Christine Ebersole

Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, winning two Tony Awards. She has co-starred on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son, in which she played Carol Walsh, and earned an Emmy Award nomination for her work in One Life to Live.

Christine Ebersole
Ebersole on February 7, 2005
Born	February 21, 1953 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	MacMurray College (1975) American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Peter Bergman ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1981)​ Bill Moloney ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	3

Christine Ebersole performing in Broadway on Broadway, a free promotional concert for Broadway shows, 2006

Early life

Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, the daughter of Marian Esther (née Goodley) and Robert "Bob" Ebersole.[1][2] Her father was the president of a steel company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[3] She has Swiss-German and Irish ancestry.[4] Ebersole graduated from New Trier High School in 1971. She attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois,[5] class of 1975, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[6]

Career

She met Marc Shaiman when he was 19 and the musical director of her first club act.[7] She appeared in two different parts on Ryan's Hope in 1977 (as a nurse) and 1980 (as Lily Darnell), and was a cast member of Saturday Night Live during 1981–82, the first full season under new producer Dick Ebersol (their similar surnames being a coincidence),[8] acting as "Weekend Update" co-anchor with Brian Doyle-Murray and at times impersonating Mary Travers, Cheryl Tiegs, Barbara Mandrell, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Rona Barrett.[9] Following SNL, she appeared in One Life to Live as daffy Maxie McDermott (receiving an Emmy nomination) and Valerie. She co-starred with Barnard Hughes on the sitcom The Cavanaughs, played the title role in the short-lived sitcom Rachel Gunn, R.N., and guest-starred on Will & Grace, Dolly!, Just Shoot Me, Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, Samantha Who, Boston Legal, The Colbert Report, and Royal Pains. In 1991, she appeared as the titular Miss Jones in a pilot for an ABC series about a single mother, but the series was not taken up.[10]

She appeared in the 1993 television movie adaptation of Gypsy starring Bette Midler, and in the 2000 ABC-TV movie Mary and Rhoda starring Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper.

In 2011, she had a recurring role on the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35.[11] In 2014, she played Carol Walsh on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son.[12] She has a recurring role on the USA Network television show Royal Pains as Ms. Newberg.[13][14]

Ebersole's films have included Tootsie (1982), Amadeus (1984), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Mac and Me (1988), My Girl 2 (1994), Richie Rich (1994), Black Sheep (1996), and My Favorite Martian (1999).

Ebersole has found considerable success on stage. She appeared in Going Hollywood, a musical by David Zippel and Jeremy Shaeffer. She was in the chorus in 1983 with Jerry Mitchell. They were both excited about the possibility of going to Broadway, but it never made it.[7] She was featured in Paper Moon by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh and Carol Hall, which ran at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) in September 1993.[15] Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Three Sisters and Talking Heads, and her Broadway credits include On the Twentieth Century, the 1979 revival of Oklahoma! (as Ado Annie), the 1980 revival of Camelot and the 2000 revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.

In 2001, she appeared in the Broadway revival of 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock, for which she won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical,[16] She next appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival of Dinner at Eight as Millicent Jordan for which she was nominated for the Tony Award, Featured Actress in a Play.[17] In 2005 she played M'Lynn in the Broadway production of Steel Magnolias.[18]

In 2006, Ebersole took the dual roles of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") in Grey Gardens, a musical based upon the film of the same name. After a sold-out off-Broadway run, Ebersole remained with the roles when the production moved to Broadway in November 2006, and remained with the show through its closing in July 2007. For this role, she won her second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.[19] She appeared as Elvira in the 2009 Broadway revival of the Noël Coward comedy Blithe Spirit.[20]

She appeared in the new musical War Paint, which premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago on June 28, 2016, for a run through August 2016. The show began previews at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway on March 7, 2017, and opened on April 6, 2017. It closed on November 5, 2017. She played the role of Elizabeth Arden, opposite Patti LuPone as Helena Rubinstein. The musical had a book by Doug Wright with the music composed by Scott Frankel (music) and Michael Korie (lyrics).[21][22]

In December 2011, for their annual birthday celebration to "The Master", the Noel Coward Society invited Ebersole as the guest celebrity to lay flowers in front of Coward's statue at New York's Gershwin Theatre, thereby commemorating the 112th birthday of Sir Noel.

Concerts

Ebersole appears in concerts and cabaret engagements at venues such as the Cinegrill and Cafe Carlyle. She won the 2010 Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement for her 2009 Café Carlyle cabaret.[23] In 2009 she performed with Michael Feinstein at his club, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, (New York City) in a cabaret titled "Good Friends".[24] She was one of the performers on the Playbill Cruise in September 2011.[25] In November 2011, she performed for two sold-out nights at Birdland in New York City with jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein and his trio.[26]

In 2015, Ebersole toured her show Big Noise from Winnetka, which included the 1938 jazz song Big Noise from Winnetka and a stop in Illinois.[27]

Recording

She also has appeared on several albums. She was featured on the Bright Lights, Big City concept album.[7] She also released an album of Noël Coward songs after browsing through them for scene change music for Blithe Spirit.[28] She is also the voice actress for White Diamond on the popular show Steven Universe.

