| Birth Place: | Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Yearsactive: | 1962–present |
| Children: | 1 |
| Alma Mater: | Northwestern University |
Penny Fuller is an American actress.[1] She received two Tony Award nominations for her performances on Broadway stage: for Applause (1970), and The Dinner Party (2001).[2] For her television performances, Fuller received six Emmy Award nominations, winning once, in 1982 for playing Madge Kendal in The Elephant Man.[3]
Fuller was born in Durham, North Carolina. She attended Lumberton High School[4] and Northwestern University, where her teachers included Alvina Krause.[5]
Fuller moved to New York City, and in 1960 appeared at the East 74th Street Theater in George Gershwin's Oh, Kay!, with Linda Lavin and Marti Stevens.[6] [7] [8] She made her Broadway debut in The Moon Besieged (1962); she appeared as a replacement in the original productions of Barefoot in the Park (1963) and Cabaret (1966).
After a handful of Shakespearean productions, Fuller gained notice on Broadway for her portrayal of the outwardly sweet but subtly undermining Eve Harrington in Applause (1970–1972), the musical version of All About Eve with Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing. She started in Richard Rodgers' 1976 flop about Henry VIII, Rex, in which she appeared opposite Nicol Williamson and Glenn Close. Fuller continued to work in musicals, including the original production of William Finn's A New Brain and a 1999 revival of Rodgers' Do I Hear a Waltz? at New Jersey's George Street Playhouse. In later years, Fuller was also on Broadway in the original productions of Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter (1997) and Neil Simon's The Dinner Party (2000); she was Tony-nominated for the latter. Off-Broadway appearances have included Three Viewings (1995) and Nicky Silver's Beautiful Child. Most recently, appeared as the Old Lady/Blair Daniels in the 2017 revival of Sunday in the Park with George and as the Dowager Empress in Anastasia.[9]
Fuller has extensive television work to her credit, including an Emmy-winning performance as Mrs. Kendal in the TV version of Bernard Pomerance's play The Elephant Man (1982) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984) by Tennessee Williams, in which she played Mae (a.k.a. Sister Woman). In 1992 she played Nancy McKeon's mother Ruth Benson in the CBS movie Baby Snatcher.
Fuller portrayed Amanda Harding in the ABC crime drama Fortune Dane (1986).[10] She also appeared in dozens of other TV series, including The Edge of Night (1964), Love, American Style (1969), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), The F.B.I. (1972), Banacek (1973), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), Barnaby Jones (1975), Family (1977), Trapper John, M.D. (1979 and 1981), One Day at a Time (1983), The Love Boat (1983 and 1985), Matlock (1988), L.A. Law (1988), Murder, She Wrote (1988 and 1993), China Beach (1989–90), Columbo (1990), Quantum Leap (1992), NYPD Blue (1994), Mad About You (1994–95), Melrose Place (1994–95), ER (1995), Law & Order (1998) and Judging Amy (2002 and 2005).
Her film work includes All the President's Men (1976) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).
Fuller married Knox Kinlaw, an Atlanta doctor, in 1977. They had a daughter that same year.[11]