Christina Pickles (born 17 February 1935) is a British-American actress. She is known for her role as
Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama ''
St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988), for which she received five nominations for the
. She is also known for her recurring role as
Judy Geller
Various characters appeared in the sitcom ''Friends'' and its Spin-off (media), spin-off series ''Joey (TV series), Joey'', which respectively aired for ten seasons and two seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2006. ''Friends'' featured six main cast member ...
on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
sitcom ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'' (1994, 1996–2003), for which she was nominated for the 1995
.
Pickles appeared in
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
plays in the 1960s and 1970s, including ''
The Misanthrope
''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris b ...
'' (1968) and ''
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
'' (1975), and starred on the daytime soap operas ''
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...
'' (1970–1972, 2007) and ''
Another World'' (1977–1979). Her film appearances include ''
Masters of the Universe
''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...
'' (1987), ''
Legends of the Fall
''Legends of the Fall'' is a 1994 American epic Western drama film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison, the fil ...
'' (1994), ''
Romeo + Juliet
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pr ...
'' (1996), and ''
The Wedding Singer
''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...
'' (1998). She won the 2018
for the
Vimeo
Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...
series ''Break a Hip''.
Early life
Christina Pickles was born in
Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire (now
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
[ the daughter of Arthur Pickles, ]Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of Halifax, and Gladys (née Crampton) Pickles. She is the niece of radio presenter Wilfred Pickles
Wilfred Pickles, OBE (13 October 1904 – 27 March 1978) was an English actor and radio presenter.
Early life and personal life
Pickles was born in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He moved to Southport, Lancashire, with his family i ...
and the sister of judge James Pickles
James Pickles (18 March 1925 – 18 December 2010) was an English barrister and circuit judge and who later became a tabloid newspaper columnist. He became known for his controversial sentencing decisions and press statements.
He suffered a se ...
. Her niece Carolyn Pickles
Carolyn Pickles (born 8 February 1952) is an English actress who has appeared in West End theatre and on British television. She is known for playing DCI Kim Reid in ''The Bill'' and Shelley Williams in ''Emmerdale''.
Life and career
Pickles ...
is also an actress.
Christina Pickles began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at age 15 and studied alongside Albert Finney
Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960) ...
, Peter O’Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...
, and Brian Bedford. After graduating, she moved to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the late 1950s
The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959.
Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...
, residing initially with friend and classmate Donald Moffat
Donald Moffat (26 December 1930 – 20 December 2018) was a British–American actor with a decades-long career in film and stage in the United States. He began his acting career on- and off-Broadway, which included appearances in ''The Wild D ...
and his wife.
Career
In 1961, Pickles began her acting career in ''Look Back in Anger'' at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. She performed in ''Measure for Measure
''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the ''First Folio'' of 1623.
The play's plot features its ...
'' in Joe Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park
Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...
, then won the lead role in George Devine's ''The Way of the World
''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is stil ...
'', despite auditioning for the maid's role. After her Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
debut in '' A Severed Head'' in 1964, other Broadway productions followed, including ''Inadmissible Evidence
Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder—usually a judge or jury—to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. Fo ...
'', '' You Can't Take It with You'', ''War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'', ''The Misanthrope
''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris b ...
'', ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', and ''Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
''.
At the same time, Pickles debuted on television, playing Linell Conway on ''Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...
'' (1970–1972, 2007). She played Countess Elena dePoulignac on the NBC soap opera '' Another World'' (1977–1979). She appeared in such feature films as ''Seizure
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
'' (1974) and ''Rush It
''Rush It'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film co-written and directed by Gary Youngman. The directorial debut film also featured the first acting role in a film by Tom Berenger.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075157/trivia
Premise
A female b ...
'' (1977). After moving from New York City to Los Angeles, Pickles was cast as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama '' St. Elsewhere''. The series aired from 1982 to 1988. She remained on ''St. Elsewhere'' for its entire six-year run and was nominated for five for her work on the series.
