Julie Bovasso (Actor)

Esteemed, award-winning veteran of off-Broadway and avant-garde theater. In the 1950s, Bovasso established her own off-off-Broadway theater company, Tempo Playhouse, where she produced, directed, starred in and often wrote experimental works. In 1956 she won two Obie awards, one for her performance in Jean Genet's "The Maids" and one for the work of Tempo as a whole.

Possibly Bovasso's most significant contribution to American performance art was her introduction of the work of Genet, Ionesco and others to the New York theatre scene. Although she made occasional TV appearances (including a role in the 1950s soap opera, "From These Roots"), she did not make her film debut until Otto Preminger's "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" (1970). In her infrequent film roles, she specialized in ethnic matriarchs, especially Italian-American women, from John Travolta's mother in "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and "Staying Alive" (1983) to Cher's aunt in "Moonstruck" (1987). Bovasso also served as dialogue coach for "Prizzi's Honor" (1985) and "Moonstruck".