Robert. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/97762.html "Sondheim and Weidman's Bounce to Get Reading at Public Theater Feb. 6",] Playbill.com, February 6, 2006, accessed July 4, 2008] 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. [Kalafatas, Greg. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/111341.html "Photo Call: Love Letters with Peters and Dossett",] Playbill.com, September 25, 2007, accessed July 3, 2008]

Peters has been nominated for the Tony Award seven times and won twice. [ [http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search Bernadette Peters Tony Awards listing.] Tony Legacy: Search Past Winners, TonyAwards.com] 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"). [ [http://www.dramadesk.com/history.html Drama Desk history,] DramaDesk.com] [ [http://www.ibdb.com/awardperson.asp?id=68530 "Bernadette Peters Awards",] Internet Broadway Database awards listing]

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". [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001613/awards "Awards for Bernadette Peters",] Internet Movie Database]

She has appeared in many variety shows with stars such as Sonny and Cher and George Burns. She has both performed and presented on the Academy Awards broadcasts in 1994, 1987, 1983, 1981 and 1976. Peters has been a presenter at the annual Tony Awards ceremony and co-hosted the ceremony with Gregory Hines in June 2002. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/69578.html "Bernadette Peters and Gregory Hines to Host 56th Annual Tony Awards",] Playbill.com, May 15, 2002, accessed July 8, 2008] She also hosted "Saturday Night Live" in November 1981. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694988/ Listing for "Saturday Night Live",] Internet Movie database, November 14, 1981, accessed July 8, 2008] She made 12 guest appearances on "The Carol Burnett Show" [Slonina, Ed. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050205083517/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mcgee/cbsguide.txt "The Carol Burnett Show Episode Guide"] ] 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). [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83455.html "CBS Broadcasts "Kennedy Center Honors" Dec. 26; Burnett and Nichols Among Honorees",] Playbill.com, December 26, 2003, accessed July 8, 2008] Peters appeared often on the "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" [ [http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/search.do?name=Bernadette+Peters&singleDateMonth=0&singleDateDay=0&singleDateYear=0&dateRangeBeginMonth=0&dateRangeBeginDay=0&dateRangeBeginYear=0&dateRangeEndMonth=0&dateRangeEndDay=0&dateRangeEndYear=0&x=48&y=14 List of appearances on "The Tonight Show",] Guest Search, JohnnyCarson.com] and on the day-time talk show "Live with Regis and Kelly", both as a co-host and a guest. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/116162.html "Tony Winner Peters Co-hosts 'Regis'",] Playbill.com, March 27, 2008, accessed July 5, 2008] 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. [ [http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000FA57H6/105-8363593-3814039?SubscriptionId=0HWT3ZMK9MGT4KP57V02 Animaniacs, Vol. 1 (1993)] Amazon.com, accessed July 7, 2008] She appeared on "Inside the Actor's Studio" in November 2000, discussing her career and craft. [ [http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/guests//O-P/index.php Inside the Actor's Studio list,] bravotv, accessed July 11, 2008]

Peters has co-starred in a number of television movies, including "The Last Best Year" (1990) with Mary Tyler Moore, "Rodgers and Hammerstein's 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. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/91775.html "Christine Baranski to Join Bernadette Peters for 'Adopted' Pilot",] Playbill.com, March 16, 2005, accessed July 3, 2008]

Peters' 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, "" (November 2006); as a judge on the ABC series "Boston Legal" (May 2007); and as an accident victim in Grey's Anatomy (September 2008). Of her role in "Grey's Anatomy", "TV Guide" wrote: "Peters is especially fine as she confronts a life spinning out of control. I'd make her an early contender for a guest-actor Emmy nomination." [Rousch, Matt. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tvguide/380540_roush25.html "Back to Business on Thursdays",] seattlepi.nwsource, "TV Guide", September 25, 2008] Peters appears in the upcoming Lifetime television movie "Living Proof", announced to air on October 18, 2008. [Nordyke, Kimberly. [http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN1639188320080616 "Harmon, Peters join Connick in Lifetime's "Proof"] , Reuters, June 16, 2008, accessed July 22, 2008]

Concerts and recordings

Peters has recorded six solo albums and several singles. [ [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&x=18&y=24 "Bernadette Peters",] Amazon.com, accessed July 7, 2008] 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. [ [http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx Grammy Award winners in category "Best Musical Show Album",] accessed July 7, 2008]

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"). [ [http://www.discogs.com/release/1284084 "Bernadette Peters –"Now Playing",] Discogs.com track listing, accessed July 7, 2008] 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". [Simonson, Robert. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/68222.html "Peters' Rodgers and Hammerstein CD to Be Released on March 12",] Playbill.com, March 12, 2002, accessed July 7, 2008] This album, which reached position 14 in the "Top Internet Charts", [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?configType=BBCOM_SIMPLEDEFAULT&pubList=Billboard&an=bbcom&action=Submit&kw=&exposeNavigation=true&keyword=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&searchType=ARTICLE_SEARCH&submit.x=34&submit.y=17 "Featured Artist: Bernadette Peters",] Billboard.com, accessed July 3, 2008] was the basis of her Radio City Music Hall solo concert debut in June 2002. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/70434.html "Diva Talk: Bernadette Peters Soothes the Soul at Radio City",] Playbill.com, June 21, 2002, accessed July 7, 2008]

