Bernadette Peters (1966)

Bernadette Peters may be our star with the most Award nominations of any! Check out the list of nominations and wins below!

At the age nine, Bernadette Peters made her professional stage debut in the out-of-town tryouts for This is Goggle (starring Historic Elitch Theatre alumna, Kim Hunter) but the play closed before it ever got out of previews.

At the age eighteen, Peters toured in Riverwind with Robert Alda and the show was part of the 1966 summer season at Elitch Theatre.

Two years later she appeared in George M! and she won a Theatre World Award for Debut Performance. This would be the first of dozens of awards and nominations.

In 2003 Peters opened as Rose in a revival of Gypsy on Broadway. She was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award.

Seasons at the Theatre

1966

Productions/Roles:

1966 – Riverwind as Jenny Farrell

Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:

Peters received seven nominations for Tony Awards, winning two (plus an honorary award), and nine Drama Desk Award nominations, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.
In 1967 she appeared as George M. Cohan’s sister Josie opposite Joel Grey in George M! (1968), winning the Theatre World Award.
Peters’s performance as “Ruby” in the 1968 Off-Broadway production of Dames at Sea, a parody of 1930s musicals, brought her critical acclaim and her first Drama Desk Award.
Hildy in a revival of On the Town, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination.
1976 Mel Brooks film Silent Movie for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
Pennies from Heaven (1981), for which she won the Golden Globe Award as Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Peters was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series on The Muppet Show (1977).
Appeared in the comedy-drama Sally and Marsha, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
Appeared on Broadway as Dot/Marie in the Stephen Sondheim–James Lapine musical Sunday in the Park with George in 1984, for which she received her third Tony Award nomination.
The Broadway production of Song and Dance received eight Tony Award nominations, with Peters winning her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
For her role in the Fox series Ally McBeal (2001), Peters received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Peters was also nominated for a 2003 Daytime Emmy Award, Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Special, for her work in the 2002 television film Bobbie’s Girl.
At the 66th Tony Awards in 2012, Peters was presented with the honorary Isabelle Stevenson Award for “making a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations, regardless of whether such organizations relate to the theatre”, specifically for her work with Broadway Barks.
She played Deb in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020–2021) and the television film Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas (2021) and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the role.
Three of her albums have been nominated for the Grammy Award.
She has recorded most of the Broadway and off-Broadway musicals she has appeared in, and four of these cast albums have won Grammy Awards.