Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress and singer. Originally from Detroit, she moved to New York City to study acting at the New School, where her fellow students included Marlon Brando and Bea Arthur.
Stritch appeared on Jackie Gleason's variety show, playing Trixie Norton in one The Honeymooners sketch before the role was reassigned to Joyce Randolph. In the coming decades, however, she would primarily make her name in the theatre, earning a Tony Award nomination for Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance and giving showy performances in the Stephen Sondheim musicals Company and Follies. She would eventually win a Tony in 2002, for her one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty.
Stritch lived in the United Kingdom for much of the 1970s and early '80s, during which time she starred on the sitcom Twos Company and was a regular reader for the children's series Jackanory. Notable roles following her return to the United States included the films Out to Sea and Small Time Crooks and her recurring role on 30 Rock as Colleen Donaghy, mother of Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy. The latter won her an Emmy Award.
Stritch died in 2014 in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, Michigan. She had been married to actor John Bay from 1973 until his death in 1982. The actor Ed Lauter was her cousin.
Filmography
- 1956 The Scarlet Hour: Phyllis Ricker
- 1956 Three Violent People: Ruby LaSalle
- 1957 A Farewell to Arms: Helen Ferguson
- 1958 The Perfect Furlough: Liz Baker
- 1965 Who Killed Teddy Bear: Marian Freeman
- 1966 Too Many Thieves: Miss G
- 1970 The Sidelong Glances Of A Pigeon Kicker: Tough Lady
- 1975 The Spiral Staircase: Nurse
- 1977 Providence: Helen Wiener
- 1987 September: Diane
- 1988 Cocoon: The Return: Ruby
- 1990 Cadillac Man: Widow
- 1991 Chance Of A Lifetime: Sybil Sedgwick (Made-for-TV Movie)
- 1997 Out to Sea: Mavis LaBreche
- 1998 Krippendorf's Tribe: Irene Hargrove
- 2000 Screwed: Miss Virginia Crock
- 2000 Small Time Crooks: Chi Chi Potter
- 2000 Autumn In New York: Dolly
- 2005 Monster-in-Law: Gertrude
- 2005 Romance & Cigarettes: Nick’s Mother
- 2012 ParaNorman: Grandma
- 2014 River Of Fundament: Eulogist
- 1959 Adventures In Paradise: Ethel Forester (1 episode)
- 1960 Wagon Train: Tracy Sadler (1 episode)
- 1960-61 My Sister Eileen: Ruth Sherwood
- 1963 The Doctors And The Nurses: Irma Downey (1 episode)
- 1965-66 The Trials Of O Neil: Miss G (edited into the film Too Many Thieves)
- 1973 Pollyanna: Aunt Polly
- 1973-79 Jackanory: Storyteller (15 episodes)
- 1975 Shades Of Greene: Patience (1 episode)
- 1975-79 Twos Company: Dorothy McNab
- 1979-80 Tales of the Unexpected: Mary Pearl/Pamela Beauchamp (2 episodes)
- 1980-82 Nobodys Perfect: Bill Hooper
- 1983 Trapper John, M.D.: Dr. Mary Gerrard
- 1983-84 The Edge of Night: Mrs. DeGroot (14 episodes)
- 1986-87 The Ellen Burstyn Show: Sydney Brewer
- 1988 Tattingers: Fanny (1 episode)
- 1989-90 The Cosby Show: Mrs. McGee (3 episodes)
- 1990 Head of the Class: Mrs. Hartman (2 episodes)
- 1992-97 Law & Order: Lanie Stieglitz (2 episodes)
- 1995 Bless This House: Sheila (1 episode)
- 1997-98 Soul Man: Mrs. Foster (2 episodes)
- 1997-2001 3rd Rock from the Sun: Martha Albright (2 episodes)
- 1998 Oz: Judge Grace Lema (1 episode)
- 2007-12 30 Rock: Colleen Donaghy (9 episodes)
- 2014 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja: Ruth (1 episode)
