BRENDA VACCARO
Brenda Vaccaro is a veteran American stage, film, television, and voice actress whose career spans more than five decades. She first rose to prominence on Broadway, earning multiple Tony Awards nominations for performances in productions like Cactus Flower and How Now, Dow Jones. Her transition to film brought critical acclaim, including an Academy Awards nomination and a Golden Globe Awards win for her role in Once Is Not Enough, along with standout appearances in Midnight Cowboy alongside Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight.
On television, Vaccaro became a familiar presence with roles in series such as Friends and The King of Queens, earning a Primetime Emmy Awards for her work in variety programming. In addition to her on-screen success, she built a notable voice-over career, lending her distinctive voice to animated favorites like Johnny Bravo and The Critic.
Continuing to work across mediums, Vaccaro remains active in both live-action and voice roles, most recently appearing in And Just Like That…. With her unmistakable voice and enduring screen presence, she continues to bring depth and character to contemporary projects, including ongoing voice-over work in animation and television.
VOICE OVER
INTERVIEW (CBS)
Brenda Buell Vaccaro (born November 18, 1939) American stage, film and television actress. In a career spanning over half a century, she received one Academy Award nomination, three Golden Globe Award nominations (winning one), four Primetime Emmy Award nominations (winning one), and three Tony Award nominations.
Vaccaro’s Broadway credits include The Affair (1962), Cactus Flower (1965), the musical How Now, Dow Jones (1967), The Goodbye People (1968), the female version of The Odd Couple (1985), and Jake’s Women (1992).[6] The husky-voiced actress is a three-time Tony Award nominee, for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Cactus Flower), Best Actress in a Musical (Dow Jones), and Best Actress in a Play (The Goodbye People). She was featured on the May 29, 1970 cover of Life magazine.
Vaccaro appeared with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Ethel Rosenberg in Stanley Kramer’s Judgment: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1974, and for her performance in the 1975 film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough, she gained an Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Additional screen credits include Airport ’77; Capricorn One; The Pride of Jesse Hallam, Supergirl; The Mirror Has Two Faces; Heart of Midnight; Zorro, The Gay Blade; and Death Weekend, also known as House by the Lake.
Her television credits include the title role in the 1976 series Sara, a number of television movies, and a regular role in the short-lived 1984 series Paper Dolls, in addition to guest appearances on Banacek, The Fugitive, The Defenders, Coronet Blue, The Name of the Game, Marcus Welby, M.D., McCloud, The Streets of San Francisco, The Love Boat, St. Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Columbo, Touched by an Angel, Friends (as the mother of Matt LeBlanc’s “Joey”), The King of Queens, and Nip/Tuck. She was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and won for Best Supporting Actress in Comedy-Variety, Variety or Music for The Shape of Things in 1974.
Vaccaro was lampooned by Andrea Martin on SCTV for a groundbreaking 1980 commercial appearance for feminine hygiene products
She supplied the voice for Johnny Bravo’s mother Bunny Bravo in the animated cartoon series. She was the first voice of Jay’s (Jon Lovitz)’s ex-wife Ardeth on The Critic. She made an appearance on The Smurfs as Scruple, an apprentice of Gargamel, opposite Paul Winchell.
After ill health forced Valerie Harper to bow out of the production of Nice Work If You Can Get It at the Ogunquit Playhouse (Maine), Vaccaro took over the role of Millicent Winter for the remaining performances of theo limited run from August 4–15, 2015.
She played Jack Kevorkian’s (Al Pacino)’s sister in You Don’t Know Jack (2010). She plays Gloria Marquette in the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That
