Shirley Stoler

Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in The Honeymoon Killers and Lina Wertmüller's Pasqualino Settebellezze.

Early years

The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn who owned a used furniture store,^[1]Stoler made her stage debut in 1955 and gained experience as a member of New York's experimental La Mama and Living Theatre companies. She had become a key underground player by the time she earned film fame in 1970 at age 41.

Film and TV career

Throughout her career, Stoler, a large and powerfully built woman who rarely smiled onscreen, often played scary villains (most notably in such films as Pasqualino Settebellezze and The Honeymoon Killers, and on television, most notably an episode of Charlie's Angels). A character actress, as well as an occasional lead, Stoler appeared in small roles in classic films including Klute, The Deer Hunter, and Desperately Seeking Susan.

The highlight of her film career arguably was her turn as the unnamed Nazi female prison commandant in Lina Wertmüller's Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties; 1975), in which she played a cat and mouse game of seduction with the concentration camp inmate played by Giancarlo Giannini. Although a profile of Stoler was featured on the front page of the New York Times Arts section, her performance was ignored during the awards season, likely because her dialogue had to be dubbed into Italian. The film, the success of which depended a great deal on her, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1976, and garnered Wertmüller nominations as Best Director (a first for a woman) and Best Original Screenplay, and Stoler's co-star Giannini a nod as Best Actor.

Stoler also appeared on Broadway and in the daytime soap operas The Edge of Night as Frankie and One Life to Live as Roberta (nicknamed "Tiny"), as well as Saturday morning television, as Mrs. Steve on Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Death

Stoler lived in Manhattan, where she died at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center from heart failure after a long illness. She was one month shy of her 70th birthday.^[2]

Filmography

References

External links

• Shirley Stoler at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Shirley Stoler at the Internet Movie Database
• Shirley Stoler at AllMovie