Christina Pickles
{{short description|British-American actress (born 1935)}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Christina Pickles
| image = Christina Pickles.jpg
| caption = Pickles in 1987
| birthname = Christine Pickles[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVQ8-PV7H Profile], familysearch.org; accessed April 10, 2016.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|2|17}}
| birth_place = Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1961–present
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Victor Lobl|1962|1985|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Ian Masters
|2005}}
}}
|partner =Herb Edelman (1984–1996){{cite web|work=The New York Times|date=July 27, 1996|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/27/nyregion/herb-edelman-62-a-character-actor.html|title=Herb Edelman, 62, A Character Actor}}
| children = 2
| relatives = {{ubl|Carolyn Pickles (niece)|Wilfred Pickles (uncle)|James Pickles (brother)}}
}}
Christina Pickles (born February 17, 1935){{Cite news|title=Celebrity Birthdays|author=|date=February 17, 2023|work=Tallahassee Democrat|page=9A|quote=Comedian Dame Edna (Barry Humphries) is 89. Actor Christina Pickles ("The Wedding Singer," "St. Elsewhere") is 88. Football player-turned actor Jim Brown ("The Dirty Dozen") is 87.|id={{ProQuest|2779329353}}}} See also:
- {{Cite news|title=Happy Birthday|author=The Associated Press|date=February 17, 2011|work=The Orlando Sentinel|page=D5|quote=Singer Bobby Lewis is 78. Actress Christina Pickles is 76. Actress Rene Russo is 57. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 49.|id={{ProQuest|2049117131}}}} is a British-born American actress. She is known for her role as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere (1982–1988), for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for her recurring role as Judy Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends (1994, 1996–2003), for which she was nominated for the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Pickles appeared in Broadway plays in the 1960s and 1970s, including The Misanthrope (1968) and Sherlock Holmes (1975), and starred on the daytime soap operas Guiding Light (1970–1972, 2007) and Another World (1977–1979). Her film appearances include Masters of the Universe (1987), Legends of the Fall (1994), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and The Wedding Singer (1998). She won the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for the Vimeo series Break a Hip.
Early life
Christina Pickles was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire (now West Yorkshire).
She began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London at age 14 and studied alongside Albert Finney, Peter O’Toole, and Brian Bedford.{{cite web| url=https://thisstage.la/2011/07/hal-linden-and-christina-pickles-summer-on-golden-pond/| work=@ This Stage| title=Hal Linden and Christina Pickles Summer On Golden Pond| first=Deborah| last=Behrens| date=July 27, 2011| access-date=September 16, 2019| archive-date=27 March 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327143325/https://thisstage.la/2011/07/hal-linden-and-christina-pickles-summer-on-golden-pond/| url-status=dead}} After graduating,{{cite web| url=https://www.colonytheatre.org/bios/picklesChristina.html| title=Christina Pickles| website=Colony Theatre| access-date=October 3, 2017| archive-date=18 October 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018083937/https://www.colonytheatre.org/bios/picklesChristina.html| url-status=dead}} she moved to New York City in the late 1950s, residing initially with friend and classmate Donald Moffat and his wife.
Career
In 1961, Pickles began her acting career in Look Back in Anger at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. She performed in Measure for Measure in Joe Papp’s Shakespeare in the Park, then won the lead role in George Devine's The Way of the World, despite auditioning for the maid's role. After her Broadway debut in A Severed Head in 1964, other Broadway productions followed, including Inadmissible Evidence, You Can't Take It with You, War and Peace, The Misanthrope, Hamlet, and Sherlock Holmes.{{cite web| url=http://www.ibdb.com/Person/View/86765| title=Christina Pickles| website=Internet Broadway Database| access-date=March 9, 2016}}
At the same time, Pickles debuted on television, playing Linell Conway on Guiding Light (1970–1972, 2007). She played Countess Elena dePoulignac on the NBC soap opera Another World (1977–1979). She appeared in such feature films as Seizure (1974) and Rush It (1977). After moving from New York City to Los Angeles, Pickles was cast as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere. The series aired from 1982 to 1988. She remained on St. Elsewhere for its entire six-year run and was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the series.{{cite web| url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/christina-pickles| title=Christina Pickles| website=Television Academy| access-date=March 9, 2016}}
She later was a regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom The People Next Door, which aired in 1989. She went to appear on Family Ties, Who's the Boss?, In the Heat of the Night, Matlock, The Nanny, Murder, She Wrote, and Touched by an Angel.
