Deborah Geffner is an American actress, singer, and dancer.
Born in Pittsburgh, Geffner moved to New York City at the age of sixteen to train at the Juilliard School. She later danced for the Stuttgart Ballet and American Chamber Ballet.
She is best known for her role as Victoria Porter in Bob Fosse's award-winning movie All That Jazz, which she filmed while performing in A Chorus Line on Broadway in the role of Kristine.[1]
Geffner worked again with Fosse in his movie Star 80.[2] She also starred in the TV movie Legs with Gwen Verdon and Sheree North. She has been on TV shows like Scandal, Mad Men, Cold Case, Grey's Anatomy, Monk, Criminal Minds, ER, Tales of the Unexpected and Passions.
Geffner can also be seen in the movies Living Out Loud with Holly Hunter, Infestation, Exterminator 2, Chasing Destiny with Christopher Lloyd, and as herself in the documentary Store. In 2009 she wrote, directed and starred in the award-winning short film Guitar Lessons.[3]
She directed John Patrick Shanley's play, Beggars in the House of Plenty, at Theatre 68 in Hollywood as part of their "13 by Shanley" Festival in 2009.[4] In 2011, she directed Portrait of a Madonna and performed in Auto-Da-Fé by Tennessee Williams, also at Theatre 68, as part of the "Five by Tenn" Festival.[5] In 2012 she directed the world premiere of "Jennifer Aniston Stole My Life" in the Hollywood Fringe Festival, chosen for Best of Fringe. She also played Gwendolyn Gardner on the soap opera The Young and the Restless in November 2020.[6]
She lives in Los Angeles where she continues to act and direct movies and plays.
| 1979 | All That Jazz | Victoria | ||
| 1983 | Star 80 | Billie | ||
| 1984 | Exterminator 2 | Caroline | ||
| 1989 | Bert Rigby, You're a Fool | Dancer | ||
| 1998 | Living Out Loud | Woman with Makeup | ||
| 2009 | Infestation | Maureen | ||
| 2010 | Chain Letter | Irene Cristoff | ||
| 2014 | Booze Boys & Brownies | Sharon Dubrow | ||
| 2015 | Night of the Living Deb | Deb's Mom | Voice | |
| 2015 | A Beautiful Now | David's mother | ||
| 2015 | The Phoenix Incident | Susan Lauder | ||
| 2016 | Southside with You | Toot | ||
| 2018 | Under the Silver Lake | Mom | Voice | |
| 2024 | MaXXXine | Elaine |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Tales of the Unexpected | Miss Grecco | Episode: "A Woman's Help" | |
| 1981 | One Day at a Time | Grace | Episode: "Julie Shows Up: Part 2" | |
| 1983 | Legs | Terry Riga | Television film | |
| 1983 | Murder 1, Dancer 0 | Jackie | ||
| 1983 | Buffalo Bill | Lauren Stockton | Episode: "Buffalo Bill and the Movies" | |
| 1985 | MacGruder and Loud | Jenny | Episode: "On the Wire" | |
| 1986 | Fame | Eve | Episode: "Hold That Baby" | |
| 1989 | Falcon Crest | Savannah Sharpe | 2 episodes | |
| 2001 | ER | Mrs. Street | Episode: "Piece of Mind" | |
| 2001 | Chasing Destiny | Nurse Finnegan | Television film | |
| 2004 | Medical Investigation | Lucy Martin | Episode: "Progeny" | |
| 2004, 2005 | Passions | Dr. Carlyle | 2 episodes | |
| 2005 | Criminal Minds | Neighbor | Episode: "Natural Born Killer" | |
| 2006 | Grey's Anatomy | Mrs. Burton | Episode: "Yesterday" | |
| 2006 | The Nine | Neighbor | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2006 | Monk | Nun | Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad" | |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Joy Bellowes | Episode: "Libertyville" | |
| 2009 | The Forgotten | Dr. Sharon Walker | Episode: "Railroad Jane" | |
| 2012 | Nuclear Family | John's Lawyer | Television film | |
| 2013 | Mad Men | Mrs. Beresford | Episode: "The Quality of Mercy" | |
| 2014 | Scandal | Homeland Security Chief | 2 episodes | |
| 2014 | The Comeback Kids | Casting Director | Episode: "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" | |
| 2016 | Mary Ingram | Episode: "Going Viral" | ||
| 2018 | How to Get Away with Murder | Jillian | Episode: "Whose Blood Is That?" | |
| 2019 | MILFriend | Kathy | Episode: "Mother, Mama" | |
| 2019 | For the People | Judge Drexen | Episode: "One Big Happy Family" | |
| 2019 | Aesthetic Rebellion Presents | K | Episode: "Everything I Wish I Said" | |
| 2019 | The Morning Show | Kassie Spitser Crisis Specialist | Episode: "In the Dark Night of the Soul It's Always 3:30 in the Morning" | |
| 2020 | The Young and the Restless | Gwendolyn Gardner | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | JoAnna | Episode: "Blood Buffet" |