Sada Carolyn Thompson (September , â€" May , ) was an American stage,
film, and television actress.Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in to Hugh
Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss (née Gibson), and raised in
Fanwood, New Jersey, where she attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High
School, graduating in the class of . Thompson earned a Bachelor of
Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after
which she worked steadily in regional theatre in such plays as The
Seagull, Pygmalion, Our Town, Arms and the Man, and Blithe Spirit. She
received training at Pittsburgh Playhouse, where she appeared in
numerous productions.She made her Off-Broadway debut in a production
of Under Milkwood, and the following year she appeared on television
in a Goodyear Television Playhouse production. She made her Broadway
debut in the musical Juno. Her additional New York City stage-credits
include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,
Tartuffe, and Twigs. Her stage performances won her an Obie Award, a
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, three
Drama Desk Awards and two Sarah Siddons Awards (the last presented for
outstanding performances in Chicago theatre). She was elected to the
American Theater Hall of Fame in .On the strength of her success in
Twigs, Thompson was signed to play neighbor Irene Lorenzo on All in
the Family. After taping her first episode, however, she was replaced
by Betty Garrett, when it became obvious that she and producer Norman
Lear had different opinions about how the character should be played.
Her portrayal of matriarch Kate Lawrence on Family won her the Emmy
Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and garnered her
three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a
Television Series Drama.
film, and television actress.Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in to Hugh
Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss (née Gibson), and raised in
Fanwood, New Jersey, where she attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High
School, graduating in the class of . Thompson earned a Bachelor of
Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after
which she worked steadily in regional theatre in such plays as The
Seagull, Pygmalion, Our Town, Arms and the Man, and Blithe Spirit. She
received training at Pittsburgh Playhouse, where she appeared in
numerous productions.She made her Off-Broadway debut in a production
of Under Milkwood, and the following year she appeared on television
in a Goodyear Television Playhouse production. She made her Broadway
debut in the musical Juno. Her additional New York City stage-credits
include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,
Tartuffe, and Twigs. Her stage performances won her an Obie Award, a
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, three
Drama Desk Awards and two Sarah Siddons Awards (the last presented for
outstanding performances in Chicago theatre). She was elected to the
American Theater Hall of Fame in .On the strength of her success in
Twigs, Thompson was signed to play neighbor Irene Lorenzo on All in
the Family. After taping her first episode, however, she was replaced
by Betty Garrett, when it became obvious that she and producer Norman
Lear had different opinions about how the character should be played.
Her portrayal of matriarch Kate Lawrence on Family won her the Emmy
Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and garnered her
three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a
Television Series Drama.
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