Denise Dillon (born May 18, 1951) is an American actress and comedian best known for starring as Toby Pedalbee on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

comedy '' Dream On'' from 1990 to 1996. Dillon was first known for her stage work and was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

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 ...

. Other television credits include spending one season as a cast member on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' from 1980 to 1981 and co-starring on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom ''

Women in Prison This article discusses the incarceration of women in correctional facilities. As of 2013 across the world, 625,000 women and children were being held in penal institutions, and the female prison population was increasing in all continents.

''. She subsequently continued to act in theater and both teaches and performs improv comedy.

Early life

Dillon was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. She has lived in New York City and Los Angeles before moving to

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

Career

Early work

Dillon has performed on the

stage, appearing as Agnes in the 1974 revival of ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

; in the 1975 revival of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

's ''

The Skin of Our Teeth ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 194 ...

''; in the 1980 stage version of ''Harold and Maude''; and as Mickey in the 1983 Gershwin musical '' My One and Only'', starring

Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

and

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

, for which she received a nomination for a

for Featured Actress in a Musical. She later appeared as a replacement cast member in the 2003 Broadway play ''Enchanted April''. Dillon made her big screen debut in ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'', playing Doreen, who asks

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

's character Tony if she can wipe his forehead.

''Saturday Night Live''

Dillon auditioned for the premiere season of the late night variety television program ''

'' in 1975, and though she was passed over by producer

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

, she performed her "Talent Night at the Convent" act during the show's third episode, broadcast October 25, 1975. She beat out

Mercedes Ruehl Mercedes J. Ruehl (; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, an ...

for the final female cast member slot. ;Recurring ''SNL'' characters * Debbie, Valley Girl Vickie's (

Gail Matthius Gail Matthius (born December 14, 1953) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season, produced by Jean Doumanian), and ...

) best friend * Mary Louise, a mentally disturbed child who scares people with her hand puppet, Sam the Snake * Nadine, the neurotic frequent customer at Roweena's (Gail Matthius) Cut 'n Curl * Pinky Waxman, Leo Waxman's (

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous ro ...

) wife and co-host on "What's It All About?" ;Celebrity Impressions on ''SNL'' *

Amy Carter Amy Lynn Carter (born October 19, 1967) is the daughter of the thirty-ninth U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his First Lady of the United States, first lady Rosalynn Carter. Carter entered the limelight as a child when she lived in the White Hou ...

* Betsy Maxwell *

Jean Harris Jean Struven Harris (April 27, 1923 – December 23, 2012) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia, who made national news in the early 1980s when she was tried and convicted of the murder of her ex-lover, Herma ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

Other work

Dillon appeared as Toby Pedalbee, the

Brian Benben Brian Edward Benben (born June 18, 1956) is an American actor, best known for his role as Martin Tupper in the HBO comedy television series '' Dream On'' (1990–1996), and also known as Sheldon Wallace on ABC medical drama ''Private Practice'' ...

's abusive yet loyal assistant, on the

cable sitcom '' Dream On'', starting in 1990. She was the voice of Meadow Morn in the 1983 animated TV special ''

The Magic of Herself the Elf ''The Magic of Herself the Elf'' (also known by its on-screen title, ''The Special Magic of Herself the Elf'') is a 1983 American animated television special that premiered in the United States on July 30, 1983 in broadcast syndication. The specia ...

''. Other television roles include an episode of ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...

'' entitled "Educating Rhonda" (Dillon). She played Judy on the TV series comedy '' Dr. Science'' (1987)."Denny Dillon Filmography"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', accessed January 6, 2012 In 1994 she portrayed

Roseanne Barr Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and former presidential candidate. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom '' Roseanne'' (1988– ...

in the made-for-TV film ''Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography''. In 2002 Dillon did voice work in the animated film ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

''. In regional theatre, Dillon appeared in the new musical ''Triumph of Love'' at Center Stage,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, in December 1996, as one of a "comic trio of clowns". She appeared in the

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

plays ''8 by Tenn'' at the Hartford Stage in 2003. Dillon starred as Beatrice in the world premiere of Tom Dudzick's ''Don't Talk to the Actors'' at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, New York in September 2007. In October - November 2010 she appeared in a new musical in "development", ''Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach'' at

Goodspeed Musicals Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

Chester, Connecticut Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engla ...

. In January 2012 she stars as Berthe in '' Boeing-Boeing'' at Hartford Stage. Dillon has headed the "Improv Nation", based in the Hudson Valley (New York), since 2006. She is an Artist in-Residence at

SUNY Ulster SUNY Ulster (Ulster County Community College) is a public community college with its main campus in Stone Ridge, New York, in Ulster County. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The college also maintains facilities in ...

where she teaches improvisation and is on the faculty of Primary Stages."Meet Our Faculty. Denny Dillon"
PrimaryStages.org, accessed January 6, 2012

Personal life

In an August 2020 interview with ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'', Dillon said she was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and had married Barbara Smiley a year and a half prior. They live in New York's

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

. Although she was out to most of her colleagues during her time on ''Saturday Night Live'', she was uncertain if producer

Jean Doumanian Jean Doumanian ( Karabas; born July 28, 1936) is an American stage, television and film producer. She briefly produced ''Saturday Night Live'', between November 1980 and March 1981. Early life Doumanian was born Jean (or Jeannine) Karabas, th ...

or NBC executive

Dick Ebersol Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the O ...

were aware, saying, "It was a different time."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Denny 1951 births Actresses from Cleveland American film actresses American sketch comedians American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses American lesbian actresses Lesbian comedians LGBT people from Ohio Living people Syracuse University alumni American musical theatre actresses 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women