Estelle Parsons facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Estelle Parsons
Parsons in a Love, American Style episode in 1973
Born	(1927-11-20) November 20, 1927 (age 97) Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	Connecticut College (BA) Boston University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1956–present
Known for	Roseanne The Conners Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Spouse(s)	Richard Gehman (m. 1953; div. 1958) Peter Zimroth ​ ​ (m. 1983; died 2021)​
Children	3

Estelle Parsons (born November 20, 1927) is an American actress. She is known for her long career in movies, TV shows, and plays.

Estelle Parsons first studied law and even sang with a band before she decided to become an actress. She started working on the TV show Today and made her first appearance on stage in 1961. In the 1960s, she became a well-known actress on Broadway, which is famous for its plays and musicals.

She won an Oscar for her role as Blanche Barrow in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967). She was also nominated for another Oscar for her work in Rachel, Rachel (1968). Later, she became very famous for playing Beverly Harris, the mother of the main character, on the TV show Roseanne and its spin-off The Conners. Estelle Parsons has been nominated five times for the Tony Award, which is a top award for stage acting. In 2004, she was honored by being added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Early life and beginnings

Estelle Parsons was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. Her mother, Elinor Ingeborg Mattsson, was from Sweden, and her father, Eben Parsons, had English family roots.

She went to Oak Grove School for Girls in Maine. After finishing Connecticut College in 1949, Parsons first studied to become a lawyer at Boston University. Then, she worked as a singer with a band before choosing to become an actress in the early 1950s. In 1983, while acting with famous actor Jack Lemmon, she shared on a TV show that Lemmon had been her first boyfriend when they were teenagers.

Acting career highlights

Parsons moved to New York City and worked as a writer and producer for The Today Show. She made her first appearance on Broadway in 1956 in the musical Happy Hunting. Her first Off-Broadway play was in 1961, and she won a Theatre World Award in 1963 for her acting.

In 1964, Parsons won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performances in two Off-Broadway plays. She has been nominated for the Tony Award several times for her roles in plays like The Seven Descents of Myrtle (1968), And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971), Miss Margarida's Way (1978), Morning's at Seven (2002), and The Velocity of Autumn (2014). From 2008 to 2009, she played Violet Weston in the play August: Osage County, and then went on tour with the show.

Directing and other work

In 1979, Estelle Parsons directed a play called Antony and Cleopatra. She was the first woman to direct a play at the New York Shakespeare Festival. As a director, Parsons has worked on several Broadway shows, including Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. She also served as the leader of the Actors Studio, a famous acting school, for five years (1998-2003).

In 2016, she acted in a new play called Out Of The Mouths Of Babes. In 2004, she was honored by being added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Film and television roles

Estelle Parsons won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). She was also nominated for an Oscar for Rachel, Rachel (1968). She appeared in movies like Watermelon Man (1970), Dick Tracy (1990), and Boys on the Side (1995).

On television, Parsons played the regular role of Beverly Harris, the mother of the main character on Roseanne. Her character Beverly was the daughter of Nana Mary, played by another Oscar winner, Shelley Winters. She also appeared in TV shows such as The Patty Duke Show, Love, American Style, All In The Family, Frasier, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Good Wife. She also played Babe in three episodes of Grace and Frankie.

In 2009, she received a Woman of Achievement Award for her accomplishments in theater. In 2010, she performed in London in the play Deathtrap. Her most recent Broadway shows include Good People (2011) and Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012). In 2018, Parsons returned to TV to play Beverly Harris again in Roseanne.

Personal life

Estelle Parsons married author Richard Gehman in 1953. They had twin daughters, Abbie and Martha Gehman, before they divorced in 1958. Her grandson, Eben Britton, who is Abbie's son, used to play professional football for the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars.

In 1983, she married her partner of 10 years, Peter Zimroth, who was a lawyer for the government. They adopted a son named Abraham. Peter Zimroth passed away in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Estelle Parsons para niños