Today we say goodbye to Elaine Stritch, an admired actress with attitude. Stritch passed away at her home in Michigan on Thursday at the age of 89.
The singer and actress was best known for her work on the Broadway stage. She was nominated for five Tony Awards and won one for her one-woman show. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Stritch made her professional stage debut in 1944 and her Broadway debut in the comedy Loco in 1946. Notable Broadway credits include her Tony Award nominated roles in the original production of William Inge’s 1955 play Bus Stop, and musicals by Noël Coward (Sail Away, 1961) and Stephen Sondheim (Company, 1970), the latter includes her performance of the song “The Ladies Who Lunch”, plus the 1996 revival of the Edward Albee play A Delicate Balance and her 2001 Tony Award winning one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty.
In the 1970s, she relocated to London, starring in several West End productions, including Tennessee Williams’ Small Craft Warnings in 1973 and the Neil Simon play The Gingerbread Lady in 1974. She also starred with Donald Sinden in the ITV sitcom Two’s Company, which ran from 1975 to 1979 and earned her a BAFTA TV Award nomination.
She won an Emmy Award in 1993 for her guest role on Law & Order and another in 2004 for the television documentary of her one woman show. From 2007 to 2012, she had a recurring role as Jack Donaghy’s mother, Colleen, on NBC’s 30 Rock, a role that won her a third Emmy in 2007.
