Julie Bovasso

Julia Anne Bovasso August 1 1930 September 14 1991 was an American actress of stage screen and television Bovasso was born in Brooklyn New York and raised in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of this borough the daughter of Angela Mary née Padovani and Bernard Michael Bovasso a teamster She was AlbanianItalianAmerican She attended The High School of Music Art in Manhattan Bovasso appeared in numerous films including Saturday Night Fever 1977 as Florence Manero the mother of John Travoltas character Tony Manero She reprised the role in the films 1983 sequel Staying Alive Before Saturday Night Fever she appeared in the 1970 Otto Preminger film Tell Me That You Love Me Junie Moon In addition to Staying Alive she was in a number of films in the 1980s including Willie Phil 1980 The Verdict 1982 Daniel 1983 Off Beat 1986 Wise Guys 1986 Moonstruck 1987 In the 1990s Bovasso was seen in Betsys Wedding 1990 and My Blue Heaven 1990 Onstage Bavasso wrote and appeared in avantgarde productions offBroadway such as Jean Genets The Maids For the latter she won the first Best Actress Obie OffBroadway Award in 1956 presented to her by Shelley Winters Before her film work Bovasso established the experimental Tempo Playhouse at 4 St Marks Place in Manhattan during the 1950s There she introduced works of the Theater of the Absurd including works by the playwrights Jean Genet Eugene Ionesco and Michel de Ghelderode to the professional theater in the United States Bovasso also performed with The Living Theater and had a longstanding relationship with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club From 1968 to 1975 she directed many of her own original works at La MaMa including Gloria and Esperanza Schuberts Last Serenade The Moondreamers Standard Safety and The Nothing Kid In addition to her work as a director and actor her playwriting credits include the fourhour play Gloria and Esperanza which Village Voice theatre critic Jerry Tallmer described as a miracle a mythopoetic fireworks display A soughtafter acting coach Bovasso was known as an exacting instructor and her private New York workshops regularly included prominent performers As per the DVD commentary Bovasso coached both Cher and Olympia Dukakis on their Brooklyn accents in the film Moonstruck In earlier performances she played Rose Corelli Fraser in the shortlived soap opera From These Roots She was fired from that show due to a disagreement with producers