Deborah Rush
Rush interviewed in 2009
Born	(1954-04-10)April 10, 1954 (age 71)[1] Chatham Borough, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Chip Cronkite ​ ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	2

Deborah Rush (born April 10, 1954) is an American actress. She has worked in television, film and onBroadway. In 1984, she was nominated for aTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play forMichael Frayn's comedyNoises Off.^[1]

Rush was born inChatham Borough, New Jersey, to Joseph G. Rush, a newspaper editor, and Mary Conley Rush.^[2] She is married to Walter Cronkite III (born April 22, 1957) and daughter-in-law of the late television journalistWalter Cronkite. The couple has two sons, Walter Cronkite IV and the late Peter Cronkite.^[3]

Rush made her Broadway debut performing in the 1975 musicalDance with Me.^[1] She later appeared in filmsOliver's Story (1978),10 (1979) andHonky Tonk Freeway (1981), and made-for-television productionsAlice at the Palace andA Midsummer Night's Dream in 1982. From 1983 to 1984 she starred as Brooke Ashton inNoises Off, a role gained herDrama Desk Award and aTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play nomination.^[1] Also in 1983, Rush starred in the satirical mockumentary comedy film,Zelig written and directed byWoody Allen. She later appeared in another Woody Allen's film,The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). During the 1980s, Rush also appeared in films such asCompromising Positions (1985),Heat (1986),Big Business (1988),Parents (1989) andFamily Business (1989).^[4] On stage, Rush also acted inHay Fever,The Sisters Rosensweig, andStephen Adly Guirgis'The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

In 1990s, Rush played number of supporting roles in films such asMy Blue Heaven (1990),In & Out (1997),You've Got Mail (1998) andThree to Tango (1999). On television, she played Isabel Hazard in the 1994 miniseries,Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III and had a recurring role in the ABC sitcomSpin City as Helen Winston, eventual ex-wife of mayorRandall Winston. From 1999 to 2000, Rush was a regular cast member of the Comedy Central comedy series,Strangers with Candy starringAmy Sedaris. She reprised her role in the 2005 prequel film,Strangers with Candy. In 2002 she co-starred oppositeJennifer Aniston in the comedy-drama film,The Good Girl and the following year appeared in the comedy filmAmerican Wedding, as Mary Flaherty, Michelle Flaherty's mom.^[5][6] She playedRyan Gosling's mother in the 2006 drama film,Half Nelson, and starred asAvis DeVoto in the 2009 biographical comedy-drama film,Julie & Julia written and directed byNora Ephron. In December 2008, she joined the cast of the Broadway revival ofBlithe Spirit.^[7]

In 2010, Rush was regular cast member in the short-lived Comedy Central sitcom,Big Lake.^[8] She also made guest appearances in television series such asLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit,The Good Wife,Inside Amy Schumer andThe Blacklist. From 2013 to 2019 she had a recurring role in the Netflix comedy-drama series,Orange Is the New Black, asPiper Chapman's mother, Carol Chapman.

• Deborah Rush atIMDb
• Deborah Rush at theInternet Broadway Database
• Deborah Rush at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Deborah Rush at Broadway.com

• American film actresses
• Actresses from Morris County, New Jersey
• People from Chatham Borough, New Jersey
• 1954 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• American television actresses
• American stage actresses

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