Sandra Bernhard

**Sandra Bernhard** (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, comedian, singer and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s, with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiqued celebrity culture and political figures.

Bernhard is best known as portraying Nancy Barlett Thomas on the ABC sitcom *Roseanne* from the fourth season (1991) to the end of the show in 1997. She is currently starring as Nurse Judy Kubrak in the FX drama series *Pose*. Bernhard is number ninety-six on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.[2]

Bernhard became a staple at The Comedy Store. As her popularity as a comedian grew she was cast as a supporting player on *The Richard Pryor Show* in 1977. Guest appearances on evening talk shows followed. Her big break came in 1983 when she was cast by Martin Scorsese to star as stalker and kidnapper Masha in the film *The King of Comedy* for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Bernhard was also a frequent guest on David Letterman's NBC program *Late Night with David Letterman*, making 28 appearances starting in 1983.

She began performing her first one-woman show called *I'm Your Woman* in 1985, and an album version was released. Bernhard appeared in a variety of tiny film and television roles throughout the 1980s while crafting her stand-up routine into a more performance art oriented show. She launched an Off-Broadway one woman show called *Without You I'm Nothing, with You I'm Not Much Better* in 1988 which played at the Orpheum Theatre. In 1990 it was turned into a film and a double album of the same title. The film was mostly shot on location in 1989 in the coconut grove at the Ambassador Hotel.

It was during the run of 'Without You I'm Nothing, With You I'm Not Much Better' that Bernhard appeared with her then-good friend (and rumored lover) Madonna on a 1988 episode of *Late Night with David Letterman*. The two alluded to their romantic relationship and staged a sexy confrontation; the appearance received much publicity. Berhard and Madonna would continue to be friends for several years, with Bernhard even making an appearance in Madonna's movie *Truth or Dare*.

In 1991, Bernhard began playing the role of Nancy Bartlett on the hit sitcom *Roseanne*. She appeared in 33 episodes between 1991 and 1997, and was one of the first actresses to portray an openly lesbian recurring character on American television. The role is one of her best known, something she has lamented in her stand-up as being both a blessing and a curse. In September 1992, Bernhard did a nude pictorial for *Playboy*. She hosted the USA Network's *Reel Wild Cinema* for two seasons beginning in 1995. Bernhard continued acting in mostly independent films and TV guest roles and forays into mainstream films such as *Hudson Hawk* and *Dallas Doll*. In 1991 she released her first studio album, entitled *Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One)*. In 1995, she briefly appeared as a guest in the animated talk show *Space Ghost Coast to Coast*, in an episode titled "Jerk". In 1996, she guest-starred on an episode of *Highlander: The Series* called "Dramatic License" in which she played a romance novelist writing about the life of the main character. She also appeared (as herself) on *Will & Grace* in an episode dealing with Will and Grace's spuriously bidding on Bernhard's Manhattan apartment in order to become friendly with her and culminates in a diatribe from Bernhard when their ruse is exposed, with obfuscating sounds of a blender (she was having a smoothie made) blotting out supposed obscenities. She returned as herself briefly, two years later.

Bernhard returned to Broadway in 1998 with the show *I'm Still Here... Damn It!*, recorded for a live comedy album. At that time of the show Bernhard was pregnant. She gave birth to daughter Cicely Yasin Bernhard on July 4, 1998.[8][9] Bernhard returned to New York in 2006 with the Off-Broadway show *Everything Bad & Beautiful*. The CD *Everything Bad & Beautiful* was critically lauded as one of her best, released by indie label Breaking Records.[10] That year she also hosted the first season of the reality competition show *The Search for the Funniest Mom in America* on Nick at Nite. In 2007 saw the debut of her one-woman show *Plan B from Outer Space*, and the inclusion of her Hanukkah-themed song "Miracle of Lights", which she co-wrote with Mitchell Kaplan, in the Breaking Records compilation album *Breaking For the Holidays*. She toured *Plan B* through 2008, and performed "Miracle of Lights" on some morning shows in New York.

Bernhard was a featured guest singer with children's artist Dan Zanes on the *Family Dance* album's "Thrift Shop".[11] In an interview with Howard Stern, the comedian revealed that she was originally offered the role of Miranda Hobbes of TV show *Sex and the City*, but opted out due to the "terrible" original script and low paycheck.[12]In 2013, the media announced that Sandra Bernhard would be joining the cast of ABC Family's *Switched at Birth* along with *Glee*'s Max Adler. Sandra would assume the role of an art professor on the Season 3 Opener in January 2014.[13] Starting in 2015, Bernhard began hosting a radio show, *Sandyland*, on Sirius XM's, Radio Andy.[14]

In 2015, she played a recurring character, Joedth ("Joe"), on season 4 of *2 Broke Girls*. She is currently playing Nurse Judy on FX's *POSE*, a show based on queer and trans ball culture in NYC inspired by the documentary *Paris is Burning*.[15]