Bernadette Peters Biography

Fast Facts

• Began her career as a child performer on such TV shows as Juvenile Jury, Name That Tune and The Horn & Hardart Children's Hour
• Joined the ensemble of a touring company of Gypsy at age 13
• In 2003, she was cast in Sam Mendes' Broadway production of Gypsy in the lead role of Rose, the overzealous stage mother pushing her kids into show business
• Found success in Hollywood starring opposite her then-boyfriend Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979) and Pennies From Heaven (1981)
• Originated the role of the Witch in the 1987 Broadway musical Into the Woods
• Was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1995
• Founded Broadway Barks with Mary Tyler Moore in 1998 to support animal-adoption efforts in New York
• To help the charity, she wrote a children's book called Broadway Barks