Phyllis Frelich
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Phyllis Frelich
| image = Publicity_Photo_of_Phyllis_Frelich.jpg
| caption = Publicity Photo of Phyllis Frelich
| birth_name = Phyllis Annetta Frelich
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|2|29|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Devils Lake, North Dakota, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|04|10|1944|02|29|mf=y}}
| death_place = Temple City, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1970–2011
}}
Phyllis Annetta Frelich (February 29, 1944 – April 10, 2014) was a deaf American actress. She was the first deaf actor to win a Tony Award.
Early life
Frelich was born to deaf parents Esther (née Dockter) and Philip Frelich.{{cite news |title=Philip Frelich |url=http://www.inforum.com/event/obituary/id/148445 |access-date=March 29, 2022 |work=Inforum: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead |date=December 6, 2006 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140421193557/http://www.inforum.com/event/obituary/id/148445 |archive-date=April 21, 2014}} She was one of nine siblings. Her parents were alumni of the North Dakota School for the Deaf.{{Cite web|title=Obituary for Philip Frelich at Gilbertson Funeral Home|url=https://www.gilbertsonfuneralhome.com/obituary/874420?lud=E1A3BF2C4B6CB74B6AC6FA85FC0B4477|access-date=2020-11-04|website=www.gilbertsonfuneralhome.com|language=en}} At Gallaudet she completed a degree in library science, but also participated in theater. It was there that she was seen performing by David Hays, one of the founders of the National Theater of the Deaf, who asked her to join the theater company.{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=April 15, 2014 |title=Phyllis Frelich, Deaf Activist and Actress, Dies at 70 |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/arts/phyllis-frelich-deaf-activist-and-actress-dies-at-70.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0 |access-date=April 21, 2014}}
Career
Frelich originated the leading female role in the Broadway production of Children of a Lesser God, written by Mark Medoff. That play was specially written for her, and based to some extent on her relationship with her husband Robert Steinberg.Weber, Bruce. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/arts/phyllis-frelich-deaf-activist-and-actress-dies-at-70.html "Phyllis Frelich, Tony-Winning Actress and Deaf Activist, Dies at 70"] The New York Times, April 14, 2014 Children won the Tony for Best Play; Frelich won the 1980 Best Actress Tony Award and her co-star, John Rubinstein, won the Best Actor Tony Award. Frelich was the first deaf actor or actress to win a Tony Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nad.org/2014/04/11/in-memoriam-phyllis-frelich/|title=National Association of the Deaf - NAD|website=www.nad.org}} Marlee Matlin played Frelich's role in the film version, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Frelich later starred in other plays written by Medoff, including The Hands of Its Enemy and Prymate. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1985 television movie Love Is Never Silent. On the original air date of February 9, 1985, she appeared as a guest in the Gimme A Break! episode "The Earthquake". Frelich appeared in the recurring role of Sister Sarah on Santa Barbara. Her last acting role was in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2011.
Frelich was elected to the ninety-member Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Board in Hollywood, the highest policy-making body in the entertainment industry in 1991. She was the first deaf actress to be recognized in the United States.{{cite book|last1=Lang|first1=Harry G.|last2=Meath-Lang|first2=Bonnie|title=Deaf persons in the arts and sciences : a biographical dictionary|date=1995|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=0-313-29170-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/deafpersonsinart00lang/page/130 130]|edition=1. publ.|url=https://archive.org/details/deafpersonsinart00lang/page/130}}
In 1991, Frelich starred with Patrick Graybill in The Gin Game at the Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles drawing critical acclaim on their aesthetic art of American Sign Language. This performance was adapted from D. L. Coburn's play and was directed by Linda Bove, with Deaf West Theatre artistic director Ed Waterstreet.
Death
Frelich died on April 10, 2014, at her home in Temple City, California at the age of 70 in April 2014 from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare degenerative neurological disease for which there are no treatments.[http://www.silentgrapevine.com/2014/04/deaf-actress-phyllis-frelich-dies.html Notice of death of Phyllis Frelich] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414034619/http://www.silentgrapevine.com/2014/04/deaf-actress-phyllis-frelich-dies.html |date=2014-04-14 }}, silentgrapevine.com; accessed April 13, 2014.
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1992
|Judgement |District Attorney | |
| 1997
|Santa Fe |Dr. Joyce Ginsberg | |
| 2002
|Mrs. Bobbit | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1981
|Madeline Schaefer |Episode: "Stormy Weather" |
| 1985
|Martha |Episode: "Earthquake" |
| 1985
|Janice Ryder |TV movie |
| 1986
|Joan Cugell |Episode: "When Silence Speaks" |
| 1987
|Sister Sarah |Recurring role, 31 episodes |
| 1989
|Bridge to Silence |Amanda Wingfield |TV movie |
| 1991
|Barbara Collins |Episode: "Cries of Silence" |
| 1992
|Suzanne Bidwell |Episode: "My Friend Flicker" |
| 1998
|Helena |Episode: "Broken Dreams" |
| 1998–1999
|ER |Dr. Lisa Parks |2 episodes |
| 1999
|Frances Lamar |Episode: "Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of My Life" |
| 2004
|Helga |Episode: "The Holocaust Survivor" |
| 2008
|Sally |TV movie |
| 2011
|CSI: Crime Scene Investigation |Mrs. Betty Grissom |Episode: "The Two Mrs. Grissoms", (final appearance) |
References
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Matthew S.|title=Great Deaf Americans: the second edition|url=https://archive.org/details/greatdeafamerica00moor|url-access=registration|date=1996|publisher=Deaf Life Press|location=Rochester, NY|isbn=9780963401663 }}
- {{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Anita Davis|title=Discoveries: Significant Contributions of Deaf Women and Men|date=1996|publisher=Butte Publications|location=Hillsboro, Or}}
{{refend}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Matthew |last2=Panara |first2=Robert |title=Great Deaf Americans : The Second Edition |date=1996 |publisher=Deaf Life Press |location=Rochester, N.Y |isbn=978-0-9634016-6-3 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/greatdeafamerica00moor }}
External links
- {{cite web|title=Phyllis Frelich – Overview|url=http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/phyllis-frelich|work=MSN Movies|year=2008|access-date=2008-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025194715/http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/phyllis-frelich/|archive-date=2009-10-25|url-status=dead}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0293992}}
{{TonyAward PlayLeadActress 1976–2000}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frelich, Phyllis}}
Category:People from Devils Lake, North Dakota
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from North Dakota
Category:American deaf actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses