Julia Anne Bovasso (August 1, 1930 – September 14, 1991) was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.

Life and career

Bovasso was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of this borough, the daughter of Angela Mary (née Padovani) and Bernard Michael Bovasso, a teamster. She was Albanian-Italian-American.

She attended The High School of Music & Art in Manhattan.

Bovasso appeared in numerous films, including Saturday Night Fever (1977) as Florence Manero, the mother of John Travolta's character, Tony Manero. She reprised the role in the film's 1983 sequel Staying Alive. Before Saturday Night Fever, she appeared in the 1970 Otto Preminger film Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.

On-stage, Bavasso wrote and appeared in avant-garde productions off-Broadway such as Jean Genet's The Maids. For the latter, she won the first Best Actress Obie (Off-Broadway) Award in 1956, presented to her by Shelley Winters. From 1968 to 1975, she directed many of her own original works at La MaMa, including Gloria and Esperanza, Schubert's Last Serenade, The Moondreamers, Standard Safety, and The Nothing Kid. A sought-after acting coach, Bovasso was known as an exacting instructor and her private New York workshops regularly included prominent performers. As per the DVD commentary, Bovasso coached both Cher and Olympia Dukakis on their Brooklyn accents in the film Moonstruck.

In earlier performances, she played Rose Corelli Fraser in the short-lived soap opera From These Roots. She was fired from that show due to a disagreement with producers.

Marriage

Bovasso was married to painter George Earl Ortman for 30 years until her death in 1991.

Death

In September 1991, Bovasso died in New York City of cancer at age 61.

  • Schubert's Last Serenade
  • Gloria and Esperanza
  • Monday on the Way to Mercury Island

References

  • Julie Bovasso at La MaMa Archive