Brenda Vaccaro Galleries 1

  Equally at home on stage or screen, raspy-voiced character actress and sometime lead Brenda Vaccaro made her first professional appearance as an adolescent in a Dallas, TX production of "The Willow Tree" (1951). After training at NYC's Neighborhood Playhouse (1958-1960), she debuted on Broadway as Gloria Gulock in "Everybody Loves Opal" (1961) and went on to earn three Tony nominations for her efforts in "Cactus Flower" (1965), the musical "How Now, Dow Jones" (1967-68) and "The Goodbye People" (1968-69). She returned to Broadway after an absence of more than a decade to star as Olive Madison in the female version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" (1985) and then acted opposite Alan Alda in an another Simon Great White Way opus, "Jake's Women" (1991).

Vaccaro's feature debut came in Garson Kanin's "Where It's At" (1969), but she really launched her career with a memorable performance as a sexually voracious Madison Avenue socialite who picks up Jon Voight in "Midnight Cowboy" (1969). She provided able support to Robert Mitchum as his sweetheart in the powerful but downbeat "Going Home" (1971), then, after four years away from the big screen, roared back with an Oscar-nominated turn as wisecracking magazine editor Linda in "Jacqueline Susann's 'Once Is Not Enough'" (1975). Proficient in both drama and comedy, she exhibited her over-the-top comic flair for "Zorro, The Gay Blade" (1989) and surfaced as Barbra Streisand's dumpy best friend Doris in "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996).

At the top of an impressive list of television credits is Vaccaro's Emmy-winning performance (Best Supporting Actress in a Variety Special) in the revue by and about women "The Shape of Things" (1974). She racked up two additional nominations, one for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for the short-lived "Sara" (1976), about a frontier schoolteacher, the other as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the "Ebbtide's Revenge" episode of "The Golden Girls" (NBC, 1990), as the widow of Dorothy's brother. She presaged her feature best friend's role in two TV-movies, "Stolen: One Husband" (CBS, 1990) and "Following Her Heart" (NBC, 1994), and played Matt LeBlanc's mother (Mrs. Gloria Tribbiani) in "The One with the Boobies" episode of NBC's "Friends" (1995), among her many guest spots. Vaccaro has also lent her trademark voice to numerous animated TV projects, beginning with "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey" (ABC, 1977) and including "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" (syndicated, 1987) and "Johnny Bravo" (The Cartoon Network, 1997).

  Boynton Beach Club (2006) .... Marilyn
"American Dad!"
- Stan Knows Best (2005) TV Episode (voice)
Just Desserts (2004) (TV) .... Lina
Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2003) (V) (voice) .... Mrs. Hirsch
Sonny (2002) .... Meg
Just a Walk in the Park (2002) (TV) .... Selma Williams
"Becker"
- The Ghost of Christmas Presents (2001) TV Episode .... Bob's Mother

"The King of Queens"
- Paternal Affairs (1998) TV Episode .... Sheila Rednester
When Husbands Cheat (1998) (TV) .... Sally
"Ally McBeal"
- The Attitude (1997) TV Episode .... Karen Horowitz
"Johnny Bravo" (1997) TV Series (voice) .... Bunny Bravo
"Spawn" (1997/II) TV Series (voice) .... Additional Voices
... aka Todd McFarlane's Spawn
The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) .... Doris
"Touched by an Angel"
- Out of the Darkness (1996) TV Episode .... Al
Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible (1996) (V) (voice) .... Additional Voices
"Friends"
- The One with the Boobies (1995) TV Episode .... Gloria Tribbiani
Following Her Heart (1994) (TV) .... Cecile
Love Affair (1994) .... Nora Stillman
"The Critic"
- A Day at the Races and a Night at the Opera (1994) TV Episode (voice) .... Ardeth
- Miserable (1994) TV Episode (voice) .... Ardeth
- Marty's First Date (1994) TV Episode (voice) .... Ardeth
- The Pilot (1994) TV Episode (voice) .... Ardeth
Red Shoe Diaries (1992) (TV) .... Martha
... aka Red Shoe Diaries the Movie (USA: video box title)
... aka Wild Orchid III: Red Shoe Diaries
"Civil Wars"
- Oceans White with Phone (1992) TV Episode
"The Trials of Rosie O'Neill"
- Wolf Pack (1991) TV Episode
"Darkwing Duck"
- You Sweat Your Life (1991) TV Episode (voice) .... Slim
"The Golden Girls"
- Ebbtide's Revenge (1990) TV Episode .... Angela Petrillo
"Murder, She Wrote"
- The Family Jewels (1990) TV Episode .... Sheila Kowalski Finley
- The Fixer-Upper (1990) TV Episode .... Didi Blair
- Just Another Fish Story (1988) TV Episode .... Mimi Harcourt
"Captain Planet and the Planeteers" (1990) TV Series (voice) .... Li's Mom, Marg
... aka The New Adventures of Captain Planet (USA: fourth season title)
Columbo: Murder in Malibu (1990) (TV) .... Jess McCurdy
Stolen: One Husband (1990) (TV) .... Lisa Jarrett
... aka I Want Him Back!
Masque of the Red Death (1990) .... Elaina Hart
Lethal Games (1990) .... Stella Hudson

