Laura Esterman is an American actress, known for portraying Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe in contemporary radio dramas, and for her

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

and

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

winning performance in the 1992 original stage production of Scott McPherson's '' Marvin's Room''.

Early life

Esterman studied acting at HB Studio.

Career

Esterman made her Broadway debut in the 1969 revival of '' The Time of Your Life''. Her other Broadway credits include '' The Waltz of the Toreadors'', '' God's Favorite'', '' Teibele and Her Demon'', '' The Suicide'', ''

Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

'' and '' The Show-Off''. In 1972, Esterman played the Madonna Vampyra in the

ZBS Foundation ZBS Foundation, a small Non-profit organization, non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez (aka "Meatball Fulton") in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a Art Commune, working commune, located on a donated farm in Up ...

radio play '' The Fourth Tower of Inverness'', the first in the long-running Jack Flanders series. Esterman returned to ZBS in 1982 to star as the title character in the first '' Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe'' serial, and has reprised the role many times in the decades to come, most recently ''Ruby 15: Creatures of the Light'' in 2025. Many of her Ruby appearances are credited to a stage name, "Blanche Blackwell". Esterman also returned as the Madonna Vampyra in the 2000 sequel, '' Return to Inverness''. Esterman has also worked in television and film. Her television credits include '' Remington Steele'', '' St. Elsewhere'', '' The Facts of Life'', ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', '' Family Ties'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'', ''

Third Watch ''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 23, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...

'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' among others. Her movie credits include ''

Alone in the Dark ''Alone in the Dark'' is a survival horror video game series originally developed by Infogrames. In most of the games, the player controls private investigator Edward Carnby, who goes to investigate a haunted house or town that is full of undea ...

'', '' Ironweed'', '' Awakenings'', ''

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

'', '' Addams Family Values'', '' The Confession'' and '' Arranged'' among others.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
Internet Theatre DatabaseFilmography
by Starpulse *Drama Desk Award and Obie Award for her

in ''Marvin's Room'', by Scott McPherson

for ''

Suspended Animation Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. States of suspended animation are common in micro-organisms and some plant tissue, such as seeds. Many animals, including l ...

'' Living people American film actresses Drama Desk Award winners Actresses from New York City Obie Award recipients American television actresses Jewish American actresses 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-film-actor-1940s-stub