Age: 71
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois U.S.
Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and the stage. She appeared on Broadway in the musical 42nd Street, winning a Tony Award, and appeared both Off-Broadway and on Broadway in the musical Grey Gardens, winning her second Tony Award. She has co-starred on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son, where she played Carol Walsh.
Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, the daughter of Marian Esther (née Goodley) and Robert "Bob" Ebersole. Her father was the president of a steel company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has Swiss-German and Irish ancestry. Ebersole graduated from New Trier High School in 1971. She attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, Class of 1975, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
She met Marc Shaiman when he was 19 and the musical director of her first club act. She appeared in Ryan's Hope in 1977 and 1980, and was part of the cast of Saturday Night Live in the 1981-1982 season, the first full season under new producer Dick Ebersol (the similar names being a coincidence), acting as Weekend Update co-anchor with Brian Doyle-Murray and at times impersonating Mary Travers, Cheryl Tiegs, Barbara Mandrell, Diana, Princess of Wales and Rona Barrett. Following SNL, she appeared in One Life to Live and Valerie. She costarred with Barnard Hughes on the sitcom The Cavanaughs, played the title role in the short-lived sitcom Rachel Gunn, R.N., and guest-starred on Will & Grace, The Nanny, Dolly!, Just Shoot Me, Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, Samantha Who, Boston Legal, The Colbert Report and Royal Pains. She appeared in the 1993 television movie adaptation of Gypsy starring Bette Midler, and in the 2000 ABC-TV movie Mary and Rhoda starring Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper.
In 2011, she had a recurring role on the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35. In 2014, she played Carol Walsh on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son. She has a recurring role on the USA network television show Royal Pains as Ms. Newberg.
Ebersole's films have included Tootsie (1982), Amadeus (1984), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Mac and Me (1988), My Girl 2 (1994), Richie Rich (1994), Black Sheep (1996), and My Favorite Martian (1999).
Ebersole has found considerable success on stage. She was in Going Hollywood, a musical by David Zippel and Jeremy Shaeffer. She was in the chorus in 1983 with Jerry Mitchell. They were both excited about the possibility of going to Broadway, but it never made it. She was featured in Paper Moon by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh and Carol Hall, which ran at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) in September 1993. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Three Sisters and Talking Heads, and her Broadway credits include On the Twentieth Century, the 1979 revival of Oklahoma! (as Ado Annie), the 1980 revival of Camelot and the 2000 revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.
In 2001 she appeared in the Broadway revival of 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock, for which she won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, She next appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival of Dinner at Eight as Millicent Jordan for which she was nominated for the Tony Award, Featured Actress in a Play. In 2005 she played M'Lynn in the Broadway production of Steel Magnolias.
In 2006, Ebersole took the dual roles of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") in Grey Gardens, a musical based upon the film of the same name. After a sold-out Off-Broadway run, Ebersole remained with the roles when the production moved to Broadway in November 2006, and remained with the show through its closing in July 2007. For this role, she won her second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. She appeared as Elvira in the 2009 Broadway revival of the Noël Coward comedy Blithe Spirit. In December 2011, for their annual birthday celebration to "The Master", The Noel Coward Society invited Ebersole as the guest celebrity to lay flowers in front of Coward's statue at New York's Gershwin Theatre, thereby commemorating the 112th birthday of Sir Noel.
Ebersole appears in concerts and cabaret engagements at venues such as the Cinegrill and Cafe Carlyle. She won the 2010 Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement for her 2009 Café Carlyle cabaret. In 2009 she performed with Michael Feinstein at his club, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, (New York City) in a cabaret titled "Good Friends". She was one of the performers on the Playbill Cruise in September 2011. In November 2011 she performed for two sold-out nights at Birdland in New York City with jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein and his trio.
She also has appeared on several albums. She was featured on the Bright Lights, Big City concept album. She also released an album of Noël Coward songs after browsing through them for scene change music for Blithe Spirit.
Ebersole has been married twice: to Peter Bergman, and to her present spouse, Bill Moloney, with whom she has adopted three children, Elijah, Mae Mae and Aron. She is the aunt of actress Janel Moloney through marriage. She lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with her family.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | Tootsie | Linda | |
1984 | Amadeus | Katerina Cavalieri | |
1984 | Thief of Hearts | Janie Pointer | |
1988 | Mac and Me | Janet Cruise | |
1990 | Ghost Dad | Carol | |
1991 | Dead Again | Lydia Larsen | |
1992 | Folks! | Arlene Aldrich | |
1992 | The Lounge People | Cynthia Lewis | |
1994 | My Girl 2 | Rose Zsigmond | |
1994 | Richie Rich | Regina Rich | |
1996 | Black Sheep | Governor Tracy | |
1996 | Pie in the Sky | Mom Dunlap | |
1997 | 'Til There Was You | Beebee Moss | |
1999 | My Favorite Martian | Mrs. Brown | |
1999 | True Crime | Bridget Rossiter | |
2009 | Confessions of a Shopaholic | TV Show Host | |
2013 | The Big Wedding | Muffin | |
2013 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Leah Belfort |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977-80 | Ryan's Hope | Lily Darnell | 12 episodes |
1981-82 | Saturday Night Live | Various | 20 episodes |
1982 | Love, Sidney | Nurse Loring | Episode: "The Accident" |
1983-85 | One Life to Live | Maxie McDermott | Unknown episodes Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series |
1984 | The Dollmaker | Miss Vashinski | Television movie |
1986 | Valerie | Barbara Goodwin | 6 episodes |
1986 | Acceptable Risks | Lee Snyder | Television movie |
1986-89 | The Cavanaughs | Kit Cavanaugh | 26 episodes |
1990 | American Dreamer | Kathleen | 2 episodes |
1990 | Murphy Brown | Maddy | Episode: "The Bummer of 42" |
1991 | Empty Nest | Laura | Episode: "All About Harry" |
1992 | Rachel Gunn, R.N. | Rachel Gunn | 13 episodes |
1993 | Dying to Love You | Cheryl New | Television movie |
1993 | Gypsy | Tessie Tura | Television movie |
1996 | Hey Arnold! | Lana Vail | Episode: "Heat/Snow" |
1998 | Ally McBeal | Marie Stokes | Episode: "Just Looking" |
1996 | An Unexpected Family | Ruth Whitney | Television movie |
1998 | Just Shoot Me! | Margo Langhorne | Episode: "How Nina Got Her Groove Back" |
1999 | Double Platinum | Peggy | Television movie |
2001 | Will & Grace | Candy Pruitt | Episode: "Poker? I Don't Even Like Her" |
2004 | Crossing Jordan | Mrs. Maguire | Episode: "Fire in the Sky" |
2005-06 | Related | Renee | 10 episodes |
2008 | Cashmere Mafia | Lily Parrish | 2 episodes |
2008 | Boston Legal | Sunny Fields | Episode: "Indecent Proposals" |
2008 | Lipstick Jungle | Maureen | Episode: "Chapter Fifteen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Prada" |
2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Hilary Regnier | Episode: "Smut" |
2009 | Samantha Who? | Amy | Episode: "The Sister" |
2009-15 | Royal Pains | Ms. Newberg | recurring |
2010 | Ugly Betty | Frances | Episode: "The Passion of the Betty" |
2011 | Retired at 35 | Susan | 4 episodes |
2012-14 | Sullivan & Son | Carol Walsh | 33 episodes |
2013 | American Horror Story: Coven | Anna-Lee Leighton | 2 episodes |
2015 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Helene | Episode "Kimmy's in a Love Triangle!" |
2015 | Madam Secretary | First Lady Lydia Dalton | Episode "Waiting For Taleju" |