Personal life

Ebersole has been married twice, to actor Peter Bergman from 1976 though 1981, and since 1988 to Bill Moloney, with whom she has adopted three children, Elijah, Mae Mae, and Aron.[29] She lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with her family.[30] She is the aunt of actress Janel Moloney through marriage.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Tootsie	Linda
1984	Amadeus	Katerina Cavalieri
1984	Thief of Hearts	Janie Pointer
1988	Mac and Me	Janet Cruise
1990	Ghost Dad	Carol
1991	Dead Again	Lydia Larsen
1992	Folks!	Arlene Aldrich
1992	The Lounge People	Cynthia Lewis
1994	My Girl 2	Rose Zsigmond
1994	Richie Rich	Regina Rich
1996	Black Sheep	Governor Evelyn Tracy
1996	Pie in the Sky	Mom Dunlap
1997	'Til There Was You	Beebee Moss
1999	My Favorite Martian	Mrs. Brown
1999	True Crime	Bridget Rossiter
2009	Confessions of a Shopaholic	TV Show Host
2010	The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie	Bossom Buddies Singer
2013	The Big Wedding	Muffin
2013	The Wolf of Wall Street	Leah Belfort
2019	Steven Universe: The Movie	White Diamond	Voice role
2019	Driveways	Linda

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977–80	Ryan's Hope	Lily Darnell	12 episodes
1981–82	Saturday Night Live	Various	20 episodes
1982	Love, Sidney	Nurse Loring	Episode: "The Accident"
1983–85	One Life to Live	Maxie McDermott	Unknown episodes
1984	The Dollmaker	Miss Vashinski	Television movie
1986	Valerie	Barbara Goodwin	6 episodes
1986	Acceptable Risks	Lee Snyder	Television movie
1986-89	The Cavanaughs	Kit Cavanaugh	26 episodes
1990	American Dreamer	Kathleen	2 episodes
1990	Murphy Brown	Maddy	Episode: "The Bummer of 42"
1991	Empty Nest	Laura	Episode: "All About Harry"
1992	Rachel Gunn, R.N.	Rachel Gunn	13 episodes
1993	Dying to Love You	Cheryl New	Television movie
1993	Gypsy	Tessie Tura	Television movie
1996	Hey Arnold!	Lana Vail	Voice role; Episode: "Heat/Snow"
1998	Ally McBeal	Marie Stokes	Episode: "Just Looking"
1996	An Unexpected Family	Ruth Whitney	Television movie
1998	Just Shoot Me!	Margo Langhorne	Episode: "How Nina Got Her Groove Back"
1999	Double Platinum	Peggy	Television movie
2000	Mary and Rhoda	Cecile Andrews	Television movie
2001	Will & Grace	Candy Pruitt	Episode: "Poker? I Don't Even Like Her"
2003	The Electric Piper	Pat Dixon	Voice role; Television movie
2004	Crossing Jordan	Mrs. Maguire	Episode: "Fire in the Sky"
2005–06	Related	Renee	10 episodes
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Lily Parrish	2 episodes
2008	Boston Legal	Sunny Fields	Episode: "Indecent Proposals"
2008	Lipstick Jungle	Maureen	Episode: "Chapter Fifteen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Prada"
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Hilary Regnier	Episode: "Smut"
2009	Samantha Who?	Amy	Episode: "The Sister"
2009–16	Royal Pains	Ms. Newberg	recurring
2010	Ugly Betty	Frances	Episode: "The Passion of the Betty"
2011	Retired at 35	Susan	4 episodes
2012–14	Sullivan & Son	Carol Walsh	33 episodes
2013	American Horror Story: Coven	Anna-Lee Leighton	2 episodes
2015	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Helene	Episode "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!"
2015	Madam Secretary	First Lady Lydia Dalton	Episode "Waiting For Taleju"
2016	Crisis in Six Scenes	Eve	Episode: "Episode 6"
2016	Search Party	Mariel	2 episodes
2018	Pose	Bobbi	Episode: "Giving and Receiving"
2018–2019	Steven Universe	White Diamond	Voice role; 3 episodes
2018–2019	Blue Bloods	Lena Janko	3 episodes
2019–present	Bob Hearts Abishola	Dorothy "Dottie" Wheeler	Main role
2020	Steven Universe Future	White Diamond	Voice role, 2 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
1975–76	Angel Street	Nancy (Replacement)	Lyceum Theatre	[31]
1978–79	On the 20th Century	Agnes (Understudy)	St. James Theatre
1979–80	Oklahoma!	Ado Annie	Palace Theatre
1980	Camelot	Guenevere	New York State Theatre
1985	Harrigan 'N Hart	Greta Granville	Longacre Theatre
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Dossie Lustig	Broadhurst Theatre
2000	Gore Vidal's The Best Man	Mabel Cantwell	Virginia Theatre
2001–02	42nd Street	Dorothy Brock	Ford Center for the Performing Arts
2002–03	Dinner at Eight	Millicent Jordan	Vivian Beaumont Theatre
2005	Steel Magnolias	M'Lynn	Lyceum Theatre
2006–07	Grey Gardens	Little Edie Beale	Walter Kerr Theatre
2009	Blithe Spirit	Elvira	Shubert Theatre
2017	War Paint	Elizabeth Arden	Nederlander Theatre

