| Biography | Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American stage, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and a 2012 American Theater Hall of Fame inductee.
Buckley made her Broadway debut in the 1969 musical 1776, and went on to appear in the 1973 Broadway musical Pippin. In 1976, she played gym teacher Ms. Collins in the Brian de Palma film Carrie, before going on to star for four seasons in the ABC series Eight Is Enough (197781). For her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats, she won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. 1983 also saw her play country singer Dixie Scott in the Bruce Beresford film Tender Mercies. In 1988, she starred in the short-lived Broadway musical production of Carrie, this time playing Carrie's mother.
From 199496, she starred as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard in both London and New York, receiving an Olivier Award nomination. She then starred in the 1997 musical Triumph of Love, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. She received Grammy Award nominations for The Diaries of Adam and Eve, and for her 2001 album Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar. Other screen roles include playing Harrison Ford's wife in the Roman Polanski film Frantic (1988), Kathy in the Woody Allen film Another Woman (1988) and a recurring role in the HBO series Oz (2001-2003). In 2013, she starred in the Off-Broadway play The Old Friends, for which she received a third Drama Desk Award nomination |