Biography
After attending Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Michigan, Tovah Feldshuh studied acting with
Uta Hagen and Jacques LeCoq. Feldshuh made her professional debut at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in
Cyrano de Bergerac; it was in this selfsame play that she made her Broadway bow in 1973. The following year, she was honored with the Theatre World Award for her starring appearance in Yentl. She later worked with the American Shakespeare Festival, starred in such Broadway productions as
Sarava (1978) and Lend Me a Tenor (1989), and toured in her own one-woman show.
Feldshuh inaugurated her film career in 1973 on a less-than-prestigious note with Scream, Pretty Peggy. Though the quality of her films improved over the next 20 years, she is held in higher esteem for her TV appearances. Feldshuh has been seen as
Katharine Hepburn in the made-for-TV biopic
The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and as Helena Slomova in the blockbuster miniseries
Holocaust (1978); she also appeared as a regular on the ABC daytimer
Ryan's Hope and as prison psychiatrist Dr. Deena Hertz in the prime-time weekly
Mariah (1987). In addition to her acting accomplishments, Tovah Feldshuh has been active in numerous Jewish civic and charitable causes; for these and other selfless efforts, she has been honored with the Israeli Government Friendship Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide