Carnivále

   Adrienne Barbeau
   As Ruthie

 

Film, Television and Broadway Star, Concert Stage and Recording Artist, Adrienne Barbeau's career spans 40 years.

She began performing in 1963 with the San Jose Civic Light Opera, and by the time she was 18, she had already entertained our servicemen on army bases throughout South East Asia and was on her way to New York, where she made her Broadway debut as Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, in "Fiddler On The Roof." A Tony nomination for her creation of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of "Grease" led her back to California and the role of Bea Arthur's daughter, Carol, on the hit series, "Maude" (currently in reruns on Nick at Nite's "TV Land")

Her numerous films for television include the Ace Award winning "Doublecrossed: The Barry Seal Story" opposite Dennis Hopper; Scott Turow's "Burden Of Proof" with Hector Elizondo; "The Santa Trap" with Stacy Keach and Robert Hays. Weekly audiences have seen her in a recurring role on "Drew Carey" as Oswald's mom. She currently stars in the role of Ruthie in HBO's fascinating series "Carnivále."

Film audiences know her best from "The Fog," "Escape From New York," "Swamp Thing," "Cannonball Run," "Creepshow," "Back to School," "Two Evil Eyes" and "The Convent." Soon to be released is the feature comedy "A Wake in Providence."

Los Angeles audiences have known her as a television talk show host and a weekly book reviewer for KABC talk radio. Her nightclub performances include Harrah's, Reno; The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; the Gardenia and the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Los Angeles.

Adrienne has starred in over 25 musicals and plays, among them "Pump Boys & Dinettes"; "Women Behind Bars"; Kander and Ebb's "And the World Goes Round"; "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"; "Love Letters"; the West coast premieres of "A Walk On The Wild Side" and "Drop Dead"; the Canadian premiere of Neil Simon's "Lost In Yonkers"; and the world premiere of "What the Rabbi Saw" by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore. Most recently she returned to "Fiddler on the Roof" as Tevye's wife, Golde. "I figure if I live long enough, I'll be playing Golde's grandmother, Tzeitle."

Off camera, Adrienne is the voice of Catwoman in "Batman, The Animated Series"; the spokesperson for various television and radio commercials and the narrator of many books on tape, the Imax film "The Living Sea" and the A & E special "Unmentionables." She has released a CD - not the expected musical showtunes but a great collection of the country, blues, folk and rock tunes she does in her concert appearances across the country.

Adrienne is currently writing a collection of stories about her life called There Are Worse Things I Could Do, to be published in Spring of 2006, and is also in rehearsals for a new, two character play entitled The Property Known as Garland, written by Billy Van Zandt and directed by Glenn Casale.

In March of 1997, Adrienne gave birth to identical twin boys, making her "the only woman in the maternity ward who was a member of AARP." She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Billy Van Zandt, the twins, William and Walker, and her eldest son, Cody.