16 Facts About Mercedes Ruehl

Mercedes J Ruehl is an American screen, stage, and television actress.

Mercedes Ruehl is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Mercedes Ruehl's father was of German and Irish descent and her mother was of Cuban and Irish descent.

Mercedes Ruehl attended the College of New Rochelle and graduated in 1969 with a BA in English.

Mercedes Ruehl began her career in regional theatre with the Denver Center Theatre Company, taking odd jobs between engagements.

Mercedes Ruehl's first starring role on Broadway came in 1984's I'm Not Rappaport.

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.

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.

Mercedes Ruehl's most acclaimed film role was in The Fisher King; her performance in the film earned her the 1991 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an American Comedy Award, a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Golden Globe.

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.

Mercedes Ruehl later played the mother of main character Vincent Chase in HBO's Entourage.

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.

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.

Mercedes Ruehl is on the faculty of HB Studio in New York City.

Mercedes Ruehl had another son, Christopher, whom she placed for adoption in 1976 when she was 28.

Mercedes Ruehl's brother, Peter, moved to Australia in 1987 where he was a popular newspaper columnist until his death in 2011.