Brenda Vaccaro

Actor

• Born: November 18, 1939
• Place of Birth: New York, New York

Contribution: Brenda Vaccaro is an award-winning American actor best known for her roles in the feature films Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Once Is Not Enough (1975), as well as her work on the television film You Don’t Know Jack (2010). She played Gloria Marquette in three episodes of the Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That... in 2021 and 2022.

Background

Brenda Buell Vaccaro was born on November 18, 1939, in the Brooklyn borough of New York to Mario and Christine Vaccaro. Soon after she was born, her family moved to Dallas, Texas, to establish Mario’s Restaurant.

Vaccaro attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, graduating in 1958. As she knew that she wanted to become an actor, she returned to New York City after high school to study drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, which she attended from 1958 to 1960.

Career

Vaccaro found work almost immediately after graduation, landing a role in a 1961 Broadway production of Everybody Loves Opal. Her Tony Award-winning performance earned widespread critical acclaim, and she landed television roles in early 1960s episodes of the crime dramas Naked City and The Fugitive.

In the mid- to late 1960s, Vaccaro returned to Broadway in Cactus Flower (1965), How Now, Dow Jones (1967), and The Goodbye People (1968). She was nominated for a Tony Award for each of these performances, and her rapidly increasing popularity led to a supporting role alongside Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in the 1969 film drama Midnight Cowboy. Her performance earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe for best supporting actress in 1970.

The early to mid-1970s brought Vaccaro work in supporting roles in television films and programs. In 1971, she appeared in the television movie What’s a Nice Girl like You . . . ? and then starred with Robert Mitchum in the drama Going Home. After guest spots on the television shows Banacek, McCloud, and Marcus Welby, MD, and some made-for-television movies, including an Emmy-winning performance in The Shape of Things (1973), Vaccaro returned to feature film in 1975 for the drama Once Is Not Enough, playing magazine editor Linda Riggs to critical acclaim. For that performance, she won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress and received an Oscar nomination.

In 1976, Vaccaro starred as a schoolteacher in the unsuccessful series Sara, which, despite earning her an Emmy nod, was cancelled later that year. She went on to play supporting characters in the disaster film Airport ’77 (1977) and the space thriller Capricorn One (1978). After appearing in lighter fare with 1981’s Zorro, the Gay Blade and 1984’s Supergirl, Vaccaro returned to television in 1984 with guest appearances on the romantic comedy The Love Boat and the medical drama St. Elsewhere, as well as a regular role on the prime-time soap opera Paper Dolls, which lasted for a single season.

Vaccaro started the 1990s with a guest spot on the popular sitcom The Golden Girls, a performance for which she was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series. She continued to appear on various high-rated shows throughout the rest of the decade, including Friends in 1995, Touched by an Angel in 1996, Ally McBeal in 1997, and The King of Queens in 1998. Also in the late ’90s, Vaccaro supplied the voice of Bunny Bravo in the animated comedy Johnny Bravo (1997–2004) and contributed to the animated fantasy Spawn (1997–99). In 1998, Vaccaro played the real-life bold fashion editor Diana Vreeland in the one-woman play Full Gallop, which premiered at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2002, Vaccaro played a supporting role in the film drama Sonny, starring James Franco. She then performed a voice role on the animated sitcom American Dad! in 2005 and acted in a 2006 episode of the medical drama Nip/Tuck.

As Vaccaro grew older, she found it increasingly difficult to land acting work. However, in 2009, she was offered the chance to audition for a major role in the HBO biopic You Don’t Know Jack (2010). Starring Al Pacino, the film tells the story of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, an American physician who assisted hundreds of terminally ill and suffering patients to commit suicide and later became a staunch and controversial advocate for euthanasia. Vaccaro portrays Kevorkian’s sister Margo Janus, who worked with her brother to organize and file the records of his doctor-assisted suicides. You Don’t Know Jack received widespread acclaim and was nominated for fifteen Emmy Awards, including one for outstanding made-for-television movie. Vaccaro was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or movie.

Vaccaro remained active as a television and film actor during the 2010s. Her film work included the Oscar-nominated animated feature Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), for which she won the 2017 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Award for best supporting female vocal performance in a feature film as well as the BTVA Award for best vocal ensemble in a feature film. She also appeared in Just Let Go (2015), 30-Love (2017), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). She reprised her role as the voice of Bunny Bravo in the television movie Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood (2011). She also appeared in the television series Superior Donuts (2017), Gypsy (2017), and Summer Camp Island (2018). In the 2020s, Vaccaro provided the voice of Midge Marksberry in a 2020 episode of The Boss Baby: Back in Business and appeared as Gloria Marquette in three episodes of And Just Like That... in 2021 and 2022.

Impact

Over the course of her lengthy career, Vaccaro has proven multiple times over that she is a highly talented veteran of the craft of acting. Though she has done much comedy work over the years, her powers truly lie in drama, as she consistently delivers seemingly effortless performances of characters with just the right amount of believable emotion.

Personal Life

Vaccaro was in a romantic relationship with actor Michael Douglas in the 1970s. She has formerly been married to Martin Fried, William S. Bishop, and Charles J. Cannizzaro. She has been married to Guy Hector since 1986.

Bibliography

“Biography for Brenda Vaccaro.” TCM. Turner Entertainment Networks, 3 July 2008. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

"Brenda Vaccaro." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0882853. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.

Erickson, Hal. “Brenda Vaccaro.” AllMovie.com. Rovi, 2013. Web. 9 Aug. 2013.

McNamara, Mary. “‘Dr. Death’ Brings New Life to Brenda Vaccaro’s Acting Career.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2010. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

“Michael Douglas & Brenda Vaccaro: Is Out-of-Wedlock No Longer In?” People. Time, 2 Sept. 1974. Web. 9 Aug. 2013.

Miller, Daryl H. “Vivacious with a Capital ‘V.’” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 1998. Web. 6 Aug. 2013.

Vaccaro, Brenda. “Brenda Vaccaro: A Genuine Treasure.” Italian Tribune. ASAP Multimedia, 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.