Esther Judith Graubart (born October 5, 1943, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a regular cast member of ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. ...

'', the pioneering children's show from the 1970s produced by the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...

. Graubart married actor

Bob Dishy Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Biography Early life and education Dishy grew up in the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. His father, a salesman, was born in Beirut and his mother in Jerus ...

in 1986, though they had known each other for 20 years, since they were both performing for

the Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

in Chicago in the 1960s.

Career

Graubart was in

comedy troupe, appearing in the Chicago mainstage cast in the mid- to late 1960s with comic actors such as

Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. He is known for his character actor roles in film and television and received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. ...

Richard Libertini Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' The ...

and

Robert Klein Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy albums: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (1974 ...

. She was also a regular on ''Comedy Tonight'', which aired during the summer of 1970 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, along with

, Barbara Cason,

Madeline Kahn Madeline Gail Kahn (''née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She was known for her comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc ...

, and Jerry Lacy. Graubart first made an uncredited appearance in

Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late ...

's 1967 kidnap comedy '' The Tiger Makes Out'', as a pedestrian with an umbrella whom mailman

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach ( ; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a British Aca ...

attempts to kidnap. He lassos a fire hydrant instead. Graubart's fellow Second City actor Bob Dishy co-stars as the husband of Wallach's ultimate kidnap victim,

Anne Jackson Anne Jackson (September 3, 1925 – April 12, 2016); retrieved April 16, 2016Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2016. was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was the wife of actor Eli Wallach, with whom she often co-sta ...

. Graubart played hundreds of characters on the show during ''The Electric Companys original six-year run, with Jennifer of the Jungle being one of the most notable. After her run with ''The Electric Company'', she appeared in several films during the early 1980s, including Marshall Brickman's '' Simon'' and '' Author! Author!'' which starred

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...

. She reunited with Madeline Kahn for the 1999 film '' Judy Berlin'', which was completed shortly before Kahn's death. Throughout her career, Graubart was also a familiar face in

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for products such as the

Chevrolet Vega The Chevrolet Vega is a Subcompact car, subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed by General Motors, GM's Chevrolet division from 1970 until 1977. Available in two-door hatchback, notchback, station wagon, wagon, and sedan delivery body st ...

, Cheer, Crunch 'n Munch, Shake 'n Bake and

Miracle Whip Miracle Whip is a condiment manufactured by Kraft Heinz and sold throughout the United States and Canada. It is also sold by Mondelēz International (formerly also Kraft Foods) as "Miracel Whip" throughout Germany. It was developed as a less expe ...

. Graubart appeared, as did many other of the original cast members of ''The Electric Company'', in interviews and episode introductions on the second volume of '' The Best of the Electric Company'' DVD boxed set that was released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

and

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...

on November 14, 2006. Graubart has also appeared in theater, appearing in Steppenwolf Theater's

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''

Orphans An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedis ...

'' in 1986.

References

External links

* *
Judy Graubart profile
SecondCity.com 1943 births Jewish American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American sketch comedians Living people Actresses from Fort Worth, Texas American women comedians Comedians from Texas 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Jewish American comedians Jewish women comedians {{US-tv-actor-1940s-stub