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 Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and raised in the

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

neighborhood of that borough, the daughter of Angela Mary (née Padovani) and Bernard Michael Bovasso, a teamster. She was of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. She attended

The High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

in Manhattan.Rothstein, Mervyn (September 17, 1991)
"Julie Bovasso, a Dramatist, 61; Active in Avant-Garde Theater"
''

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 ...

''. Bovasso appeared in numerous films, including ''

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 ...

'' (1977) as Florence Manero, the mother of

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 Manero. She reprised the role in the film's 1983 sequel, '' Staying Alive''. Prior to ''

'', she appeared in the 1970

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

film, ''

Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon ''Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Otto Preminger. The film is based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Marjorie Kellogg. Plot Junie Moon is a girl whose face was scarred in ...

''. In addition to Staying Alive, she was in a number of films in the 1980s, including ''

Willie & Phil ''Willie & Phil'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder, and Ray Sharkey. Plot The film is set in late 1970s New York City, amidst the counterculture chic of that e ...

'' (1980), ''

The Verdict ''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. It stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, an ...

'' (1982), ''

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

'' (1983), '' Off Beat'' (1986), '' Wise Guys'' (1986), ''

Moonstruck ''Moonstruck'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. The film follows L ...

'' (1987). In the 1990s, Bovasso was seen in ''

Betsy's Wedding ''Betsy's Wedding'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Alan Alda. The film stars Alda, Joey Bishop, Madeline Kahn, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Pesci, Ally Sheedy, Bibi Besch, Burt Young, and Molly Ringwald. It was theatr ...

'' (1990) and '' My Blue Heaven'' (1990). On-stage, Bavasso wrote and appeared in avant-garde productions

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

such as

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

's ''

The Maids ''The Maids'' (french: Les Bonnes, links=no) is a 1947 play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed. The pla ...

''. For the latter, she won the first Best Actress Obie (Off-Broadway) Award in 1956, presented to her by

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

. Prior to her film work, Bovasso established the experimental Tempo Playhouse at 4 St. Marks Place in Manhattan during the 1950s. There, she introduced works of the Theater of the Absurd, including those of the playwrights

Eugene Ionesco Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

and

Michel de Ghelderode Michel de Ghelderode (born Adémar Adolphe Louis Martens, 3 April 1898 – 1 April 1962) was an avant-garde Belgian dramatist, from Flanders, who spoke and wrote in French. His works often deal with the extremes of human experience, from death an ...

, to the professional theater in the United States. Bovasso also performed with

The Living Theater The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/po ...

and had a longstanding relationship with

La Mama Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

. Between 1968 and 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''. In addition to her work as a director and actor, her playwriting credits include the four-hour play ''Gloria and Esperanza,'' which ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' theatre critic Jerry Tallmer described as "a miracle, a mythopoetic fireworks display." 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 Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

and

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...

on their Brooklyn accents in the film ''Moonstruck''. In her earlier acting days, she played Rose Corelli Fraser in the short-lived soap opera ''

From These Roots ''From These Roots'' is an American soap opera that aired from June 30, 1958, to December 29, 1961. It was created and written by Frank Provo and John Pickard. The show was seen on NBC. Storyline Actress Ann Flood starred as Elizabeth "Liz" F ...

''. She was subsequently fired from that show, due to a disagreement with producers.

Marriage

Bovasso was married to painter

George Earl Ortman George Earl Ortman (October 17, 1926 – December 16, 2015) was an American painter, printmaker, constructionist and sculptor. His work has been referred to as Neo-Dada, pop art, minimalism and hard-edge painting. His constructions, built with ...

for 30 years until her death in 1991.

Death

In September 1991, Bovasso died in New York City of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 61.

Filmography

Selected theatrical credits

* ''Moon Dreamers''La MaMa's Digital Collections
Documentation related to "Moondreamers" at La MaMa (1968 and 1969). Retrieved June 27, 2017.
* ''Schubert's Last Serenade''La MaMa's Digital Collections
Documentation related to "Schubert's Last Serenade" at La MaMa (1971 and 1975); retrieved June 27, 2017.
* ''Gloria and Esperanza'' * ''Monday on the Way to Mercury Island''La MaMa's Digital Collections
Documentation related to "Monday on the Way to Mercury Island" at La MaMa (1971); retrieved June 27, 2017.

References

External links

* *
Julie Bovasso's artist page on La MaMa's Digital Collections website
lamama.org; accessed August 4, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bovasso, Julie 1930 births 1991 deaths American people of Italian descent American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Actresses from New York City People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Obie Award recipients 20th-century American actresses The High School of Music & Art alumni