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". [ [http://www.zavvi.co.uk/Judy+Collins-Various-Artists-Born-To-The-Breed-A-Tribute-To-Judy-Collins/859611/q.d10.1/p.jsf Record listing,] zavvi.co.uk, accessed August 3, 2008] [Noris, Jane. [http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/entertainment/music/article/collins_a_new_side_now/7924/ "Collins: A new side now",] Daily Progress.com, April 3, 2008]

Peters has been performing her one-woman concert in the United States and Canada for many years. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/88595.html "Bernadette Peters Launches New Concert Tour in 2005",] Playbill.com, September 24, 2004, accessed July 5, 2008] 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. [Holden, Stephen. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E4D6113FF932A25751C1A960958260&scp=2&sq=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&st=nyt "Bernadette Peters, Sweet With Sondheim",] "The New York Times", December 11, 1996, accessed February 19, 2008] 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, [Higgins, Beau. [http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=25449 "Bernadette Peters In Concert At The Arsht Center",] Broadwayworld.com, February 25, 2008, accessed July 7, 2008] and with symphony orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, [Kanny, Mark. [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_527311.html "Peters steps into the breach for Hamlisch, PSP gala",] PittsburghLive.com, September 14, 2007, accessed July 6, 2008] the Dallas Symphony, [ [http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/jan/12/58158/ "Dallas Symphony Pops - Bernadette Peters",] Pegasus News, January 2008, accessed July 7, 2008] and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall. [ [http://www.laphil.com/press/press_release/index.cfm?id=2165 "Award-Winning Performer Bernadette Peters Makes her Walt Disney Concert Hall Debut",] Los Angeles Philharmonic press release, February 17, 2008, accessed July 7, 2008]

In a review of her 2002 Radio City Music Hall concert, Stephen 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." [Holden, Stephen. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D8153FF932A15755C0A9649C8B63 "A Princess Sings Inside a Fairy Tale",] "The New York Times", June 21, 2002, accessed July 3, 2008] Peters made her solo concert debut at Lincoln Center in New York City on May 1, 2006. Holden, reviewing this concert, noted, "Even while swiveling across the stage of Avery Fisher Hall like a voluptuous Botticelli Venus in Bob Mackie spangles... she radiated a preternatural innocence.... For the eternal child in all of us, she evokes a surrogate childhood playmate...." [Holden, Stephen. [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/arts/music/03pete.html "Bernadette Peters: A Voice for the Eternal Child, Sondheim's in Particular",] "The New York Times", May 3, 2006, accessed July 28, 2008.]

Personal life

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. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/arts/28wittenberg.html?ex=1285560000&en=90547994abc9de65&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "Michael Wittenberg, 43, Husband of Broadway Star, Is Dead",] The Associated Press, "New York Times" September 28, 2005, accessed July 3, 2008] [ [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/09/29/m_wittenberg_43_husband_to_bernadette_peters/ "M. Wittenberg, 43; husband to Bernadette Peters",] Obituary: "The Boston Globe", September 29, 2005, accessed July 3, 2008]

Peters spends her time on 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 titled "Kramer's Song" to go with it, included on a CD in the book. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/117329.html "Diva Talk: Catching Up with Tony-Winning Actress Bernadette Peters,"] Playbill.com, May 1, 2008, accessed July 3, 2008]

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. [Maughan, Shannon. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA525096.html "Can Dewey Do It?",] "Publishers Weekly", April 18, 2005, accessed July 9, 2008] [Gans, Andrew [ [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/93391.html "Peters and Patinkin to Make In-Store Appearance at NYC Barnes and Noble",] playbill.com, June 7, 2005, accessed October 9, 2008] Peters is on the Board of Trustees of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, [ [http://www.broadwaycares.org/about/Board.cfm Board of Trustees,] Broadwaycares.org] . She is a member of the Board of Directors of Standing Tall, a non-profit educational program offering an innovative program for children with multiple disabilities based in New York City (Peters' late husband was the Director and Treasurer of Standing Tall). [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/95413.html/pg2 "Chatting with Scoundrels' Sara Gettelfinger Plus News of Mazzie, Skinner and Brightman",] playbill.com, September 30, 2005, accessed August 15, 2008] 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); ["Names in the News", "Domestic News", Los Angeles, "The Associated Press", April 24, 1987] the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year (1987); [ [http://www.hastypudding.org/pages/show/pastmoywoy.shtml "Man and Woman of the Year",] Hasty Pudding Theatricals, HastyPudding.org] the Sarah Siddons Award for outstanding performance in a Chicago theatrical production (1994); [ [http://www.sarahsiddonssociety.org/html/Awardees.html "The Sarah Siddons Society Awardees",] SarahSiddonsSociety.org] the American Theatre Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City (1996), becoming the youngest person so honored; [Rawson, Christopher. "'Family' gathers at the Theater Hall of Fame", "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette", January 25, 1996, p. C1] The Actors' Fund Artistic Achievement Medal (1999); [Ehren, Christine. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/48975.html "Cameron Mackintosh To Be Honored By Crawford, Peters, Burnett at Actor's Fund Gala Nov. 15",] Playbill.com, November 15, 1999, accessed July 5, 2008] an Honorary Doctorate from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (May 19, 2002); [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/69663.html "Bernadette Peters To Receive Honorary Doctorate May 19",] Playbill.com, May 19, 2002, accessed March 28, 2008] and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame (June 28, 2002). [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/70563.html "Joel Grey to Induct Bernadette Peters into Hall of Fame; Peters to Sing R&H",] Playbill.com, June 28, 2002, accessed March 28, 2008]

