Sandra Bernhard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sandra Bernhard
Bernhard in 2016
Born	(1955-06-06) June 6, 1955 (age 69) Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Saguaro High School
Occupation	Actress comedian singer author
Years active	1977–present
Known for	Nancy Bartlett Thomas in Roseanne and Judy Kubrak in Pose
Partner(s)	Sara Switzer (2000–present)
Children	1

Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures.

She played Nancy Bartlett Thomas on the ABC sitcom Roseanne from the fourth season (1991) to the end of the show in 1997. She played Nurse Judy Kubrak in the FX drama series Pose. She is number 96 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.

Early life

Bernhard was born June 6, 1955, in Flint, Michigan, the daughter of Jeanette (née LaZebnik) and proctologist Jerome Bernhard. Her parents raised her as a Conservative Jew.

She has three older brothers: Dan, David and Mark. Her family moved to Arizona when she was 10. She attended Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, graduating in 1973.

Career

Bernhard became a staple at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. As her popularity as a comedian grew, she was cast as a supporting player on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. Guest appearances on evening talk shows followed. Her big break came in 1981 when she was cast by Martin Scorsese to star as stalker/kidnapper Masha in the film The King of Comedy, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was a frequent guest on David Letterman's NBC program Late Night with David Letterman, making 28 appearances starting in 1983.

She began performing her first one-woman show, I'm Your Woman, in 1985, and an album version was released. She appeared in a variety of small television roles throughout the 1980s while crafting her stand-up routine into a more performance art-oriented show. She launched an off-Broadway one-woman show called Without You, I'm Nothing, With You, I'm Not Much Better in 1988, which played at the Orpheum Theatre. By 1990, it had become a film and a double album of the same title. The album was recorded in 1988 at the Orpheum and released in 1989 and the film was mostly shot on location in 1989 in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel. Bernhard was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1990.

During the run of Without You, I'm Nothing, With You, I'm Not Much Better Bernhard appeared with her then good friend (and rumored lover) Madonna on a 1988 episode of Late Night with David Letterman. They continued to be friends for several years, with Bernhard making an appearance in Madonna's film Truth or Dare. The friendship ended in 1992.

In 1991, Bernhard began playing Nancy Bartlett on the hit sitcom Roseanne. She appeared in 33 episodes between 1991 and 1997, and was one of the first actresses to portray an openly bisexual recurring character on American television. She hosted the USA Network's Reel Wild Cinema for two seasons beginning in 1995. She continued acting in mostly independent films, TV guest roles, and forays into mainstream films such as Hudson Hawk and Dallas Doll. In 1991, she released her first studio album, Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One). In 1995, she briefly appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast. In 1996, she guest-starred on an episode of Highlander: The Series called "Dramatic License", where she played a romance novelist writing about the life of the main character.

She appeared as herself on Will & Grace, in an episode where the title characters spuriously bid on Bernhard's Manhattan apartment in an attempt to become friendly with her. She briefly returned as herself two years later.

Bernhard gave birth to daughter Cicely Yasin Bernhard on July 4, 1998. She returned to New York in 2006 with the off-Broadway show Everything Bad & Beautiful. The CD of the show, released by indie label Breaking Records, was lauded as one of her best. That year she also hosted the first season of the reality competition show The Search for the Funniest Mother in America on Nick at Nite. 2007 saw the debut of her one-woman show Plan B from Outer Space, and the inclusion of her Hanukkah-themed song "Miracle of Lights", which she co-wrote with Mitchell Kaplan, in the Breaking Records compilation album Breaking For the Holidays. She toured Plan B through 2008 and performed "Miracle of Lights" on some morning shows in New York.

Bernhard hosting The Queer Edge with Jack E. Jett

Bernhard was a featured guest singer with children's artist Dan Zanes on the Family Dance album's "Thrift Shop". In 2013, it was announced that she would join the cast of ABC Family's Switched at Birth with Glee's Max Adler, where she would play an art professor on the season 3 opener in January 2014. In 2015, she began hosting a radio show, Sandyland, on Sirius XM's Radio Andy.

In 2015, she made her first appearance as the recurring character of Joedth ("Joe") in season 4 of 2 Broke Girls. From 2018 until 2021, she played Nurse Judy on FX's Pose, a show based on queer and trans ball culture in Manhattan inspired by the documentary Paris Is Burning.

Personal life

Bernhard identifies herself as bisexual and is a strong supporter of LGBT rights. On July 4, 1998, she gave birth to a daughter, whom she raised with Sara Switzer, her partner of over 20 years. Bernhard was also in a relationship with Venezuelan actress Patricia Velasquez.

Music

Bernhard performs classic pop music, jazz, and blues tunes. She has released several albums (combinations of music and comedy).

Books

• Confessions of a Pretty Lady, an autobiography (HarperCollins October 1989 ISBN: 978-0-06-091620-6)
• Love, Love and Love, essay collection (HarperCollins June 1993 ISBN: 978-0-06-016615-1)
• May I Kiss You on the Lips, Miss Sandra?, semi-autobiography (HarperCollins October 1999 ISBN: 978-0-68-817163-6)

Filmography

Film

Television

Short subjects

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Sandra Bernhard para niños

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT people from New York City
• NYC Pride March