Bernadette Peters (born February 28, 1948 in New York City, New York) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theater, film 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 (plus an honorary award), and nine Drama Desk Awards, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.
Regarded by many as the foremost interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim, Peters is particularly noted for her roles on the Broadway stage, including musicals Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Song and Dance, Into the Woods, Annie Get Your Gun, The Goodbye Girl, Gypsy and Hello, Dolly!.
Notable Roles:
- Into the Woods: The Witch
- The Longest Yard (1974): Miss Toot
- Silent Movie (1976): Vilma Kaplan, the Ms. Fanservice Head-Turning Beauty
- The Jerk (1979): Marie
- Pennies from Heaven (1981): Eileen/"Lulu"
- Annie (1982): Lily St. Regis
- Faerie Tale Theatre (1983): Sleeping Beauty and Princess Debbie
- Pink Cadillac (1989): Lou Ann McGuinn
- Animaniacs (1993–96): voice of Rita
- The Odyssey (1997 NBC miniseries): Circe
- Cinderella (1997 The Wonderful World of Disney Made-for-TV Movie): The Wicked Stepmother
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997 Direct to Video): voice of Angelique
- Anastasia (1997): voice of Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff
- Smash (2012–13): Leigh Conroy
- Mozart in the Jungle (2014–18): Gloria Windsor
- Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020-21): as Deb
Tropes that apply to Bernadette Peters include:
- Beauty Inversion: As the Witch in the first act of Into the Woods, she wore prosthetics to appear old and ugly. At the end of the first act, when the Witch's beauty is restored, the prosthetics came off, allowing Peters to showcase her natural beauty for the whole second act.
- Cover Album: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight has her tackling songs from a variety of genres.
- Cover Version: Peters' self-titled debut album in 1980 included her version of Carla Thomas' 1961 hit "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)," which became Peters' first and only Top 40 hit single.
- Large Ham: At her hammiest as the aforementioned witch.
- Levitating a Lady: Being levitated by David Copperfield.
- Special Guest: In The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Saturday Night Live and The Magic of David Copperfield, among others.