Connie Sawyer

Connie Sawyer (born Rosie Cohen; November 27, 1912 – January 21, 2018) was an American stage, film, and television actress, affectionately nicknamed "The Clown Princess of Comedy". She had over 140 film and television credits to her name, but was best known for her appearances in Pineapple Express, Dumb and Dumber, and When Harry Met Sally.... At the time of her death at age 105, she was the oldest working actress in Hollywood, with a career spanning 85 years, and was the oldest member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life Connie Sawyer was born as Rosie Cohen on November 27, 1912 in Pueblo, Colorado, to Orthodox Jewish parents. Her father, Samuel Cohen, and mother, Dora Inger, were from Romania. Both of her parents came from the same village in Romania, but her mother arrived first in the United States.

Professional career Sawyer's mother loved showbusiness and encouraged Sawyer to learn singing and dancing, and entered her into talent competitions as a child. In her first competition, a song and dance routine, at the age of 8, she won third prize and was given a stack of pies.

In the late 1950s, agent Lillian Small, who worked for Frank Sinatra, saw Sawyer in the Broadway show A Hole in the Head, playing "Miss Wexler". Sinatra later optioned the rights for a film version and hired Sawyer to reprise her role in the 1959 film production, which starred Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, and Eleanor Parker. In 2007, Sawyer appeared in the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me with Jane Alexander; however, Sawyer, later expressed regret as she considered the show to be pornographic. Past 100 years of age, she appeared on television in NCIS: Los Angeles (2013), and, opposite Zooey Deschanel, in New Girl (2014), as "the Oldest Woman in the World". In 2014, she also appeared in two films: Lovesick and the short film Entanglement.

Autobiography In September 2017, Sawyer self-published an autobiography, I Never Wanted to Be a Star — and I Wasn't, describing her life in Hollywood. and later died at her home at the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s retirement community in Woodland Hills, California on January 21, 2018, aged 105.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1959 A Hole in the Head Miss Wexler 1972 Evil Roy Slade Aggie PotterTV movie The Strangers in 7A Mrs. LaytonTV movie 1979 Fast Break Mom ...And Justice for All Gitel 1985 Hot Chili Mrs. Houston 1987 Nights in White Satin Martha 1989 Far From Home Viney Hunt When Harry Met Sally... Documentary Couple #1 The End of Innocence GrandmaThe Bonfire of the Vanities Ruskin Family member 1994 Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes Motel ClerkTV movie Murphy Brown Woman on ElevatorDumb and Dumber Elderly lady