Jane Connell
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Jane Connell (born October 27, 1925) is an American character actress.
Born Jane Sperry Bennett in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Louis Wesley Bennett and Mary Sperry Bennett. She married William Gordon Connell (an actor and musician) They have two daughters, Melissa Connell and Margaret Connell. Connell began her career with her husband Gordon working in such San Francisco night clubs as The Purple Onion and The Hungry I.
Eventually the couple moved to New York City, where Connell made her Off-Broadway debut in the 1955 revival of Threepenny Opera, a long-running hit at the Theatre de Lys. In the London production of Once Upon a Mattress, Connell starred as Winifred, the role that made Carol Burnett a Broadway star. Connell had a big success in 1966 when she was cast as Agnes Gooch in Jerry Herman's Mame. She recreated the role in the 1974 screen adaptation when the film's star, Lucille Ball, became dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn, who had been signed to play Gooch. [1]
Connell was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Me and My Girl (1986). Additional Broadway credits include New Faces of 1956 (1956); Drat! The Cat! (1965); Dear World (1969), once again supporting Angela Lansbury; the short-lived 1983 revival of Mame starring Lansbury; Lend Me a Tenor (1989); Crazy for You (1992); and Moon Over Buffalo (1995), starring Carol Burnett. Connell's last Broadway appearance was in the role of pianist Jeannette Burmeister in The Full Monty, succeeding Kathleen Freeman, who died during her run in show.
Connell and her husband enjoyed extensive theatre careers. They appeared together on Broadway in Lysistrata (November 1972), starring Melina Mercouri in the title role; and Off Broadway in the City Center Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert production of Call Me Madam (February 1995), and the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall concert presentation of Noel Coward's Sail Away (November 1999) starring Elaine Stritch.
Connell's film roles include Kotch and House Calls. Her television appearances include Bewitched; Green Acres; All in the Family; Love, American Style; Maude; Good Times; and Law & Order.
