| Beth Broderick | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Alice Broderick February 24, 1959 Falmouth, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse | Brian Porizek - One child (1998–2000) (divorced) Scott Paetty - One child (2005–present) |
Elizabeth Alice "Beth" Broderick (born February 24, 1959) is an American actress famous for her portrayal of the character Zelda Spellman in the television sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch from 1996–2003 on ABC and then the Warner Bros. network.[1]
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Broderick was born in Falmouth, Kentucky and grew up in Huntington Beach, California. Even as a child, Beth was interested in theater. She graduated from high school at sixteen and then from the American Academy of Arts in Pasadena, California, at the age of eighteen. Afterwards, she moved to New York to pursue an acting career. Her mother's name is Nina Broderick. She has two sisters and one brother.
Billed as Beth Alison Broderick and later as Norris O'Neal, she made her debut in two adult films, In Love (1983) and Bordello: House of the Rising Sun (1985). Both roles portrayed her as a lesbian and were financially unsuccessful. Again as Norris O'Neal she appeared in the mainstream comedy Sex Appeal (1986). In 1986 she had small roles in If Looks Could Kill, Student Affairs, Young Nurses in Love, and Slammer Girls, a spoof of the women in prison film genre.
Her first significant role was in Stealing Home (1988) where she played the sexy neighbor who seduces a young, innocent Jonathan Silverman. In 1990, she had a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities. Her movie credits include Man of the Year (1995), Maternal Instincts (1996), Breast Men (1997), Psycho Beach Party (2000) and The Inner Circle (2003). She also played a small role in the movie Fools Rush In (1997), with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek, as a business woman. In the film Timber Falls, she played a crazy religious woman, who together with her husband and brother, torture couples who break the rules of chastity while camping.
Her television credits include Married With Children, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Hearts Afire, Supernatural and Glory Days. She has also guest starred on Northern Exposure in the 1992 episode "It Happened In Juneau", playing a lusty doctor hunting for a one night stand with Dr. Joel Fleischman played by Rob Morrow. In 1997 she appeared in the racy Showtime series Women: Stories of Passion ("The Bitter and the Sweet" 2:17). She also had a minor, recurring role in the hit ABC series, Lost, as Kate Austen's mother, Diane and also played a minor role in CSI: Miami during a tsunami where she played a neighbor to CSI Ryan Wolfe's uncle.[1] More recently, she had guest starring roles on Leverage and Castle.
She has also appeared in several theater productions like Carnal Knowledge, Triplets in Uniform and Zastrozzi, the Master of Discipline (which she also co-produced). In New York she has starred in The Mousetrap, The Lion in Winter and many more. She was recently in the Chicago Northlight Theatre production of the one woman show titled Bad Dates. She has also played a role in Women: Stories of Passion.
Broderick has written A Cup of Joe, Wonderland and Literatti with Dennis Bailey. She directed three episodes of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: "Guilty!" (2002), "Cloud Ten" (2002), "Making the Grade" (2001).
She was married to Brian Porizek on January 26, 1998 and divorced him July 11, 2000 and married Scott Paetty on April 29, 2005. She had a year-long romance with director Brian De Palma during production of Bonfire of the Vanities.[2]
She has been active in the battle against AIDS since 1984 and she is the founding director of Momentum, one of the first organizations in New York established to assist people with AIDS. Broderick was also a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council of the City Light Women's Rehabilitation Program at the Los Angeles Mission, which provides hands-on service to homeless women, helps them to overcome substance abuse and learn job skills to help them reclaim their lives and families. She appears in a promotional video for Camp Wellstone saying she attended the camp because she wants to run for office.
Her favorite authors are: Reynolds Price, Tim McLaurin, Jim Harrison, and Truman Capote. She optioned the novel "The Last Great Snake Show", written by Tim McLaurin. Her writing partner is Dennis Bailey. Her interests are gourmet cooking, flower arranging, reading, and writing.
Beth currently resides in Southern California.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Stealing Home | Lesley | |
| 1990 | Married with Children | Miss Penza | 1 episode |
| 1990 | Bonfire of the Vanities | Caroline Heftshank | |
| 1992 | Hearts Afire | Dee Dee Starr | Series regular |
| 1995 | Man of the Year | ||
| 1996 | Maternal Instincts | ||
| 1996–2002 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Zelda Spellman | Series regular |
| 1997 | Fools Rush In | ||
| 2000 | Psycho Beach Party | Ruth Forrest | |
| 2003 | The Inner Circle | ||
| 2005–2008 | Lost | Diane Janssen | 5 episodes |
| 2006 | Supernatural | Alice Miller | 1 episode |
| 2008 | ER | Edith Landry | 1 episode |
| 2007 | Will & Grace | 1 episode | |
| 2007 | Timber Falls | Ida | |
| 2009 | Leverage | Monica Hunter | 1 episode |
| 2010 | Castle | Barbara Mann | 1 episode |
| 2010 | Revenge of the Bridesmaids | Olivia | TV movie |
| 2010 | (818) | Alyssa Rampart-Pillage | Post-production |
| 2011 | Fly Away | Jeanne | Post-production |
| 2011 | The Muppets | Flora the flower lady (cameo) |