There is certainly an unofficial trend of featuring TV Moms at the Elitch Theatre, and Karen Grassle continues that trend! In 1967 she appeared at the theatre in The Bashful Genius, and then she returned in 1972 with Maureen O’Sullivan and Brandon DeWilde in Butterflies Are Free.
From the 1972 program for Butterflies Are Free, here is Karen’s Bio:
Karen Grassle comes to this production of “Butterflies Are Free” already familiar with the role of Jill, having played in the Broadway production.
The blonde, blue-eyed actress, is also familiar with the famous Elitch Theatre. As a newcomer to N.Y. theatre, she appeared here five years ago as an ingenue. She also spent two successive summers with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder, appearing as Rosalind in “As You Like it” and Ophelia in “Hamlet.”
Last summer at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park she starred in “Cymbeline.”
She received critical acclaim for her performance with George Grizzard and Diana Sands in the Broadway play, “The Gingham Dog.”
The talented actress received her dramatic training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art as a Fulbright Scholar. She received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Miss Grassle has appeared with stock and repertory groups throughout the United States in roles ranging from Moliere to Tennessee Williams. She particularly enjoys performing in original works by new playwrights.
In her comparatively brief career in theatre, she has performed at the the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Fla.; the Charles Playhouse, Boston; North Shore Music Theatre, Mass.; Front Street Theatre, Memphis; and the Actor’s Workshop, San Francisco.
Among the many productions in which she has had leading or featured parts are “The Showoff,” “Room Service,” “The Happy Time,” “Look Back in Anger,” “The Bacchae,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “You Never Can Tell,” “The Miser” and “Macbeth.”
On television she has been seen in such series as “Love of Life,” “The Guiding Light,” and “Love Is a Many- Splendored Thing.” She also appeared on National Educational Television’s “N.Y. Television Theatre,” and enacted leading roles in Sunday Morning’s “Protestant Heritage” and “The Catholic Hour.”
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1967
- 1972
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- 1972: Butterflies are Free – Jill Tanner
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Caroline Ingalls in the TV series, Little House on the Prairie.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- The 2021 film, Not to Forget, has three of our very favorite alumnae! Check out Karen as the lead, but supporting roles for Olympia Dukakis as the Judge and Cloris Leachman as Donna.
Wikipedia Link:
