Tanya Berezin

Tanya Berezin (March 25, 1941 – November 29, 2023) was an American actress, co-founder and an artistic director of Circle Repertory Company in New York City, and educator. She performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and also appeared in a number of films and television series.

Early life and education Berezin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 25, 1941. She attended Boston University College of Fine Arts, where her roommate was Faye Dunaway. In the 1960s she trained with acting teacher, Jim Tuttle, in the Meisner Technique. In 1963, she arrived in New York and began performing.

While performing in summer stock she met and married Rob Thirkield, who introduced her to experimental theaters in New York, including La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Caffe Cino. Thirkield also introduced her to two others would play important roles in her life, Marshall W. Mason and Lanford Wilson. She was divorced from Thirkield in 1977, and she married actor Mark Wilson in 1987.

Circle Repertory Company In 1969, Berezin co-founded the Circle Repertory Company, along with Wilson, Mason, and Thirkield. It began (as the Circle Theater Company) in a loft on Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Thirkield, an heir to the Thomas Leeming Company (a pharmaceutical company), contributed generously to support Circle Rep until his death in July 1986. While she was artistic director from 1987–94, the theatre premiered plays written by Craig Lucas, Larry Kramer, Paula Vogel, and Jon Robin Baitz, among others.

Describing the role of an artistic director, she has said, “An artistic director basically does two things. One is giving careful attention to each project, finding the right director for the play and having some idea of casting...The other part is having the vision to know that someone might be a really exciting playwright four or five years from now and giving him or her the platform now - to invest in someone, to take chances.”

Acting career Stage Broadway As an actress she appeared on Broadway in As Is by William M. Hoffman; and in plays by Lanford Wilson: Angels Fall, and Fifth of July.

Of her performance in Landord Wilson's play Angels Fall, New York magazine said, "Tanya Berezin does a dazzling balancing act with superiority and edginess as the older woman to whom age brings both wisdom and insecurity; her performance is both lancet and whatever poultice there may be."

Off-Broadway Her Off-Broadway appearances include Sympathetic Magic, The Mound Builders, Balm in Gilead, Battle of Angels, Serenading Louie, Caligua, The Beaver Coat, Mary Stuart, and other productions. Harold Clurman, reviewing Friedrich Schiller’s play Mary Stuart in The Nation said that a special note of praise was due "for Tanya Berezin as Queen Elizabeth, particularly in the moments of her steely calculations, dark resentments and self-determined and regal loneliness," and that her Queen Elizabeth was "depicted with incisive psychological understanding". In 1976, she won an Obie Award for her role in the premier production of Lanford Wilson's play The Mound Builders.

Screen Film In theatrical film, Berezin appeared in the films A Little Sex (1982), Awakenings (1990),

Television On television, Berezin had a recurring role as Constance on St. Elsewhere (1985–1988). and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2002).

Teaching and coaching In 1994, Berezin began teaching and coaching actors for theatre, film, and television.

Death Berezin died of lung cancer in San Francisco, California on November 29, 2023, at the age of 82.

Filmography

+ Year Title Role Notes 1982 A Little Sex Joyce Theatrical film 1985–1988 St. Elsewhere Constance 4 episodes 1986 The Equalizer Secretary Episode: "Nocturne" 1987 Spenser: For Hire Dr. Dartman 1 episode 1990 Awakenings Psychiatrist Theatrical film 1991 He Said, She Said Mrs. Bryer Theatrical film 1991–2001 Law & Order Trial Judge Rosalyn Lenz 3 episodes 1993–2004 Law & Order Trial Judge Janine Pate 5 episodes 2000 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Professor Halbersham Episode: "Honor" 2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Lenore Hirschman 1 episode