Anita Gillette

At 88 years old, Anita Gillette has this physical status:

Anita Gillette (born August 16, 1936) is an American actress.

She is known for her extensive Broadway resume, her numerous appearances on television game shows, her guest-starring and recurring roles in American television shows, and her appearances in feature films.

Early life

Anita Luebben, a child of Juanita (née Wayland) and John Alfred Luebben, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from Kenwood High School while living in suburban Rossville.

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Career

Gillette attended the Peabody Conservatory and made her Broadway debut in Gypsy in 1959. Carnival!, Mr. President, Kelly, Jimmy, Guys and Dolls, They're Playing Our Song, Our Love, They're Playing Our Song, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Chapter Two, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, are among her additional Broadway credits. For her appearance in Russell Patterson's Sketchbook, she received a 1960 Theatre World Award.

In 1963, Gillette's first television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was the first on television. In 1967, she appeared in The Edge of Night, a television show, before retiring the following year. Gillette's biggest exposure on a national basis came as a celebrity guest on several New York City-based game shows, mainly those produced by Goodson-Todman and Bob Stewart. She appeared on syndicated What's My Line?, Match Game, and several Pyramid series among others. She appeared on Fast Draw with Robert Alda as a contestant.

Gillette's 1970s appearances included the short-lived series Me and the Chimp with Ted Bessell, Bob & Carol & Alice, and a young Jodie Foster. She appeared in Norman Lear's All That Glitters (1977) and television films such as A Matter of Wife... and Death (1977) and It Happened at Lakewood Manor (1977).

Gillette's transition from Broadway and television to a character film actor was evident in the 1980s. She appeared on television as Nancy Baxter on Quincy's second wife Dr. W. Emily Hanover's national run before this transition. Helen Quincy, his deceased first wife, was depicted in a flashback), and a role in Search for Tomorrow at the end of the series's lengthy run, as well as the early David Chase series Almost Grown (1988-1989).

Gillette transitioned to film after the conclusion of Tomorrow in late 1986 and appearances with Robert Reed and Bert Convy on Super Password. Several of these roles had her as an on-screen mother to characters portrayed by well-known actresses; she appeared in Bob Roberts (1992), Margaret Aniston's mother in She's The One (1995), and Bobby Cannavale's love interest in The Guru (2002). She appeared on television in 2000's short-lived Normal, Ohio, where she appeared as the mother of John Goodman's character (coincidentally with fellow game show regular Orson Bean).

Gillette appeared in two Hall of Fame films, The Summer of Ben Tyler (1996) with James Woods and A Christmas Memory (1997) with Patty Duke. Miss Mitzi, the alcoholic founder of a struggling dance studio in Shall We Dance in 2004, appeared alongside Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon. In four episodes of CSI (2005–2012), she appeared in three episodes of Grandma Betty (2005–2010); and in two episodes of 30 Rock (2007/2010). She appeared in the 2006 film Hiding Victoria.

Since 2010, she has appeared in such shows as: The Special Victims Unit (2010), Shake it Up (2012), Modern Family (2013), Elementary (2015), Public Morals (2015), and Chicago Med (2016). Rose Fitzgerald appeared in the 2012 film The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, written, directed by, and starring Edward Burns.

Gillette was named Honorary Member of The Lambs, America's oldest professional theater group, on February 17, 2020.

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