Claudia Shear (born September , ) is an American actress and
playwright. She was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Play and Best
Actress for her play Dirty Blonde.Shear was born in Brooklyn, New York
on September , to Julian "Bud" and Helaine Catoggio. Her mother was a
glamorous executive in the cosmetic industry, a talented amateur
painter and collector of antiques. Her father, who was a Deputy Chief
in the New York City Fire Department at the time of her birth, left
her mother and her older sister Diane, soon after she was born She
attended the City University of New York.Shear came to prominence with
her self-penned solo performance piece Blown Sideways Through Life
(described by Frank Rich as an "autobiographical monologue"). The show
premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in September . The show
then opened at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre on January , ,
closing on July , after performances. Shear won an Obie Award,
Special Citation and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding
Solo Performance. Shear's employment experiences as a member of the
American work force - sixty-four jobs in all, including pastry chef,
nude model, waitress, whorehouse receptionist, proofreader, and
Italian translator - provided her a wealth of material for her piece.
She adapted it for a presentation on the PBS series American
Playhouse.
playwright. She was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Play and Best
Actress for her play Dirty Blonde.Shear was born in Brooklyn, New York
on September , to Julian "Bud" and Helaine Catoggio. Her mother was a
glamorous executive in the cosmetic industry, a talented amateur
painter and collector of antiques. Her father, who was a Deputy Chief
in the New York City Fire Department at the time of her birth, left
her mother and her older sister Diane, soon after she was born She
attended the City University of New York.Shear came to prominence with
her self-penned solo performance piece Blown Sideways Through Life
(described by Frank Rich as an "autobiographical monologue"). The show
premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in September . The show
then opened at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre on January , ,
closing on July , after performances. Shear won an Obie Award,
Special Citation and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding
Solo Performance. Shear's employment experiences as a member of the
American work force - sixty-four jobs in all, including pastry chef,
nude model, waitress, whorehouse receptionist, proofreader, and
Italian translator - provided her a wealth of material for her piece.
She adapted it for a presentation on the PBS series American
Playhouse.
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