| Donna Pescow | |
|---|---|
 Pescow at a celebrity autograph collector's convention, Burbank, California, October 2008 | |
| Born | March 24, 1954 Brooklyn, New York |
Donna Pescow (born March 24, 1954) is an American film and television actress.
Life and career
Pescow was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family.[1][2] Her father owned and ran a news stand[3] in downtown NYC at Battery Place. Pescow attended Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn, NY and she took drama classes with Rocky co-star Carl Weathers. Pescow studied at the American Academy of the Arts. Approximately 1973 or '74, Donna had a leading role in an off-off Broadway musical entitled "Poor Old Fool". It was a short run of just a few weeks. She lost her native Brooklyn accent, but had to re-learn it for her best known role as Annette in 1977's smash hit film Saturday Night Fever, for which she gained about 40 pounds.
In 1978, Pescow portrayed one of Judy Garland's older sisters in the TV bio-pic "Rainbow" directed by Jackie Cooper. Later, Pescow starred on her own television series, Angie, for two seasons from 1979 to 1980.
Pescow was cast in a groundbreaking role of Dr. Lynn Carson on the soap opera All My Children, which she portrayed from 1982 to 1983. Her character was the first lesbian on the daytime serials. She had earlier played a role on ABC's One Life to Live. She played Donna Garland, the mother of Evie Ethel Garland, in the children's comedy show Out of This World (1987-1991), along with Maureen Flannigan and Joe Alaskey.
From 2000 to 2003, she played the mother, Eileen Stevens, on Even Stevens, a sitcom that aired on The Disney Channel. She appeared in the finale of The Sopranos as the wife of mobster Patsy Parisi.
In real life, she dated actor Jason Kincade of All My Children and As the World Turns. She married Donald Zelonka in 1987, and they have a son, Jack Casey Zelonka, who was born in 1989.
Pescow states that she was 25 years old when she first got her driving license.
In November 2009, Pescow will play Madame Morrible in the Broadway production of Wicked
Television filmography
- Saturday Night Fever as Annette (1977)
- One Life to Live as Celena Arquette (1977)
- Angie (1979-1980) as Angie Falco Benson
- All My Children as Dr. Lynn Carson (1983)
- Murder She Wrote: Keep the Home Fries Burning (episode) as Cornelia (1986)
- Out of This World (1987-1991) as Donna Garland
- Even Stevens (2000-2003) as Eileen Stevens
- Crossing Jordan as Debbie's Mother (2007)
- The Sopranos as Donna Parisi (2007)
References
- ↑ Harris, Harry (1980-01-18). "the entertainers Change Of angle Just Another Move In Spiraling Career". Evening Independent. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=__8LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5085,801595&dq=entertainers-change-of-angle-just-another-move-in-spiraling. Retrieved on 2009-07-05.
- ↑ Wilson, Earl (1978-01-18). "Travolta Keeps His Head". Boca Raton News. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y94PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mowDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7044,3075006&dq=travolta-keeps-his-head. Retrieved on 2009-07-05.
- ↑ http://www.filmreference.com/film/77/Donna-Pescow.html
External links
- Donna Pescow on Internet Movie Database
