19 Facts About Estelle Parsons

1.

Estelle Parsons was born on November 20,1927 and is an American actress, singer and stage director.

2.

Estelle Parsons worked for the television program Today and made her stage debut in 1961.

3.

Estelle Parsons won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, and was nominated for her work in Rachel, Rachel.

4.

Estelle Parsons worked extensively in film and theatre during the 1970s and later directed several Broadway productions.

5.

Estelle Parsons has been nominated five times for the Tony Award.

6.

In 2004, Estelle Parsons was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

7.

Estelle Parsons's mother, Elinor Ingeborg, was a native of Sweden, and her father, Eben Parsons, was of English descent.

8.

Estelle Parsons attended Oak Grove School for Girls in Maine.

9.

In 1983, when co-starring with fellow Academy Award-winning actor Jack Lemmon in a new Ernest Thompson stage play in Los Angeles, Estelle Parsons appeared on the November 1 episode of The Tonight Show, telling Johnny Carson that Lemmon had been her first boyfriend, when they were both teenagers in the 1940s.

10.

Estelle Parsons moved to New York City, and worked as a writer, producer and commentator for The Today Show.

11.

Estelle Parsons made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the ensemble of the Ethel Merman musical Happy Hunting.

12.

In 1964, Estelle Parsons won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performance in two Off-Broadway plays, Next Time I'll Sing to You and In the Summer House.

13.

Estelle Parsons has received Tony Award nominations for her work in The Seven Descents of Myrtle, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Miss Margarida's Way, Morning's at Seven, and The Velocity of Autumn.

14.

Estelle Parsons continued playing the role during the show's national tour beginning July 24,2009, in Denver.

15.

Estelle Parsons served as the Artistic Director of the Actors Studio for five years, ending in 2003.

16.

In 2004, Estelle Parsons was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

17.

On television, Estelle Parsons played the recurring role of Beverly Harris, the mother of the title character on Roseanne; her Beverly character is the daughter of character Nana Mary, played by fellow Academy Award winner Shelley Winters.

18.

Estelle Parsons played the part of Babe in three episodes of the second and fifth seasons of Grace and Frankie.

19.

Estelle Parsons was honored with a Woman of Achievement Award from the Women's Project Theater in 2009.