Cookie (1989) .... Bunny
Ten Little Indians (1989) .... Marion Marshall
... aka Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians'
... aka Death on Safari
Heart of Midnight (1988) .... Betty Rivers
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987) (TV) .... Didi
"The Smurfs" (1981) TV Series (voice) .... Scruple (1986-1989)
... aka Smurfs' Adventures
Deceptions (1985) (TV) .... Helen Adams
Water (1985/I) .... Dolores
... aka Water: The Movie (UK)
"Paper Dolls" (1984) TV Series .... Julia Blake
Supergirl (1984) .... Bianca
... aka Supergirl: The Movie
"St. Elsewhere"
- The Women (1984) TV Episode .... Rose Orso
"The Love Boat"
- Polly's Poker Palace/Shop Ahoy/Double Date/The Hong Kong Affair/Two Tails of a City: Part 1 (1984) TV Episode .... Eleanor Savage
- Polly's Poker Palace/Shop Ahoy/Double Date/The Hong Kong Affair/Two Tales of a City: Part 2 (1984) TV Episode .... Eleanor Savage
A Long Way Home (1981) (TV) .... Lillian Jacobs
Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981) .... Florinda
The Star Maker (1981) (TV) .... Dolores Baker
The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981) (TV) .... Marion Galucci
The First Deadly Sin (1980) .... Monica Gilbert
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV) .... Jane Briggs
... aka The Mad Messiah

Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979) .... Grace Wolf
... aka Fast Charlie and the Moonbeam
"Dear Detective" (1979) TV Series .... Det. Sgt. Kate Hudson
Dear Detective (1979) (TV) .... Det. Sgt. Kate Hudson
Capricorn One (1978) .... Kay Brubaker
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) (TV) (voice) .... Tilly
Airport '77 (1977) .... Eve Clayton
Death Weekend (1976) .... Diane
... aka The House by the Lake
"Good Heavens"
- Mr. Right (1976) TV Episode
"Sara" (1976) TV Series .... Sara Yarnell
Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975) .... Linda Riggs
... aka Once Is Not Enough
The Big Rip-Off (1975) (TV) .... Brenda Brooks
"McCoy"
- The Big Ripoff (1975) TV Episode
"The Streets of San Francisco"
- The Most Deadly Species (1974) TV Episode .... Sydney/Jewel Ferguson/Sally Banning
- Act of Duty (1973) TV Episode .... Officer Sherry Reese, SFPD
Lily (1974) (TV) .... Lily
Judgement: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1974) (TV)
Sunshine (1973) (TV) .... Carol Gillman
Honor Thy Father (1973) (TV) .... Rosalie Bonnano
The Shape of Things (1973) (TV)
"McCloud"
- The Park Avenue Rustlers (1972) TV Episode .... Police Officer Margaret Sereno
"Banacek"
- To Steal a King (1972) TV Episode .... Sharon Clark
"Marcus Welby, M.D."
... aka Robert Young, Family Doctor
- House of Mirrors (1972) TV Episode .... Marilyn Hoffman
What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971) (TV) .... Shirley Campbel
Going Home (1971) .... Jenny Benson
Summertree (1971) .... Vanetta
Travis Logan, D.A. (1971) (TV) .... Lucille Sand
"The Name of the Game"
- Appointment in Palermo (1971) TV Episode .... Gemma
- One of the Girls in Research (1970) TV Episode .... Sandy Graham
"The Psychiatrist"
- Such Civil War in My Love and Hate (1971) TV Episode
I Love My Wife (1970) .... Jody Burrows

"The F.B.I."
- Scapegoat (1969) TV Episode .... Geri Coates
Midnight Cowboy (1969) .... Shirley
Where It's at (1969) .... Molly Hirsch
"Coronet Blue"
- A Charade for Murder (1967) TV Episode .... Julie
"Vacation Playhouse"
- My Lucky Penny (1966) TV Episode .... Jenny Penny
"The Nurses"
... aka The Doctors and the Nurses (new title)
- The Heroine (1965) TV Episode .... Sheila
"The Nurses"
- The Heroine (1965) TV Episode
"The Defenders"
- The Sworn Twelve (1965) TV Episode .... Debbie Briggs
- Hollow Triumph (1964) TV Episode .... Renee Shube
- The Hidden Jungle (1962) TV Episode .... Shirley Thysen
"The Fugitive"
- See Hollywood and Die (1963) TV Episode .... Joanne Spencer
"The Greatest Show on Earth"
- Don't Look Down, Don't Look Back (1963) TV Episode .... Felicia