Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in ''

The Honeymoon Killers ''The Honeymoon Killers'' is a 1970 American crime film written and directed by Leonard Kastle, and starring Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco. Its plot follows a sullen, overweight nurse who is seduced by a con man, with whom she embarks on a ...

'' and

Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich (14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021), known as Lina Wertmüller (), was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art house films '' Seven Beauti ...

's ''

Seven Beauties ''Seven Beauties'' ( it, Pasqualino Settebellezze, "Pasqualino Sevenbeauties") is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, and Shirley Stoler. Written by Wertmüller, the ...

''.

Early years

The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn who owned a used furniture store, Stoler made her stage debut in 1955 and gained experience as a member of New York's experimental La Mama and Living Theatre companies. She had become a key underground player by the time she earned film fame in 1970 at age 41.

Film and TV career

Throughout her career, Stoler, a large and powerfully built woman who rarely smiled onscreen, often played scary villains in such films as ''

'' and ''

'' and on television in an episode of '' Charlie's Angels''. A character actress, as well as an occasional lead, Stoler appeared in small roles in ''

Klute ''Klute'' is a 1971 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed and produced by Alan J. Pakula, written by Andy and Dave Lewis, and starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, and Roy Scheider. The film follows a high-priced call ...

'', ''

The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, ...

'', and ''

Desperately Seeking Susan ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housew ...

''. A highlight of her film career was her performance as the unnamed Nazi female prison commandant in

's ''

'' (1975), in which she played a

cat-and-mouse game Cat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes." The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mous ...

of seduction with the concentration camp inmate played by

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...

. A profile of Stoler was featured on the front page of the ''New York Times'' Arts section. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1976, and Wertmüller received nominations for Best Director (a first for a woman) and

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

; Stoler's co-star Giannini was nominated for Best Actor. Stoler also appeared on

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 ...

; in the daytime soap operas ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that netwo ...

'' as Frankie and '' One Life to Live'' as Roberta (nicknamed "Tiny"); and on Saturday morning television as Mrs. Steve on ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

''.

Tim Lucas Tim Lucas (born May 30, 1956) is a film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and publisher and editor of the video review magazine ''Video Watchdog''. Biography and early career Lucas, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the only ...

speculated she is actually Shirley Kilpatrick, changing her name after the filming of The Astounding She-Monster.

Death

Stoler lived in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where she died at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center from heart failure after a long illness, shortly before her 70th birthday.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoler, Shirley 1929 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American people of Russian-Jewish descent People from Brooklyn