Film, Television and Broadway Star, Concert Stage and Recording Artist, Adrienne Barbeau's career spans 39 years and is still evolving.
She began performing in 1963 with the San Jose Civic Light Opera, and by the time she was 18, she had already entertained our servicemen on army bases throughout South East Asia and was on her way to New York where she made her Broadway debut as Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, in Fiddler on the Roof. A Tony nomination for her creation of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of "Grease" led her back to California and the role of Bea Arthur's daughter, Carol, in the hit series, "Maude" (currently in reruns on Nick at Nite's TV Land.)
Her numerous films for television include the Ace Award winning "Doublecrossed: The Barry Seal Story" opposite Dennis Hopper; Scott Turow's "Burden of Proof" with Hector Elizondo; and most recently NBC's Movie of the Week "Shattered Hearts". Weekly audiences can see her in a recurring role on "Drew Carey" as Oswald's mom. Other recent series appearances include "The Chronicle" and "Sabrina, The Teen Age Witch". She is currently filming a new series for HBO entitled "Carnivale" which will begin airing in the summer of 2003.
Film audiences know her best from "The Fog", "Escape from New York", "Cannonball Run", "Swamp Thing", "Creepshow", "Two Evil Eyes" and "Back to School". Recent releases include "No Place Like Home", "Across the Line", and "The Convent". Soon to be released are "The Reckoning" with Gary Busey and "The Santa Trap" with Stacy Keach, Shelly Long, Robert Hays and Corbin Bernsen.
Los Angeles audiences have known her as a television talk show host and a weekly book reviewer for KABC talk radio. Her nightclub performances include Harrah's, Reno; The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; the Gardenia and the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Los Angeles.
Adrienne has starred in over 25 musicals and plays, among them "Pump Boys & Dinettes"; "Women Behind Bars"; Kander and Ebb's "And the World Goes Round"; "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"; "Love Letters"; the West coast premier's of "A Walk on the Wild Side" and "Drop Dead"; the Canadian premiere of Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers"; and the world premiere of "What the Rabbi Saw" by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore.
Off camera, Adrienne is the voice of Catwoman in "Batman, The Animated Series"; the spokesperson for various television and radio commercials and the narrator of many books on tape, the Imax film "The Living Sea" and the A & E special "Unmentionables". She has released a cd - not the expected musical showtunes but a great collection of the country, blues, folk and rock tunes she does in her concert appearances across the country.
In March of 1997, Adrienne gave birth to identical twin boys making her "the only woman on the maternity ward who was a member of AARP". She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Billy Van Zandt, the twins, William and Walker, and her older son, Cody.
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– Her cousin named his daughter Adrienne Barbeau.
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– Won Tony nomination in 1971 through her rendition of LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE - a Broadway production.
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– Nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of bad-girl Rizzo in the original Broadway production of GREASE.
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– Made her Broadway debut in Fiddler on the Roof.
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– Worked as a New York city go-go dancer from 1964-1967 while breaking in on Broadway.
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– In the late 1970s, a poster of her wearing lingerie sold well.
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– Girlfriend of Huff Hefner's when he started Playboy magazine.
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– Touring Pacific military bases as a member of the San Jose Light Opera at age 19.
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– Her father is French Canadian and her mother is Armenian.
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– Her parents divorced when she was twelve years old, causing such a trauma to her that she went throught therapy for years.
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– Narrator of Judith Krantz's Mistral's Daughter (1996) audiobook.
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– Narrator of Jane Heller's Internal Affairs (1996) audiobook.
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– Nominated for Best Supporting Actress - Television at Golden Globe Awards for MAUDE. (1972)
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– Is the voice of Catwoman in Batman, The Animated Series
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