Fran Brill
Encyclopedia
Frances Joan "Fran" Brill (born September 30, 1946), is an American actress and puppeteer, best known for her roles on Sesame Street
.
Brill was born in Chester, Pennsylvania
, the daughter of Linette and Joseph M. Brill. Her father was a physician. She is a graduate of Boston University
.
She began her career in theater, making her Broadway
debut in the 1969 play Red, White and Maddox. Her other theatrical roles include leads at the Roundabout Theatre
, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons
and many region
al theaters including the Long Wharf
, Yale Repertory Theatre
, Arena Stage
, the Mark Taper Forum
and the Actors Theatre of Louisville
. She has been nominated twice for a Drama Desk Award
, for What Every Woman Knows
(1976) and for Knuckle (1981), respectively.
From 1974-1975, Brill played Fran Bachman on NBC
's daytime drama How to Survive a Marriage
. Her character struggled with sudden widowhood, and Brill received over a thousand letters of condolence. Brill was also featured in episode
s of The Guiding Light, All My Children
, The Edge of Night
, Hyde in Hollywood, Lip Service
and Kate and Allie. She has also guest-starred on nighttime drama
s such as Third Watch
, Against the Law, Law & Order
, and Law & Order: SVU.
On Sesame Street
, for which she has won an Emmy Award
, she has created and puppeteered the Muppets called Zoe, Little Bird
, and Prairie Dawn
, among others. Playing Zoe, Brill appeared on the TV-series The West Wing as well as many home videos including Zoe's Dance Moves. With the Muppets she also did Saturday Night Live
, The Muppet Show
, The Jim Henson Hour
, Dog City
, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
.
She has also been seen and heard in hundreds of commercials and appeared in such films as What About Bob?
, Midnight Run
, City Hall
and Being There
.
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
.
Brill was born in Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, the daughter of Linette and Joseph M. Brill. Her father was a physician. She is a graduate of Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
She began her career in theater, making her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in the 1969 play Red, White and Maddox. Her other theatrical roles include leads at the Roundabout Theatre
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...
, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
and many region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
al theaters including the Long Wharf
Long Wharf Theatre
Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared....
, Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
, Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
, the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
and the Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1964 by Louisville native Ewel Cornett, local producer Richard Block and actor Ken Jenkins of Scrubs fame, and was designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974. It is run as a...
. She has been nominated twice for a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, for What Every Woman Knows
What Every Woman Knows
What Every Woman Knows is a four-act play written by J. M. Barrie. It was first presented by the impresario Charles Frohman at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on 3 September 1908...
(1976) and for Knuckle (1981), respectively.
From 1974-1975, Brill played Fran Bachman on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's daytime drama How to Survive a Marriage
How to Survive a Marriage
How to Survive a Marriage is a soap opera which aired on the NBC television network from January 7, 1974 to April 17, 1975. The serial was created by Anne Howard Bailey, with much input from then-NBC Vice President Lin Bolen...
. Her character struggled with sudden widowhood, and Brill received over a thousand letters of condolence. Brill was also featured in episode
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
s of The Guiding Light, All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
, Hyde in Hollywood, Lip Service
Lip Service
Lip service is an idiom meaning 'giving approval or support insincerely' .Lip service may also refer to:- Television :* Lip Service , a 2010 dramatic series broadcast on BBC Three...
and Kate and Allie. She has also guest-starred on nighttime drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s such as Third Watch
Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
, Against the Law, Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, and Law & Order: SVU.
On Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, for which she has won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, she has created and puppeteered the Muppets called Zoe, Little Bird
Little Bird
Little Bird may refer to:* MH-6 Little Bird, a military attack helicopter* Little Bird, a character from Sesame Street* "Little Bird", nickname of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath* Little Bird , a 2010 album by Australian singer Kasey Chambers...
, and Prairie Dawn
Prairie Dawn
Prairie Dawn is a fictional character, a rather mature seven-year-old Muppet girl on the children's television program Sesame Street. She is similar in appearance to a character from the Anything Muppets. She is famous for writing school pageants for her friends, mostly Ernie and Bert, Herry,...
, among others. Playing Zoe, Brill appeared on the TV-series The West Wing as well as many home videos including Zoe's Dance Moves. With the Muppets she also did Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
, The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour was a short-lived television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the popular Muppet characters. Only nine of the twelve episodes produced managed to air on NBC before the low-rated...
, Dog City
Dog City
Dog City is a television series that was produced by Nelvana Limited and Jim Henson Productions and aired on FOX from September 26, 1992 to January 28, 1995, and in Canada on Global in 1993, then on Teletoon until 2000. The show contained both animation by Nelvana, and puppetry by Jim Henson...
, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is the second theatrical feature-length film starring the cast of the popular U.S. children's series Sesame Street...
.
She has also been seen and heard in hundreds of commercials and appeared in such films as What About Bob?
What About Bob?
What About Bob? is a 1991 comedy film directed by Frank Oz, and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. Murray plays Bob Wiley, a multiphobic psychiatric patient who follows his successful and egotistical psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin on vacation...
, Midnight Run
Midnight Run
Midnight Run is a 1988 American action comedy film starring Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his prisoner....
, City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
and Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
.