1. Mercedes J Ruehl is an American screen, stage, and television actress.
21 Facts About Mercedes Ruehl
1. 2.
Mercedes Ruehl is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award.
3.
Mercedes Ruehl acted in the films The Warriors, Heartburn, 84 Charing Cross Road, Big, Married to the Mob, Last Action Hero, Indictment: The McMartin Trial, Roseanna's Grave, Gia, The Minus Man and Hustlers.
4.
Mercedes Ruehl won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in the Neil Simon drama Lost in Yonkers.
5.
Mercedes Ruehl reprised the role in the 1993 film of the same name.
6.
Mercedes Ruehl has acted in Broadway productions of The Rose Tattoo, The American Plan, and Torch Song.
7.
Mercedes Ruehl's father was of German and Irish descent and her mother was of Cuban and Irish descent.
8.
Mercedes Ruehl attended the College of New Rochelle and graduated in 1969 with a BA in English.
9.
Mercedes Ruehl began her acting career in New York City appearing in various off-off Broadway productions while working a variety of temping and waitressing jobs.
10.
Mercedes Ruehl established herself in regional theatre with the Denver Center Theatre Company.
11.
Mercedes Ruehl's first starring role on Broadway came in 1984's I'm Not Rappaport.
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Mercedes Ruehl then went on to win the 1984 Obie Award for her performance in The Marriage of Bette and Boo and twenty years later, an Obie for Woman Before a Glass.
13.
Mercedes Ruehl received a 1991 Tony Award as Best Actress for Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers and continued her role in the show during its tour with co-star Mercedes McCambridge.
14.
Mercedes Ruehl's most acclaimed film role was in The Fisher King; her performance as a strong-willed and pragmatic video store owner earned her the 1991 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, American Comedy Award, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Golden Globe.
15.
Mercedes Ruehl played KACL station manager Kate Costas in five episodes of Frasier, and had a major role in the made-for-TV film All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story.
16.
Mercedes Ruehl later played the mother of main character Vincent Chase in HBO's Entourage.
17.
In January 2011, Mercedes Ruehl starred in Sarah Treem's play The How and The Why, directed by Emily Mann at McCarter Theatre of Princeton University.
18.
Mercedes Ruehl appeared in the role of Ma in Harvey Fierstein's revamped and renamed revival of his play Torch Song Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater.
19.
Mercedes Ruehl is on the faculty of HB Studio in New York City.
20.
Mercedes Ruehl had another son, Christopher, whom she placed for adoption in 1976 when she was 28.
21.
Mercedes Ruehl's brother, Peter, moved to Australia in 1987, where he was a newspaper columnist until his death in 2011.