She later was a regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom '' The People Next Door'', which aired in 1989. She went to appear on ''Family Ties
''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States f ...
'', '' Who's the Boss?'', '' In the Heat of the Night'', '' Matlock'', ''The Nanny
''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three chi ...
'', ''Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
'', and ''Touched by an Angel
''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced b ...
''.
From 1994 to 2003, Pickles played the recurring role of Judy Geller
Various characters appeared in the sitcom ''Friends'' and its Spin-off (media), spin-off series ''Joey (TV series), Joey'', which respectively aired for ten seasons and two seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2006. ''Friends'' featured six main cast member ...
, the mother of Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
and Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of ...
(David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...
and Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
), in the NBC sitcom ''Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'', making appearances throughout the 10-year run of the series. She received a nomination for this role in 1995.[ Pickles played the mother of ]Harmon Rabb
Harmon 'Harm' Rabb, Jr. is a fictional character and lead role in the American television series '' JAG''. The character was created by Donald P. Bellisario, as a work for hire for Paramount Television, in the script for the ''JAG'' pilot ep ...
in the CBS drama series '' JAG'' from 1998 to 2000. From 1999 to 2000, she starred in the short-lived Fox comedy-drama series '' Get Real''.
Pickles has appeared in many films, including ''Masters of the Universe
''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...
'' (1987), '' Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love'' (1994), ''Legends of the Fall
''Legends of the Fall'' is a 1994 American epic Western drama film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison, the fil ...
'' (1994) directed by Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and historical drama, epic historical film genres, including ''About Last Night (1986 film), About L ...
, ''Grace of My Heart
''Grace of My Heart'' is a 1996 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Allison Anders and starring Illeana Douglas, Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz, Patsy Kensit, and John Turturro. The film charts the music career of Denise Waverly ...
'' (1996), Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
's ''Romeo + Juliet
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pr ...
'' (1996), ''The Wedding Singer
''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...
'' (1998), ''Sol Goode
''Sol Goode'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Danny Comden. The lead role of Sol Goode is played by Balthazar Getty; other cast include Katharine Towne, Jamie Kennedy, Danny Comden, and Cheri Oteri. The film feature ...
'' (2003), ''George of the Jungle 2
''George of the Jungle 2'' is a 2003 comedy film and the sequel to the 1997 Disney film ''George of the Jungle''. It was directed by David Grossman, written by Jordan Moffet, and stars Thomas Haden Church, Julie Benz, Christina Pickles, Angus T. ...
'' (2003), and '' Atlas Shrugged: Part I'' (2011). She has had roles in a number of made-for-television movies.
In the 2000s, Pickles appeared in a few episodes of ''How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...
'' as Lily Aldrin's grandmother, and guest-starred on ''The Division
''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...
'', ''Medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
*Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
'', and ''Childrens Hospital
''Childrens Hospital'' (originally titled ''Children's Hospital'' as webisodes) is an American black comedy television show, television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Cord ...
''. In 2016, she was cast in the ABC drama pilot ''The Death Of Eva Sofia Valdez'', starring Gina Torres
Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...
in a title role. In 2018, she received her seventh Emmy nomination (in category for " Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series"), and her first in 23 years, for the comedic web series ''Break a Hip''.
Personal life
Pickles was married to producer/director Victor Lobl for 23 years, divorcing in 1985. She became a United States citizen in 1989. She was romantically linked to actor Herb Edelman
Herbert Edelman (November 5, 1933 – July 21, 1996) was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best-known roles was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of ...
, who also played her significant other on ''St. Elsewhere'', from the mid-1980s until his death in 1996.
In 2005, she married Australian-American journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
Ian Masters.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickles, Christina
1935 births
Living people
English emigrants to the United States
Actresses from Yorkshire
English film actresses
English soap opera actresses
English stage actresses
English television actresses
People with acquired American citizenship
American film actresses
American soap opera actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Primetime Emmy Award winners
21st-century American women