Karen Akers

Infobox actor
name = Karen Akers

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birthname = Karen Orth-Pallavicini
birthdate = birth date and age|1945|10|13
birthplace = New York, New York U.S.
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spouse = Kevin Power (1993-present)
Jim Akers (?-?)
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Karen Akers (born October 13 1945) is an American actress and singer, who has appeared on Broadway, cabaret and film.

Background

She was born Karen Orth-Pallavicini in New York City on October 13, 1945. Her ancestry was a mixture of European stock: her immigrant father, Heinrick C. Orth-Pallavicini (reportedly a member of the European nobility who dropped his title when he came to America) was of Austrian and Swiss/Italian heritage, and her American-born mother, Mary, had Russian, Norwegian, and French forebears on one side of her family and Scots-Irish ones on the other. Her younger sister, Nicole Orth-Pallavicini, is also an actress. Another younger sister, Marie Orth-Pallavicini, is married to David Baker Cadman, a grandson of John Cadman, 1st Baron Cadman [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p19773.htm#i197724 "thepeerage.com" ] Retrieved on July 6, 2007] .

Education

Karen graduated from Manhattanville College.

Family

On September 19, 1993, she married Kevin Patrick Power, a vice president of Orion Network Systems, a satellite communications company in a Roman Catholic ceremony at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University in New York. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D91131F933A1575AC0A965958260 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D91131F933A1575AC0A965958260] "Query.nytimes.com" Retrieved on 05-09-07 ] It was her second marriage. She has two sons from her first marriage to Jim Akers, which ended in divorce.

Career

She first appeared on Broadway in the original production of "Nine", a musical directed by Tommy Tune and based on the Federico Fellini film "8½", playing the part of Luisa Contini, the wife of promiscuous film director Guido Contini (Raul Julia). The show opened May 9, 1982, and had a successful run of 732 performances, closing February 4, 1984. Akers won a Theatre World Award for her performance and was one of three actresses in the show nominated for the Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical, losing to her fellow cast member Liliane Montevecchi.

She appeared again on Broadway in "Grand Hotel", a musical adaptation of the novel and film, again directed by Tommy Tune with a score by Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Maury Yeston. The show opened November 12, 1989, for a successful run of 1,018 performances through April 19, 1992.

She appeared in the Woody Allen film "The Purple Rose of Cairo" as a celluloid chanteuse, and in Heartburn as the mistress of Jack Nicholson's character.

A review in Variety described her as "a contralto with uncommon dramatic depth", and a "sultry chanteuse." ["Karen Akers -- First You Dream: The Songs of Kander & Ebb." Marilyn Stasio. Variety Review Database. New York: Apr 2006. pg. n/a]

She appeared in one episode of "Cheers" as Cliff Clavens' shy, Plain Jane gal pal in 1987.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0015210
*ibdb name|id=29482
*amg name|2:565
* [http://www.emusic.com/artist/10556/10556918.html Karen Akers] on e-music.com
* [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/98795.html Karen Akers article] at Playbill