Connie Sawyer
Connie Sawyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rosie Cohen November 27, 1912 Pueblo, Colorado, United States |
| Died | June 16, 2015 (aged 102) Aspen, Colorado, United States |
| Cause of death | Heart Failure |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1948-2015 |
Connie Sawyer ( November 27, 1912 - June 16, 2015 ) was an American actress. She was born in Pueblo, Colorado and grew up in Oakland, California.
Life and career
Born Rosie Cohen in 1912 to Jewish immigrants from Romania,[1] her early career included working as a stand-up comedian and nightclub performer.[2] Sawyer's first television appearances were in The Milton Berle Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Jackie Gleason Show in the late 1940s. In 1959 she was cast in the comedy film A Hole in the Head, which starred Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson and Eleanor Parker. She had performed in the original Broadway play as Miss Wexler, a character she created. When Sinatra and co. bought the rights to the movie, the writer informed him that he hadn't written the part of Miss Wexler and Sinatra would have to ask Sawyer for rights to that character. Sinatra decided to hire Sawyer for his movie as the same role she played in the Broadway play. He later nominated her for membership in the Academy of Motion Pictures.
She continued to appear regularly on television, in such series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, Dynasty, When Harry Met Sally..., Murder, She Wrote, Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Boy Meets World, Will & Grace, That '70s Show, 8 Simple Rules, ER, How I Met Your Mother and The Office.
In 2012 Sawyer, at the age of 99, was one of the oldest members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[2] She turned 100 in November 2012.[3]
Author and gerontologist Jacob Appel MD paid tribute to Sawyer by modeling a minor character after her in his novel, The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up (2012).[4]
Death
Sawyer died of Heart Failure on June 16, 2015 at the age of 102 in Aspen, Colorado.
Filmography
- Armstrong Circle Theatre (1 episode, 1953)
- The Jackie Gleason Show (2 episodes, 1954)
- A Hole in the Head (1959) - Miss Wexler
- Ada (1961) - Alice Sweet
- The Way West (1967) - Mrs. McBee
- The Andy Griffith Show (1 episode, 1968) - Mrs. Blanchard
- True Grit (1969) - Talkative woman at hanging
- Evil Roy Slade (1972) - Aggie Potter
- Hawaii Five-O (2 episodes, 1974-1979)
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1 episode, 1975)
- The Streets of San Francisco (2 episodes, 1976)
- Starsky and Hutch (2 episodes, 1977-1978)
- The Rockford Files (1 episode, 1978)
- Archie Bunker's Place (2 episodes, 1979)
- ...And Justice for All (1979) - Gitel
- Dynasty (1 episode, 1982)
- When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
- Murder, She Wrote (2 episodes, 1986-1991)
- In the Heat of the Night (1 episode, 1990)
- Dumb and Dumber (1994) - elderly lady
- Home Improvement (1 episode, 1995) - old lady
- Seinfeld (1 episode, 1997) - old lady
- Boy Meets World (2 episodes, 1998) - Foofie
- Becker (3 episodes, 1999) - Mrs. Yudelson
- ER (2 episodes, 1999-2006)
- Will & Grace (1 episode, 2000) - old lady
- That '70s Show (1 episode, 2000) - Aunt Pearl
- 8 Simple Rules (1 episode, 2003)
- How I Met Your Mother (2007, 1 episode) - old lady
- Pineapple Express (2008) - Faye Belogus
- The Office (1 episode, 2009) - Nana
- 2 Broke Girls (1 episode, 2013) - elderly lady
- Ray Donovan (2 episodes, 2013-2014) - Mrs. Sullivan
See also
References
- ^ Jewishjournal.com Connie Sawyer: The world’s eldest working actress
- ^ a b Los Angeles Times: Oscar voters: 99-year-old in academy 'never wanted to be a star'
- ^ "Connie Sawyer, 100, World's Oldest Working Actress". Growing Bolder. Growing Bolder: 6. May 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
- ^ Appel, Phoning Home: Essays, University of South Carolina Press, June 2014
External links
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- 1912 births
- Living people
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- American centenarians
- Actresses from Colorado
- Jewish American actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- Actresses from Oakland, California
- People from Pueblo, Colorado
- American actor stubs