Jane Sperry Connell (pronounced con-NELL, née Bennett; October , â€"
September , ) was an American actress and singer.Connell was born in
Berkeley, California, to Louis Wesley and Mary (née Sperry)
Bennett.[citation needed] She majored in drama at the University of
California, where she met her future husband.Connell began her career
with her husband Gordon, entertaining in San Francisco night clubs
such as The Purple Onion and The Hungry I. Eventually the couple moved
to New York City, where Connell made her Off-Broadway debut in the
revival of The Threepenny Opera, a long-running hit at the Theatre de
Lys. In the London production of Once Upon a Mattress, Connell starred
as Winifred, the role that Carol Burnett had originated in New York.
Her Broadway debut came in the role of Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny
Opera ().Connell's most prominent success came in when she was cast
as Agnes Gooch in the original Broadway production of Jerry Herman's
Mame. She recreated the role in the screen adaptation after Lucille
Ball, the film's star, became dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn, who
originally had been signed to play Gooch.
September , ) was an American actress and singer.Connell was born in
Berkeley, California, to Louis Wesley and Mary (née Sperry)
Bennett.[citation needed] She majored in drama at the University of
California, where she met her future husband.Connell began her career
with her husband Gordon, entertaining in San Francisco night clubs
such as The Purple Onion and The Hungry I. Eventually the couple moved
to New York City, where Connell made her Off-Broadway debut in the
revival of The Threepenny Opera, a long-running hit at the Theatre de
Lys. In the London production of Once Upon a Mattress, Connell starred
as Winifred, the role that Carol Burnett had originated in New York.
Her Broadway debut came in the role of Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny
Opera ().Connell's most prominent success came in when she was cast
as Agnes Gooch in the original Broadway production of Jerry Herman's
Mame. She recreated the role in the screen adaptation after Lucille
Ball, the film's star, became dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn, who
originally had been signed to play Gooch.
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