From 1994 to 2003, Pickles played the recurring role of Judy Geller, the mother of Ross and Monica Geller (David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox), in the NBC sitcom Friends, making appearances throughout the 10-year run of the series. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for this role in 1995. Pickles played the mother of Harmon Rabb in the CBS drama series JAG from 1998 to 2000. From 1999 to 2000, she starred in the short-lived Fox comedy-drama series Get Real.
Pickles has appeared in many films, including Masters of the Universe (1987), Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (1994), Legends of the Fall (1994) directed by Edward Zwick, Grace of My Heart (1996), Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998), Sol Goode (2003), George of the Jungle 2 (2003), and Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011). She has had roles in a number of made-for-television movies.
In the 2000s, Pickles appeared in a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Lily Aldrin's grandmother, and guest-starred on The Division, Medium, and Childrens Hospital. In 2016, she was cast in the ABC drama pilot The Death Of Eva Sofia Valdez, starring Gina Torres in a title role.{{cite news| url=https://deadline.com/2016/03/drew-rob-mcclure-cast-cbs-nancy-drew-pilot-christina-pickles-death-of-eva-sofia-valdez-1201713291|title='Drew': Rob McClure Cast In CBS' Nancy Drew Pilot| first=Denise| last=Petski| work=Deadline Hollywood| access-date=March 9, 2016}} In 2018, she received her seventh Emmy nomination (in category for "Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series"), and her first in 23 years, for the comedic web series Break a Hip.{{cite web| url=https://www.thewrap.com/christina-pickles-emmy-st-elsewhere-break-hip-web-series/| title=How 'St. Elsewhere' Star Christina Pickles Got Another Emmy Shot at Age 83 (Video)| last=Pond| first=Steve| date=August 22, 2018| website=TheWrap}}
Personal life
Pickles was married to producer/director Victor Lobl for 23 years, divorcing in 1985. She became a United States citizen in 1989.{{Citation needed |date=April 2023}} She was romantically linked to actor Herbert Edelman, who also played her significant other on St. Elsewhere, from the mid-1980s until his death in 1996.{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-24-mn-27428-story.html| title=Herbert Edelman; TV Character Actor| work=Los Angeles Times| last=Oliver| first=Myrna| date=July 24, 1996| access-date=September 16, 2019| url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214201503/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-07-24/news/mn-27428_1_herbert-edelman |archive-date=February 14, 2010}}
In 2005, she married Australian-American journalist Ian Masters.{{cite web|title='Friends' Star Christina Pickles Invites Closer Into Her Cozy LA Home|date=August 29, 2015|author=Closer Staff|url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/friends-christina-pickles-la-home-68123/|work=Closer}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1974
|Nicole Blackstone | |
| 1978
|Eve | |
| 1984
|It Came Upon the Midnight Clear |Chris | |
| 1987
|Sorceress of Castle Grayskull | |
| 1989
|The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro |Charlotte |rowspan="3"|Television film |
| 1992
|Sarah Jenner |
| 1993
|A Twist of the Knife |Marilyn Cabot |
| rowspan="2"|1994
|Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love |Tippy | |
| Legends of the Fall
|Isabel Ludlow | |
| rowspan="3"|1996
|Mrs. Buxton | |
| Romeo + Juliet
|Caroline Montague | |
| No Easy Way
|Mrs. Livingston | |
| rowspan="2"|1997
|Mrs. Frieda Messinger |Television film |
| The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island
|Elsie (voice) | |
| rowspan="3"|1998
|Angie Sullivan | |
| Monday After the Miracle
|Kate Keller | |
| Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery
|Mim Sanburne |Television film |
| rowspan="2"|1999
|Meg Darnell | |
| Poseidon's Fury: Escape from the Lost City
|Goddess |Short film |
| 2002
|Angela Porter | |
| rowspan="2"|2003
|Sol's Mom | |
| George of the Jungle 2
|Beatrice Stanhope | |
| 2007
|The Family Holiday |Mrs. Pendergast | |
| rowspan="2"|2008
|Collectibles |Narrator | |
| Immigrants
|Harriet (voice) | |
| 2009
|Flower Girl |Evangeline Walker | |
| 2011
|Mother Rearden | |
| 2013
|Mrs. Ducksworth | |
| 2014
|Wild & Precious |Bea |Short film |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1970–1972, 2007
|Regular role |
| 1977
|Mrs. Fuller |Episode: "In the Event of My Death" |
| 1977–1979
|Countess Elena DePoulignac |Regular role; 52 episodes |
| 1981
|Christine |Episode: "Psyched Out" |
| 1982
|Elsa |Episode: "Suspect" |
| 1982–1988
|Regular role; 123 episodes |
| 1985
|Mrs. McKellar |Episodes: "Part I" and "Part III" |
| rowspan="3"|1988
|Perfume Saleswoman |Episode: "We're in the Money" |
| Family Ties
|Ruth Hobart |Episodes: "Heartstrings: Parts 1 & 2" |
| Who's the Boss?
