Marie Lillo, 81, actress and singer
Diner
Posted: Sun., Feb. 6, 2011, 12:06pm PT
Actress Marie Lillo dies at 81
She appeared in opera, TV during 60-year career
By Variety Staff
Actress Marie Lillo, who appeared in opera, musical comedies,
nightclubs, TV and films during a 60-year career, died Tuesday, Feb.
1. She was 81.
Born in New Jersey, she graduated from Loyola U. in New Orleans. Her
professional career was launched in New York City singing opera at the
Met in 1951.
She made her legit debut at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in
1972. Having studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London,
she performed in a variety of roles from Lady Bracknell in "The
Importance of Being Earnest" to Volumnia in Shakespeare's
"Coriolanus."
Lillo also starred in Las Vegas productions of "Norman Is That You?,"
"Come Blow Your Horn," "Oklahoma" and "Your House or Mine."
She toured internationally off and on for years, performing comedy and
singing routines with Milton Berle; co-starred in the Texas tour of
"Deathrap" with Leslie Nielsen; appeared with Cesar Romero in the
national tour of "The Max Factor"; and made her Broadway debut in
David Merrick's "42nd Street."
Lillo won a Drama League Award for her in the 1998-99 season for her
performance in Joe DiPietro's "Over the River and Through the Woods"
Off Broadway at the John Houseman Theater. Later she appeared in
DiPietro's "Babes in Arms" at the Goodspeed Opera Company in
Connecticut.
She played a hunchback psychic nun in NBC's "Passions" in 2006.
Lillo also taught singing and comedy techniques to many Broadway stars
and aspiring students at her studios in New York City and Los Angeles,
doing so up until her death.
There were no immediate survivors.
There will be a memorial service for Lillo at 11 a.m. on March 12 at
Theater 40 in Beverly Hills.
Contact Variety Staff at ne...@variety.com
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