This page uses content from the Mercedes Ruehl biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Mercedes Ruehl (born February 28, 1948) is an Academy Award-winning United States theater and film actress of Cuban, Irish, and Panamanian descent.

Career

Ruehl began her career in regional theatre, taking odd jobs between engagements. In the late 1970s, Ruehl began chalking up New York stage successes, notably in I'm Not Rappaport (1985).

On the stage, she won the 1985 Obie Award for her performance in The Marriage of Bette and Boo and twenty years later, an Obie for Woman Before a Glass. She also received a 1991 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for Lost in Yonkers. Her performances in two other plays earned her two other Tony nominations:

• In 1995 as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for a revival of The Shadow Box;
• In 2002 as Best Actress (Play) for Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?.

Her most acclaimed film role was in The Fisher King; her performance in the film earned her the 1992 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as well as an American Comedy Award, a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Golden Globe. Earlier she had won the 1989 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Married to the Mob.

She played KACL station manager Kate Costas in five episodes of Frasier, and had a major role in the made-for-TV film All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story.

She has also played the mother of Vincent Chase in HBO's Entourage.

Personal life

Ruehl was born in Queens, New York. She attended College of New Rochellehttp://www.cnr.edu/CNR/cnr-wealth.html and graduated in 1969.

She is married to painter David Geiserhttp://www.artdealers.org/events/forum07t.html with whom she has a son, Jake. She had another son, Christopher, who she gave up for adoption in the 1970s; Christopher later became Jake's godfatherhttp://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019603/bio.

Filmography

• A Happy Death (2007) .... Aunt Rosa
• A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story (2006) (TV) .... Sylvia Guerrero
• Entourage (2006) HBO .... Mrs. Chase
• Mom at Sixteen (2005) (TV) .... Terry Jeffries
• Law & Order (2004) TV Episode .... Zina Rybakov
• Zeyda and the Hitman (2004) .... Esther
• Bad Apple (2004) (TV) .... Lorraine Gibbons
• 1-800-Missing (2004) TV Episode .... Emanuelle Baker
• Widows (2002) (mini) TV Series .... Dolly Rawlins
• Guilt by Association (2002) (TV) .... Susan Walker
• Mr. Life (2001) (TV)
• The Lost Child (2000) (TV) .... Rebecca
• The Amati Girls (2000) .... Grace
• More Dogs Than Bones (2000) .... Victoria 'Vic' Galletti
• What's Cooking? (2000) .... Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Avila
• All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story (2000) (TV) .... Jane Newhall
• Spooky House (2000) .... Boss
• Out of the Cold (1999) .... Tina
• The Minus Man (1999) .... Jane Durwin
• Gia (1998) (TV) .... Kathleen Carangi
• SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground (1997) (TV) .... Leyla (segment "Underground")
• North Shore Fish (1997) (TV) .... Florence
• Roseanna's Grave (1997) .... Roseanna 'Rosa'
• Frasier (1995 - 1996) .... Kate Costas
• Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995) (TV) .... Lael Rubin
• On Hope (1994) (TV) .... Wendy
• Last Action Hero (1993) .... Irene Madigan
• Lost in Yonkers (1993) .... Bella Kurnitz
• The Fisher King (1991) .... Anne Napolitano (awarded Oscar for Best-Supporting Actress
• Another You (1991) .... Elaine
• The Cosby Show (1990) TV Episode .... Bernadette Foley
• Crazy People (1990) .... Dr. Liz Baylor
• Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) (uncredited) .... Party Guest
• Slaves of New York (1989) .... Samantha
• Married to the Mob (1988) .... Connie Russo
• Big (1988) .... Mrs. Baskin
• The Secret of My Success (1987) .... Sheila
• 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) .... Kay
• Radio Days (1987) .... Ad Men
• Leader of the Band (1987) .... Miss Cooper
• Heartburn (1986) .... Eve
• Kate & Allie (1986) TV Episode (as herself)
• Twisted (1986) .... Cybelle
• Our Family Honor (1985) TV Episode .... Louise Taylor
• Mom's on Strike (1984) (TV) .... Sandy
• Four Friends (1981) .... Woman in Taxi
• The Warriors (1979) .... Policewoman in Central Park
• Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (1976) .... American girl in casino

References

External links

• ITDb
• Ruehl Rules, a May 2005 Playbill article
• Brief Encounter with Mercedes Ruehl, a May 2002 Playbill interview

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