Bernadette Peters Biography

American actress Bernadette Peters is one of the most celebrated figures in stage acting. She gained her greatest exposure, however, with commercial productions such as The Jerk and Pennies from Heaven.

Bernadette Lazzara, known popularly as Bernadette Peters, was born February 28, 1948 in Ozone Park, New York. Although born in the United States, she is of Italian descent. Peters credits Marguerite, her mother, with entering her into the world of show business at the age of three with Juvenile Jury.

Bitten by the acting bug, Peters later attended the Quintano School for Young Professionals. By nine years old, her stage name was solidified, and she had made her first stage appearance in This is Goggle.

After graduating from high school, Peters immediately set out to pursue her stage career fulltime. To that end, she appeared in a series of Off-Broadway productions before making the leap to Broadway understudy. By 1967, she had earned her spot on a Broadway stage in Johnny No-Trump.

One year later, she appeared in George M! opposite Joel Gray and took home the Theatre World Award. That same year, her performance in Dames at Sea earned her both recognition and a Drama Desk Award.

With a successful theater career underway, Peters decided to relocate to Los Angeles in order to more easily break into television and film.

Not taking long to impress, Peters earned a hit in 1972 with her appearance in the television production Once Upon a Mattress. She shared the screen with Carol Burnett and Jack Gilford. Rapidly gaining momentum and fans, Peters found steady work in both film and guest television appearances.

She made a particularly big splash, however, with Mel Brooks’ 1976 comedy Silent Movie for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise costarred.

She earned another Golden Globe nod for her work with All’s Fair opposite Richard Crenna. But she earned real notoriety with the 1979 Carl Reiner directed comedy The Jerk opposite Steve Martin. Proving a dynamic duo, Martin and Peters teamed up again in 1981 for Pennies from Heaven along with Christopher Walken. This time around, Peters took home the Golden Globe.

After her turn in 1986’s Sunday in the Park with George, Peters had solidified herself as the best of the best in theater, a title she still holds today.

On the awards front, Peters took home two Emmy nominations. The first was for The Muppet Show in 1978, and the second was for her guest appearance opposite Calista Flockhart in Ally McBeal.

Adding to her shelf of accolades, she also earned a Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year award in 1987. In her theatrical award base, she has won two Tony awards and been nominated another five times. Her singing voice was put to use on six successful solo albums.

Outside of acting, Peters and good friend Mary Tyler Moore co-founded Broadway Barks, a charity which promotes animal adoption.

In her personal life, Peters married Michael Wittenberg on July 20, 1996. They were together until September 26, 2005 when he died tragically in a helicopter crash in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Prior to her marriage, she was romantically involved with her frequent costar Steve Martin.