Bernadette Peters (born February 28, 1948) is an
American actress and
singer from
New York City. Over the course of a career that has already spanned five decades, she has starred in
musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings. She is one of the most critically-acclaimed
Broadway performers, having received nominations for seven
Tony Awards, winning two, and eight
Drama Desk Awards, winning three. Four of the Broadway
cast albums on which she has starred have won
Grammy Awards.
Peters first performed on the stage as a child and then a teenage actor in the 1960s, and in film and television in the 1970s. She was praised for this early work and for appearances on
The Muppet Show,
The Carol Burnett Show and in other television work, and for her characters in films like
Silent Movie,
The Jerk and
Pennies from Heaven. In the 1980s she returned to the theatre, where she became one of the best-known Broadway stars over the next three decades. She also has recorded six solo albums and several singles, as well as many cast albums and performs regularly in her own concert act. Peters also continues to act in films and on television, where she has been nominated for three
Emmy Awards and three
Golden Globe Awards, winning once.