References

1. Zwecker, Bill (February 16, 1997). "Good 'Ink'". Chicago Sun-Times.
2. Penn State Alumni Directory. Penn State Alumni Association. 1998. p. 291 – via Google Books.
3. Witchel, Alex (June 3, 2007). "Between a Mother and a Daughter". The New York Times.
4. "Ebersole Hoping A Bit O'luck Falls On 'Cavanaughs'". Chicago Tribune. August 21, 1988.
5. LeVasseur, Andrea."Christine Ebersole biography" The New York Times (Rovi), accessed November 27, 2011
6. Timberg, Scott."Influences: Actress and singer Christine Ebersole"Los Angeles Times (latimesblogs), October 26, 2011
7. Cerasaro, Pat."InDepth InterView: Christine Ebersole" broadwayworld.com, October 22, 2010
8. Hamlin, Jesse."Christine Ebersole wraps up S.F. cabaret" San Francisco Chronicle, April 22, 2010
9. Gus Wezerek (December 14, 2019). "The 'S.N.L.' Stars Who Lasted, and the Ones Who Flamed Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019. Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
10. Prouty, Howard H. (1994). "Miss Jones" (Fri. (12), 9:30-10 p.m., ABC-TV). Variety TV Reviews 1991-92. 17. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0824037963. It would be difficult to cram any more stereotypes into the premise of this ... Christine Ebersole is engagingly daffy, but strong-willed as Jones, turning in a far more successful performance acting than she does belting out the blah theme song"
11. Gans, Andrew. "New Comedy "Retired at 35," With Christine Ebersole, George Segal, Jessica Walter, Debuts Jan. 19" Archived 2011-02-22 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, January 19, 2011
12. Christine Ebersole at IMDb
13. Gans, Andrew. ""Royal Pains" TV Series, with Tony Winner Ebersole, Debuts June 4" Playbill, June 4, 2009
14. Abrams, Natalie. "First Look: NBA star Muggsy Bogues cameos on 'Royal Pains'" Entertainment Weekly, May 28, 2015
15. Klein, Alvin."THEATER; 'Paper Moon' Changes Its Outlook as a Musical"The New York Times, September 26, 1993
16. Jones, Kenneth and Simonson, Robert. "Tony-Winner Ebersole Returns to '42nd Street' March 12" Playbill, March 12, 2002
17. Gans, Andrew."Christine Ebersole Surprised By 2003 Tony Nomination" Archived January 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 17, 2003
18. Jones, Kenneth. "Still Teasing: 'Steel Magnolias' Plays Its 100th Performance June 30" Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, June 30, 2005
19. Gans, Andrew and Jones, Kenneth."'Grey Gardens 'Will Close on Broadway July 29" Archived 2011-11-03 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, July 2, 2007
20. Gans, Andrew."'Blithe Spirit' Revival, with Lansbury, Ebersole and Everett, Opens on Broadway March 15" Archived 2013-12-11 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, March 15, 2009
21. Gans, Andrew. "Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole Apply 'War Paint', Starting Tonight" Playbill, June 28, 2016
22. Gans, Andrew. "Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole Apply 'War Paint' on Broadway, Starting March 7" Playbill, March 7, 2017
23. Gans, Andrew. "Tony Winner Christine Ebersole Begins Carlyle Engagement Jan. 11" Archived 2011-01-12 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, January 11, 2011
24. Holden, Stephen. "Channeling a Chummier Time, in Tandem" The New York Times, September 11, 2009
25. Rudetsky, Seth. "Onstage & Backstage: A Playbill Cruise With Christine Ebersole, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Andrea Martin and Debra Monk" Archived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, Sep 26, 2011
26. Gans, Andrew. "Christine Ebersole Will Offer Strings Attached Concerts at Birdland" Playbill, November 22, 2011
27. DeVore, Sheryl (October 20, 2015). "Christine Ebersole returns to roots with 'Big Noise from Winnetka'". Chicago Tribune.
28. Jones, Kenneth. "Someday I'll Find You": Ebersole Will Record Blithe Spirit Interlude Songs for CD" Playbill, March 31, 2009
29. Drexel, Paul. "Night and Day" New Jersey Monthly, December 19, 2007
30. La Gorce, Tammy (October 14, 2007). "For Future Teachers, a New Look on the Runway". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
31. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/christine-ebersole-39183

External links

• Official website
• Christine Ebersole at IMDb
• Christine Ebersole at the Internet Broadway Database
• Christine Ebersole at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Production: Grey Gardens Working in the Theatre by the American Theatre Wing, November 2006
• Performance Working in the Theatre video from the American Theatre Wing, September 2001
• Star File: Christine Ebersole at Broadway.com
• Interview with Christine Ebersole, TonyAwards.com
• interview with Christine Ebersole, BroadwayWorld.com, August 16, 2007