Florence Stanley
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Florence Schwartz (born July 1, 1924 - Oct 3, 2003) was an American actress with immense range and talent.[citation needed] She began a long career on stage, film and TV starting in the 1940s. She appeared off-Broadway in Sophie Treadwell's decidedly non-comic play, Machinal.
Though she is probably most well-known for her sweet and vulnerable portrayal of Bernice Fish on both Barney Miller and its spin-off Fish, Florence Stanley began her professional career after graduating from Northwestern University when she traveled to Germany as a Civilian Actress Technician (part of US Army Special Services) just after World War II. There she toured in The Cat and the Canary, as well as directing touring musical entertainment productions. When she returned to the states, she toured the US as a member of Touring Players in The Importance of Being Earnest. 1948 brought her to New York City where she performed at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre in Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead, and there she met fellow cast member Martin Newman, her future husband.
Ms. Stanley made constant television appearances during the 1950's, live television's "golden age," and in 1964 gave an acclaimed performance in the NY Shakespeare Festival's production of Sophocles' Electra opposite Lee Grant. She began her Broadway career as an understudy (and performing) for Maureen Stapleton in the 1965 revival of The Glass Menagerie. She also voiced Ethyl Phillips in Dinosaurs.
In 1966, Ms. Stanley joined the Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof, replacing Beatrice Arthur nine months into its run as Yente the Matchmaker. She left Fiddler in 1971 – after over 2,000 performances – to open in Mike Nichols' Broadway production of Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and later recreated her role in the film version as well. She left Prisoner in 1972 when she was given an opportunity to tap dance in the Broadway production of The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild.
Having appeared in the film Up the Down Staircase with Sandy Dennis in 1967, Florence Stanley began to get more calls from Hollywood in 1973 when Mike Nichols called her for a small role in his film Day of the Dolphin, which was followed by the film version of Prisoner (1975), Mike Nichols' The Fortune (1975) with Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, and the series Joe and Sons (1975) for CBS. It was also in 1975 that Barney Miller producer Danny Arnold tapped Ms. Stanley to play the wife of Detective Fish, launching her talent into millions of hearts and homes.
She starred as Judge Margaret W. Wilbur on My Two Dads and directed three episodes of the series, and later appeared as Dr. Amanda Riskin on the TV series Nurses, with her most serious moment being telling Adam Arkin's character that he has AIDS.
She died of a stroke, aged 79, in 2003 in Los Angeles, California, survived by her husband, Martin Newman, and their children.
For examples of Ms. Stanley's range, visit her website listed in the External Links below.
