ESTELLE PARSONS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Estelle Parsons was born on November 20th, 1927 in Marblehead, Massachusetts with the middle name Margaret, born to parents, Elinor Ingebore and Eben Parsons.  She graduated from oak Grove School for Girls in mine and then enrolled at Connecticut College and Boston University with goals of becoming a lawyer and studied law. She soon had a change of heart though and decided she really had an interest in acting.  
 
Her career in entertainment first began as a singer and later she began to focus on acting.  She found work first in television working on the program, "Today" and then also began performing as a stage actress. 
 
She relocated to New York City to work on the "Today" show and also studied acting with Lee Strasberg and well as Michael Howard in New York City.  In 1962 she performed in an off-Broadway production of, "Whisper into My Good Ear/ Mrs. Dally has a Lover" (1962).
 
Her career began on Broadway and after gaining some experience she began working on such films as, "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) for which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and "Rachel, Rachel" (1968).  Some of her other film roles were in, "Watermelon Man" (1970), "Never Sang for My Father" (1971), "Two People" (1973), "A Memory of Two Mondays" (1974), "For Pete's Sake" (1975), "Dick Tracy" (1990) and "Boys on the Side" (1995).
 
Along with her film roles she has also appeared on a variety of television series to add to her resume such as, "The Patty Duke Show", "Open Admissions", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", "Archie Bunker's Place" and "Frasier".
 
In addition to her work as an actress on stage, film and television she worked as a director on a number of Broadway productions such as, "Romeo and Juliet", "Macbeth" and "As You Like It".  She also served as Artistic Director of the Actors' Studio for a total of five years and taught acting at Yale and Columbia.   
 
Some of her more recent roles have been on the television sitcom, "Roseanne" and the television movies, "Strip Search" (2004) and "Empire Falls" (2005).  Estelle has also appeared on stage in, "Deathtrap" and "Good People" and her last role was in the film, "Wilde Salome" (2011).
 
Throughout her career in the industry she has been nominated for a total of four Tony Awards for her roles in the productions, "The Seven Descents of Myrtle" (1968), "Miss Reardon Drinks A Little" (1971), "Miss Margarida's Way" (1978) and "Mornings at Seven" (2002).  She was also inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004. 
 
Estelle Parsons has married twice, first to Richard Gehman in 1953 and they had twin daughters together before the marriage came to an end in 1958.  She then married Peter Zimroth in 1983 and they adopted one child together and remain married today. 

 
Filmography

2011 Wilde Salome 
2005 Empire Falls
2004 Strip Search 
2004 Frasier 
2002 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 
2001 100 Centre Street
1999 Freak City 
1998 The Love Letter
1997 Touched by an Angel
1989-1997 Roseanne 
1997 That Darn Cat 
1996 Looking for Richard 
1995 Boys on the Side 
1993 The American Clock
1992 A Private Matter
1990 Dick Tracy 
1990 The Blue Men 
1990 Everyday Heroes 
1989 The Lemon Sisters
1988 Open Admissions 
1982 American Playhouse 
1981 The Gentleman Bandit
1981 Guests of the Nation 
1979 Archie Bunker's Place 
1979 Backstairs at the White House 
1976-1978 All in the Family 
1976 NBC Special Treat 
1976 The Tenth Level 
1975 The UFO Incident 
1975 Fore Play 
1974 For Pete's Sake 
1974 The Gun and the Pulpit 
1971-1974 Great Performances 
1973 Terror on the Beach 
1973 Two People 
1972 Love, American Style
1972 Medical Center 
1970 I Walk the Line
1970 I Never Sang for My Father 
1970 Watermelon Man 
1970 The Front Page
1969 Don't Drink the Water 
1968 Rachel, Rachel 
1967 Bonnie and Clyde 
1966 The Trials of O'Brien
1965 The Doctors and the Nurses
1964 The Patty Duke Show 
1964 The DuPont Show of the Week 
1963 Ladybug Ladybug