Esther Judith Graubart (born October 5, 1943, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accordin ...

) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a regular cast member of ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'', the pioneering children's show from the 1970s produced by the Children's Television Workshop.

Career

Graubart was in

the Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

comedy troupe, appearing in the Chicago mainstage cast in the mid- to late 1960s. She was also a regular on ''Comedy Tonight'', which aired during the summer of 1970 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, along with

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Young Fra ...

Barbara Cason Barbara Cason (November 15, 1928 – June 18, 1990) was an American character actress. Life and career Cason was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Helen Louise (Phebus) and Charles Carroll Cason. She began her career appearing in theat ...

Madeline Kahn Madeline Gail Kahn (''née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian and singer, known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc?'' (1972), '' ...

Robert Klein Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy specials: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (197 ...

, and Jerry Lacy. Graubart played hundreds of characters on the show during ''The Electric Companys original six-year run, with Jennifer of the Jungle being one of the most notable. After her run with ''The Electric Company'', she appeared in several films during the early 1980s, including

Marshall Brickman Marshall Brickman (born August 25, 1939) is an American screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen. He is the co-recipient of the 1977 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for ''Annie Hall''. He is also k ...

's ''

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

'' and '' Author! Author!'' which starred

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy A ...

. She reunited with Madeline Kahn for the 1999 film ''

Judy Berlin ''Judy Berlin'' is a 1999 American independent drama film directed by Eric Mendelsohn. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Mendelsohn won the directing prize for ''Judy Berlin'' at the 1999 Sundanc ...

'', which was completed shortly before Kahn's death. Throughout her career, Graubart was also a familiar face in

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for products such as the Chevrolet Vega,

Cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle Englis ...

Crunch 'n Munch Crunch 'n Munch is an American brand of snack food produced by Conagra Brands consisting of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts. It comes in its original form of Buttery Toffee, as well as Maple, Caramel, Chocolate & Caramel, Molasses, Almond Supr ...

Shake 'n Bake Shake 'n Bake is a seasoned bread crumb coating originally marketed to mimic the flavor and texture of Southern fried chicken. Introduced in 1965 by General Foods, it is currently made under the Kraft Heinz brand. Concept Shake 'n Bake provi ...

and

Miracle Whip Miracle Whip is a sauce condiment manufactured by Kraft Heinz and sold throughout the United States and Canada. It is also sold by Mondelēz International (formerly also Kraft Foods) as "Miracel Whip" throughout Germany. It was developed as a less ...

. Graubart appeared, as did many other of the original cast members of ''The Electric Company'', in interviews and episode introductions on the second volume of '' The Best of the Electric Company'' DVD boxed set that was released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

and

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

on November 14, 2006. Graubart has also appeared in theater, appearing in

Steppenwolf Theater Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on ...

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 th ...

production of ''

Orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

'' in 1986.

References

External links

* *
Judy Graubart profile
SecondCity.com 1943 births Jewish American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American sketch comedians Living people Actresses from Fort Worth, Texas American women comedians Comedians from Texas 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women {{US-tv-actor-1940s-stub