- published: 20 Aug 2010
- views: 2256
Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth ( /ˌbiːətrɪs ˌbiːbiː ˈnjuːwɜrθ/; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, musician and dancer. She has worked in television and is known for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin, Dr. Frasier Crane's wife (later ex-wife), on both the TV sitcom Cheers (in a starring role), and its spin-off Frasier (in a recurring guest role). On stage, she is also known for originating the role of Nickie in the revival of Sweet Charity, the role of Velma Kelly in the revival of Chicago (for both of which she earned a Tony award) and for the role of Morticia Addams in The Addams Family musical.
Neuwirth was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of Sydney Anne, a painter, and Lee Paul Neuwirth, a mathematician. She has an older brother Peter, an actuary. Neuwirth is Jewish and attended Chapin School in New Jersey as well as Princeton Day School (New Jersey) of Princeton, but graduated from Princeton High School (a public school) in 1976. She began to study ballet at the age of five, and chose it as her field of concentration when she attended Juilliard in New York City in 1976 and 1977. During this period, she performed with the Princeton Ballet Company in Peter and the Wolf, The Nutcracker, and Coppélia and appeared in community theater musicals. Neuwirth always dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer; the only other career she seriously contemplated was being a veterinarian.
Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress notable for her appearances in such award-winning indie films as Mystic Pizza, Say Anything..., Short Cuts and I Shot Andy Warhol, and the acclaimed TV show Six Feet Under.
Taylor, the fifth of six children, was born in Glencoe, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Marie, a professional babysitter, and Park Taylor, a folk artist and hardware store operator. She grew up in a "warm family environment" and has described herself as being "a bit of a searcher" during her childhood. Taylor graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1985. Thereafter, she attended The Theatre School at DePaul University and the Piven Theatre Workshop. Lili introduced Louise Post and Nina Gordon, founding members of 1990s alternative band Veruca Salt, at a party in Chicago in 1993.[citation needed] She is married to Nick Flynn. They have a daughter together, Maeve Flynn.[citation needed]
Taylor has appeared in dozens of films since 1988, including Dogfight, Mystic Pizza, and Rudy. Her work has mostly been in independent films and theater. She played the role of Lisa Kimmel Fisher (mostly in the second and third seasons) in the HBO drama Six Feet Under for which she was nominated for an Emmy award.
Hope Davis (born March 23, 1964) is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland.
Davis, second of three children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan, a librarian (and also the former librarian for the elementary section of the Elisabeth Morrow School), and William Davis, an engineer. Davis has described her mother as a "great storyteller" who would take Davis and her siblings to museums or to "something cultural" every Sunday after church. Davis graduated in 1982 from Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey, and was a childhood friend of Mira Sorvino, with whom she wrote and acted in backyard plays.
She is married to actor Jon Patrick Walker. They have two daughters, Georgia (born August 31, 2002) and Mae (born December 30, 2004).
Davis majored in cognitive science at Vassar College, but then made her debut as a dramatic actress in the 1990 film Flatliners, starring as William Baldwin's fiancée. She then appeared in the hit film "Home Alone" in a small role as a Parisian airport receptionist. Later, she starred in independent films such as The Daytrippers (1995) and Next Stop Wonderland (1998). These led her to roles in Hollywood films such as the thriller Arlington Road (1999), and About Schmidt (2002). In 2003, she starred opposite Paul Giamatti in the movie adaptation of the Harvey Pekar comic American Splendor as the comic book version of Pekar's real-life wife, Joyce Brabner. For this role, Davis won the New York Film Critics Circle award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2009, she was cast as Hillary Rodham Clinton in the BBC / HBO film The Special Relationship, released in 2010. She has received a nomination for Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie for her performance as Clinton.