Sandra Bernhard
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Biography
An acerbic, self-deprecating and full-lipped (think Mick Jagger or Aerosmith's Steven Tyler) renaissance woman, Sandra Bernhard has offered cutting-edge social commentary since beginning humbly at an open-mike night at Ye Little Club in Beverly Hills in 1975. At the time she was a manicurist to the stars, a vocation she practiced for six years before her comedy stylings enabled her to give up her day job for good. She had made her feature debut in "Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams" (19981), but it was her over-the-top turn as the obsessively neurotic groupie who attempts to kidnap Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy" (1983) that brought her to public prominence. Managing to upstage not only Lewis but also the film's lead Robert De Niro, Bernhard set a standard she has yet to equal on the large screen, though she has garnered much subsequent acclaim for her outrageous live performances and television appearances (like dropping her pants on E! Entertainment's "Howard Stern") not to mention her 1991 PLAYBOY spread and a run as a Ford model.
Bernhard's eclectic, confrontational and largely autobiographical one-woman stage show, "Without You I'm Nothing," was a smash off-Broadway in 1988 but sputtered at the box office in its 1990 screen rendition. A regular performer on TV stand-up comedy specials, she ventured into the land of sitcoms with a six-year (1991-96) recurring role as a married woman who came out as a lesbian on the hit ABC sitcom "Roseanne," offering perhaps her most mainstream exposure to date. Bernhard kept her profile high with guest turns on shows like "Chicago Hope" (CBS) and "Ally McBeal" (Fox) and as host of Comedy Central's "The A-List" (1992-93) and the USA Network's "Reel Wild Cinema with Sandra Bernhard" (1996), but her career seemed stalled until she roared back with "I'm Still Here ... Damn It!," which marked her Broadway debut when it moved uptown in 1998. Featuring a blistering stream of cool, vindictive campy asides and muttered put-downs of everyone from Madonna to Princess Diana, it served notice that Bernhard was back, edgy as ever, ready to reveal almost everything.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Assistant Direction (Special)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Producer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1965
Moved to Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 10 (date approximate)
1974
Moved to Los Angeles
1975
Began career as stand-up comic at clubs like the Improv and the Comedy Store while working as a manicurist by day (famous clients included Dyan Cannon and Jaclyn Smith)
1977
Appeared on episodes of "The Richard Pryor Show" (NBC)
1981
Film acting debut in "Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams"
1983
Delivered hilarious turn as obsessive fan of Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy"
1985
Debut record album, "I'm Your Woman"
1988
Off-Broadway debut, the one-person show "Without You I'm Nothing"
1990
Co-wrote and starred in film adaptation of stage show "Without You I'm Nothing"; marked debut as screenwriter
1991
Played over-the-top villainess Minerva Mayflower in the abysmal "Hudson Hawk"
1991
Began recurring role of Nancy, a married woman who comes out as a lesbian, on hit TV sitcom "Roseanne" (ABC)
1992
Signed a two-year deal with the Ford Models, Inc.
1992
Posed nude for PLAYBOY; was featured on the cover
1992
Hosted Comedy Central's "The A-List"
1995
Portrayed Frieda Dabney in Disney remake of "Freaky Friday" ("The ABC Family Movie")
1996
Played a food-and-sex therapist in "Somewhere in the City"
1996
Hosted USA Network's "Reel Wild Cinema with Sandra Bernhard", a look at "the best of the worst B movies"
1996
Appeared as a lawyer in a guest appearance on "Chicago Hope" (CBS)
1997
Cast as the operator of a massage parlor in "Lover Girl" and played a bitchy Beverly Hills producer's wife in "Burn, Hollywood, Burn"
1997
Made guest appearance as a savvy lawyer on "Ally McBeal" (Fox)
1998
Voiced the regular character of Cassandra on "Disney's Hercules", an animated series based on the 1997 film
1998
Broadway debut, "I'm Still Here ... Damn It!"; the show had been a smash hit off-Broadway before moving uptown; executive produced that year's HBO special of the same name
1998
Appeared in the quirky silent film "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died", scripted by the late Edward Wood Jr
2000
Starred in one-person stage show "The Love Machine"
2001
Announced as host of the A&E late night talk show "The Sandra Bernhard Experience" to air in 2002
2002
Guest-starred as herself on NBC's "Will & Grace"
2005
Cast on Showtime's lesbian drama "The L Word" as a well-known straight author who teaches a class for budding young writers
2006
Performed off-Broadway in "Sandra Bernhard: Everything Bad and Beautiful"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