Work

tage (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)
* "" (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)
* "" (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)
* "" (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)
* "" – Episode titled "Choreographed" (2006)
* "Boston Legal" – Episode titled "Guantanamo By The Bay" (2007)
*"Grey's Anatomy" – Episode titled "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (2008)
* "Living Proof" (TV film, 2008)

Concerts

;Major solo concerts
* Various venues, summer of 1989: 10-city concert tour with Peter Allen [Evertz, Mary. "Song and Dance: Just for this occasion, Allen has written a song", "St. Petersburg Times" (Florida), July 14, 1989, p. 19] [Joyce, Mike. "Peter Allen & Bernadette Peters", "The Washington Post", July 15, 1989, p. C7]
* Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California on September 6 and 7, 1996 [Gieske,Tony. "Bernadette Peters The Hollywood Bowl Friday, Sept. 6", "The Hollywood Reporter", September 9, 1996]
* Carnegie Hall, New York City on December 9, 1996 (recorded on CD)
* Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia on January 7 & 8, 1998 [Hallett, Bryce. "Peters masters a scratchy start", "The Weekend Australian", January 10, 1998, p. 8]
* Royal Festival Hall, London on September 17, 1998 (recorded on video) [Davis, Clive. "Bernadette Peters, Festival Hall", "The Times", September 19, 1998] [Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/47057.html "Bernadette Peters Sings Sondheim in PBS Airing of London Concert",] Playbill.com, August 5, 1999, accessed July 5, 2008] [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/65959.html "Diva Talk: Peters The Great – The London Concert",] Playbill.com, July 16, 1999, accessed July 5, 2008]
* Radio City Music Hall, New York City on June 19, 2002 [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/70377.html "Bernadette Peters Makes Solo Radio City Music Hall Concert Debut June 19"] , Playbill.com, June 19, 2002, accessed July 5, 2008]
* Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall), New York City, on May 1, 2006 [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/99379.html "Bernadette Peters Offers Sold-Out Solo Concert at Avery Fisher Hall May 1",] Playbill.com, May 1, 2006, accessed July 5, 2008]

;Other 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 [Stringer, Robin. "Even Sondheim and Lloyd Webber clown for Sir Cameron", "The Evening Standard" (London), June 8, 1998, p. 5]
* Hollywood Bowl Sondheim Concert — July 8, 2005 [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/93934.html "Burnett, Cook, Peters, McDonald, Stritch and More Salute Sondheim July 8 at Hollywood Bowl",] Playbill.com, July 8, 2005, accessed July 5, 2008]

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 [ [http://www.pandora.com/music/album/bernadette+peters/sondheim+etc "Bernadette Peters",] Sondheim, Etc. – Pandora Internet Radio, accessed July 3, 2008]
* "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 Broadway

;Other recordings
* "Dress Casual" – "Evening Primrose" suite with Mandy Patinkin – CBS Records (1990) [ [http://www.amazon.com/Dress-Casual/dp/B00000271P amazon.com listing and review] ]
* "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)
* "" – Wildflower Records (2008)

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. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ul7UeFS0bSkC&pg=RA1-PA43&vq=%22Bernadette+Peters%22&dq=Caffe+Cino&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U1u-JtTgvgQ2DFxTnQK_AHYz5o7MA "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

* [http://www.bernadettepeters.com/ Bernadette Peters official website]
*
*
* [http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Bernadette&last=Peters&middle= Bernadette Peters] at the Internet off-Broadway Database
* [http://www.standingtall.org Standing Tall website]
* [http://www.itsthecarolburnettshow.com/screengrabs.html The Carol Burnett Show screengrabs, "As the Stomach Turns" episode]

Persondata
NAME= Peters, Bernadette
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Lazzara, Bernadette
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress, singer
DATE OF BIRTH= February 28, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH= Ozone Park, Queens, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=