Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American stage, film and television actress, and singer. She starred from 1977 to 1981 on the ABC series Eight is Enough, before going on to win the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats. Her other musical roles include playing Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard from 1994 to 1996, in both London and New York, receiving an Olivier Award nomination. She is a 2012 American Theater Hall of Fame inductee.
Buckley made her Broadway debut in 1969 playing Martha Jefferson in the original production of the musical 1776. Other Broadway musical credits include Pippin (1973) and Drood (1985). She played gym teacher Ms. Collins in the 1976 Brian de Palma film Carrie and went on to star in the short-lived Broadway musical version of Carrie in 1988, this time playing Carrie's mother, Margaret White. She received a Tony Award nomination for the 1997 musical Triumph of Love, Grammy Award nominations for The Diaries of Adam and Eve (1999) and Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar (2001), and a Drama Desk Award nomination for the 2013 play The Old Friends. Her other film roles include Dixie Scott in Tender Mercies (1983), Sondra Walker in Frantic (1988), Kathy in Another Woman (1988) and Mrs. Jones in The Happening (2008). She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Oz (2001–03). In 2017, she received a Saturn Award nomination for her role as Dr. Karen Fletcher in the film Split.
Buckley has recorded 16 solo albums, and performs in concert across the U.S. each year. She is also a composer; her first recording contains mostly songs she wrote. She is also featured on many Broadway compilation recordings, and on the original cast recording of 1776, the Original Broadway recording of Cats, the London recording of Promises, Promises, Triumph of Love and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
In 2002, Buckley was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Category, for her album Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar, which was recorded at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London. This was her second Grammy nomination, she had previously been nominated in 2000, in the Best Spoken Word Album category for The Diaries of Adam and Eve.
Her albums Quintessence and 1967 were released by Playbill Records in February 2008. Quintessence features jazz arrangements of standards by her longtime collaborator, jazz pianist Kenny Werner; while 1967 is a recording produced by T-Bone Burnett, and made when Buckley was just 19.
Her album Bootleg: Boardmixes From the Road was released in 2010, and her recording of her hit show at Feinstein's at the Regency with pianist Christian Jacob, entitled Ah, Men: The Boys of Broadway debuted on 28 August 2012.
Her most recent album Ghostlight was produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett and was released on September 16, 2014.
Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American stage, film and television actress, and singer. She starred from 1977 to 1981 on the ABC series Eight is Enough, before going on to win the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats. Her other musical roles include playing Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard from 1994 to 1996, in both London and New York, receiving an Olivier Award nomination. She is a 2012 American Theater Hall of Fame inductee.
Buckley made her Broadway debut in 1969 playing Martha Jefferson in the original production of the musical 1776. Other Broadway musical credits include Pippin (1973) and Drood (1985). She played gym teacher Ms. Collins in the 1976 Brian de Palma film Carrie and went on to star in the short-lived Broadway musical version of Carrie in 1988, this time playing Carrie's mother, Margaret White. She received a Tony Award nomination for the 1997 musical Triumph of Love, Grammy Award nominations for The Diaries of Adam and Eve (1999) and Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar (2001), and a Drama Desk Award nomination for the 2013 play The Old Friends. Her other film roles include Dixie Scott in Tender Mercies (1983), Sondra Walker in Frantic (1988), Kathy in Another Woman (1988) and Mrs. Jones in The Happening (2008). She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Oz (2001–03). In 2017, she received a Saturn Award nomination for her role as Dr. Karen Fletcher in the film Split.
Buckley has recorded 16 solo albums, and performs in concert across the U.S. each year. She is also a composer; her first recording contains mostly songs she wrote. She is also featured on many Broadway compilation recordings, and on the original cast recording of 1776, the Original Broadway recording of Cats, the London recording of Promises, Promises, Triumph of Love and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
In 2002, Buckley was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Category, for her album Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar, which was recorded at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London. This was her second Grammy nomination, she had previously been nominated in 2000, in the Best Spoken Word Album category for The Diaries of Adam and Eve.
Her albums Quintessence and 1967 were released by Playbill Records in February 2008. Quintessence features jazz arrangements of standards by her longtime collaborator, jazz pianist Kenny Werner; while 1967 is a recording produced by T-Bone Burnett, and made when Buckley was just 19.
Her album Bootleg: Boardmixes From the Road was released in 2010, and her recording of her hit show at Feinstein's at the Regency with pianist Christian Jacob, entitled Ah, Men: The Boys of Broadway debuted on 28 August 2012.
Her most recent album Ghostlight was produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett and was released on September 16, 2014.