Betty Buckley

Betty Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for an additional Tony Award, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Olivier Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats. She went on to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1994-96) in both London and New York, receiving a 1995 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, and was nominated for the 1997 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Triumph of Love. Her other Broadway credits include 1776 (1969), Pippin (1973), and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1985). From September 2018 to August 2019, she starred as the title role in the U.S. national tour of Hello, Dolly.

Buckley starred in the TV series Eight Is Enough from 1977 to 1981 and played gym teacher Miss Collins in the 1976 film Carrie, before going on to star in the short-lived Broadway musical version of Carrie in 1988, playing Carrie White's mother, Margaret. Her other film roles include Dixie Scott in Tender Mercies (1983), Sondra Walker in Frantic (1988), Kathy in Another Woman (1988) and Mrs. Jones in The Happening (2008). She received a Saturn Award nomination for her role as Dr. Karen Fletcher in the 2016 film Split. Her other television credits include series Oz (2001–03), and Preacher (2018).

Early life and education Betty Lynn Buckley was born on July 3, 1947, in Big Spring, Texas. At 11, she saw The Pajama Game at Fort Worth's Casa Mañana and decided to pursue musical theater.

She attended Arlington Heights High School. Her first professional role was Dainty June in a production of Gypsy when she was 15. Buckley graduated from high school at 16 and enrolled at Texas Christian University at 17.

Her other television credits include guest-starring as Meg's mother in The Leftovers on November 30, 2015, appearing in five episodes of the 2017-2021 series Supergirl. Buckley was also cast in season three of the series Preacher in 2018.

Stage Buckley made her Broadway debut in 1969 in the original production of the musical 1776; she has been called "The Voice of Broadway" by New York magazine.

In 1982, Buckley starred as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of the musical Cats, which features the song "Memory". She stayed with the production for 18 months. For this role, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

In 1988, Buckley starred as Margaret White in Carrie: The Musical.

Buckley starred in both London (1994) and New York (1995) as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard. For her role in the London production, she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

In 1997, she starred as Hesione in the Broadway musical Triumph of Love and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Buckley sang "Memory" from Cats at the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2006 as part of the tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 2007, Buckley appeared with Quintessence at Lincoln Center in its Great American Songbook series.

Buckley participated in a reading of the musical Ruthless! in September 2010, playing the role of Sylvia St. Croix/Ruth DelMarco. She then played Mrs. White in the off-Broadway comedy White's Lies from March to May 2010. In 2011, Buckley starred in the Dallas Theater Center production of Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring with Tovah Feldshuh.

On January 28, 2013, she was inducted into The American Theater Hall of Fame. From January to March 2013, she starred in the London Premiere of Jerry Herman's Dear World. The musical was directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, with whom Buckley had previously worked on Cats.

In September 2013, she starred in the world premiere of Horton Foote's The Old Friends at the Signature Theatre off-Broadway. She repeated her performance in 2014 at Houston's Alley Theatre.

In May 2015, it was announced that Buckley would appear as Big Edie in the musical, Grey Gardens at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY. The production ran August 4 to 30, 2015. She reprised the role from July 13 to August 14, 2016 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Buckley would portray the title role in the first national tour of the 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, beginning performances in October 2018 in the Connor Palace at Cleveland's Playhouse Square. Buckley dedicated the January 15, 2019 performance in San Diego to Carol Channing following her death. Buckley finished her leg of the tour in September 2019 and prepared concerts scheduled in early 2020 at the Cafe Carlyle in NYC and other venues.

Music

Hope, Buckley's 18th solo album, was released on June 8, 2018, and she continues to appear in concert across the U.S. each year. She is also a composer; her first recording contains mostly songs she wrote. She is also featured on many Broadway compilation recordings, and on the original cast recording of 1776; the original Broadway recording of Cats; the London recording of Promises, Promises; Triumph of Love and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

In 2002, Buckley was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Category, for her album Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar, which was recorded at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London. This was her second Grammy nomination; she had previously been nominated in 2000, in the Best Spoken Word Album category for The Diaries of Adam and Eve.

Her albums Quintessence and 1967 were released by Playbill Records in February 2008. Quintessence features jazz arrangements of standards by her former collaborator, jazz pianist Kenny Werner; while 1967 is a recording produced by T-Bone Burnett, and made when Buckley was just 19.

Her album Bootleg: Boardmixes From the Road was released in 2010, and her recording of her hit show at Feinstein's at the Regency with pianist/collaborator Christian Jacob, titled Ah, Men: The Boys of Broadway debuted on August 28, 2012.

Her album Ghostlight was produced by the T Bone Burnett and was released on September 16, 2014.

Personal life Buckley was married to Peter Flood in 1972, divorced in 1979, and has no children.

She has received two honorary doctorates for her contributions to musical theater—one from The Boston Conservatory and the other from Marymount Manhattan College.

Filmography

Discography +Cast recordings Show Cast Year Role 1776 Original Broadway Cast 1969 Martha Jefferson Promises, Promises Original London Cast 1969 Fran Kubelik Hair Film Soundtrack 1979 I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road Off-Broadway Cast 1980 Heather Cats Original Broadway Cast 1982 Grizabella The Mystery of Edwin Drood Original Broadway Cast 1985 Edwin Drood / Dick Datchery / Miss Alice Nutting Prom Queens Unchained Studio Cast 1997 The Civil War Concept Album 1998 Triumph of Love Original Broadway Cast 1998 Hesione Elegies, A Song Cycle Original Off-Broadway Cast 2003

+Other contributions Album Year Notes Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall 1992 Sings "Children Will Listen" George & Ira Gershwin: A Musical Celebration 1993 Sings "How Long Has This Been Going On?" Mathis on Broadway 2000 Sings "Children Will Listen" and "Our Children" The Maury Yeston Songbook 2003 Sings "I Had a Dream About You" and "Be on Your Own" The Diaries of Adam and Eve, by Mark Twain Reads the part of Eve

Awards and nominations

Honorary awards 2004 – Legend of Cabaret Award 2007 – Texas Film Hall of Fame Inductee 2012 – American Theater Hall of Fame Inductee