|Laura |Episode: "A Spirited Christmas" |
| 1989
|Cissy MacIntyre |All 10 episodes |
| 1990
|Judge Laura Kinney |Episode: "Daryl Ross & the Supremes" |
| rowspan="2"|1991
|Dr. Lureen Allcott |Episode: "An Execution of Trust" |
| Veronica Clare
|Kelsey Horne |3 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|1992
|Diana Huntington |Episodes: "The Picture: Parts 1 & 2" |
| Laurie Hill
|Mary |Episodes: "Grasshopper" and "Walter and Beverly" |
| 1994
|Mrs. Tynan |Episode: "A Lonely Nation Turns Its Eyes to You" |
| 1994, 1996–2003
|Recurring guest star; 19 episodes |
| 1994
|Didi Poncell |Episode: "Blinders" |
| rowspan="3"|1995
|Betty |Episode: "As the World Turns to Crap" |
| The Nanny
|Nurse |Episode: "Close Shave" |
| Murder, She Wrote
|Susan McGregor |Episode: "Frozen Stiff" |
| 1996
|Bea Michaels |Episode: "Left-Handed Murder" |
| 1998, 2000
|JAG |Trish Burnett |3 episodes |
| 1999–2000
|Elizabeth Parker |All 22 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|2000
|Mali (voice) |Episode: "Forget Me Not" and "Birthday Quake" |
| Tucker
|Tucker's Grandmother |Episode: "The Family Tree" |
| 2002
|Carl's Art Teacher (voice) |Episode: "New Girl in Town" |
| 2003
|Helena Rosemont |Episode: "Well Endowed" |
| rowspan="2"|2004
|Florence Hayes |Episode: "The Fall of the House of Hayes" |
| Father of the Pride
|Barbara Walters (voice) |Episode: "Larry's Debut, and Sweet Darryl Hannah Too" |
| 2006
|Mrs. Walker |Episode: "Blood Relation" |
| 2009
|Mrs. Bennington |Episode: "All About What Lies Beneath" |
| 2009, 2011
|Rita |2 episodes |
| rowspan="2"|2011
|Judy |Episode: "The Matchmakers" |
| Friends with Benefits
|Hazel |Episode: "The Benefit of Being Shallow" |
| 2012
|Glenn's Mom |Episode: "Ladies Night" |
| 2013
|Sabrina French |Episode: "Wingmen" |
| rowspan="2"|2014
|Dr. La Croix |Episode: "Secret Lives of Fishers" |
| Rush
|Mrs. Atchison |Episode: "Where Is My Mind?" |
| 2015–2018
|Break a Hip |Biz |All 16 episodes |
| 2016
|Doris Mekkena |Episode: "Bad Grandma" |
| 2017–2018
|Queen Elizabeth II, Additional voices |3 episodes |
| rowspan="3"|2017
|Mildred Marlock |2 episodes |
| Doubt
|Gail Meyers |3 episodes |
| 9JKL
|Lenore |Episode: "It Happened One Night" |
| 2019
|Silvia Goldwyn |Episode: "Feminist" |
| 2021
| Herself | HBO Max special |
| 2021
|The Lighthouse Keeper (voice) |Episode: "The Flood" |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Work ! Result |
|---|
| 1983
|rowspan="7"|Primetime Emmy Award |rowspan="5"|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series |rowspan="5"|St. Elsewhere |{{nom}} |
| 1985
|{{nom}} |
| 1986
|{{nom}} |
| 1987
|{{nom}} |
| 1988
|{{nom}} |
| 1995
|Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series |{{nom}} |
| 2018
|Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series |Break a Hip: Season 2 |{{win}} |
References
{{reflist|3}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.christinapickles.com}}
- {{IMDb name|0681943}}
- {{IBDB name}}
{{Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickles, Christina}}
Category:British emigrants to the United States
Category:English film actresses
Category:British soap opera actresses
Category:English stage actresses
Category:English television actresses
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States
Category:American film actresses
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:20th-century British actresses