Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and comedian, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films and television series. Stritch was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Stritch made her Broadway debut in the 1946 comedy Loco. She went on to receive four Tony Award nominations for the William Inge play Bus Stop (1956), the Noël Coward musical Sail Away (1961), the Stephen Sondheim musical Company (1970) (which included her performance of the song "The Ladies Who Lunch"), and for the revival of the Edward Albee play A Delicate Balance (1996). Her fifth nomination was for her one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.
Stritch relocated to London in the 1970s and starred in several West End productions, including Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings (1973) and Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady (1974). She also starred with Donald Sinden in the ITV sitcom Two's Company (1975–79), which earned her a 1979 BAFTA TV Award nomination. She won an Emmy Award in 1993 for her guest role on Law & Order and another for the 2004 television documentary of her one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty. From 2007 to 2012, she had a recurring role as Colleen Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, a role that won her a third Emmy in 2007.
Early life
Stritch was born on February 2, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest daughter of Mildred (née Jobe), a homemaker, and George Joseph Stritch, an executive with B.F. Goodrich. She had two older sisters, Georgene and Sally. Her Catholic family was well-off. Her father was of Irish descent, while her mother had Welsh ancestry. Cardinal Samuel Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago from 1940 to 1958, was one of her cousins. She trained at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School for Social Research in New York City under Erwin Piscator, alongside Marlon Brando, Bea Arthur, and Harry Belafonte.
Career
Early stage career
Stritch made her stage debut in 1944. Her later Broadway debut was in Loco in 1946, directed by Jed Harris, followed soon after by Made in Heaven (as a replacement), and then Angel in the Wings (1947), a revue in which she performed comedy sketches and the song "Civilization".
Stritch understudied Ethel Merman for Call Me Madam, and, at the same time, appeared in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey, singing "Zip". During out-of-town tryouts in Boston, Coward was "unsure about the dramatic talents" of one of the leads, opera singer Jean Fenn.