Julie Kavner Movies
When the decision was made in 1974 to transform Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) from frumpy kvetcher to desirable bachelorette on the TV series Rhoda, somebody had to inherit all those self-deprecating jokes told by Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The decision was made to create a new character: Rhoda's pudgy, insecure younger sister, Brenda. The actress chosen for the role sounded as though she'd been a New Yorker since the womb, but in fact Julie Kavner was born and raised in California. A theatre student at USC-San Francisco, Kavner came to Rhoda with no professional experience, but before the series ran its course, she had won an Emmy for her portrayal. With her performance in the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters, Kavner became one of the most prominent members of director Woody Allen's stock company, essaying very un-Brendalike roles in Radio Days (1987), the "Oedipus Wrecks" segment of New York Stories (1989), Alice (1990) and Shadows and Fog (1992). Kavner's regular stint as an ensemble player on the Fox TV network's Tracy Ullman Show led to her long-running assignment as the gravelly voice of Marge Simpson on the weekly animated series The Simpsons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
A plain, prudish librarian goes on a TV game show and finds romance. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Brilliantly constructed in semi-documentary fashion, Katherine is the story of how a young upper-middle-class girl gradually radicalizes into a violence-prone revolutionary. The story is related in flashbacks sparked by "interviews" with Katherine (Sissy Spacek), her troubled parents (Art Carney, Jane Wyatt) and her radical mentor (Henry Winkler). After the idealism is knocked out of her by her horrendous experiences in the American South and in South America, Katherine matriculates into one of the most militant members of a Weatherman-like student organization. The film's tragic ending is both startling and inevitable. Originally telecast in a two-hour slot on October 5, 1975, Katherine was later syndicated in a 78-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Art Carney, (more)
