Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

, where she often critiqued

celebrity culture Celebrity culture is a high-volume exposure to celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands. Whereas a culture can usually be physically ...

and political figures. Bernhard is also well known as the ex-best friend of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. She played Nancy Bartlett Thomas on the ABC sitcom ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'' from the fourth season (1991) to the end of the show in 1997. She played Masha in

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

’s film '' The King of Comedy'', Nurse Judy Kubrak in the FX drama series '' Pose'', and Nurse Cecily on the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

series '' Severance''. She is number 96 on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.

Early life

Bernhard was born June 6, 1955, in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

, the daughter of Jeanette (née LaZebnik; 1921–2014) and proctologist Jerome Bernhard (1922–2025). She was raised

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

. She has three older brothers: Dan, David, and Mark. Her family moved to

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

when she was 10. She attended Saguaro High School, graduating in 1973. In 1973, she traveled to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and stayed for 7 months at Kibbutz Kfar Menahem with her friend Daniel Chick. She later returned to Israel during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

Career

Bernhard became a staple at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

in Hollywood. As her popularity as a comedian grew, she was cast as a supporting player on ''

The Richard Pryor Show ''The Richard Pryor Show'' is an American comedy variety show starring and created by Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977, at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Happy Days''. The show was produced ...

'' in 1977. Guest appearances on evening talk shows followed. Her big break came in 1981 when she was cast by

to star as stalker/kidnapper Masha in the film '' The King of Comedy'', for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was a frequent guest on

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

's NBC program ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'', making 28 appearances starting in 1983. She began performing her first one-woman show, ''I'm Your Woman'', in 1985, and an album version was released. She appeared in a variety of small television roles throughout the 1980s while crafting her stand-up routine into a more performance art-oriented show. She launched an off-Broadway one-woman show called ''Without You, I'm Nothing, With You, I'm Not Much Better'' in 1988, which played at the Orpheum Theatre. By 1990, it had become a film and a double album of the same title. The album was recorded in 1988 at the Orpheum and released in 1989 and the film was mostly shot on location in 1989 in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel. Bernhard was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and t ...

in 1990. During the run of ''Without You, I'm Nothing, With You, I'm Not Much Better'' Bernhard appeared with her then good friend (and rumored lover)

on a 1988 episode of ''Late Night with David Letterman''. The two alluded to their romantic relationship and staged a sexy confrontation; the appearance received much publicity. They continued to be friends for several years, with Bernhard making an appearance in Madonna's film '' Truth or Dare''. The friendship ended in 1992. In 1991, Bernhard began playing Nancy Bartlett on the hit sitcom ''

''. She appeared in 33 episodes between 1991 and 1997, and was one of the first actresses to portray an openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

recurring character on American television. In September 1992, Bernhard appeared in a nude pictorial for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. She hosted the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

's ''Reel Wild Cinema'' for two seasons beginning in 1995. She continued acting in mostly independent films, TV guest roles, and forays into mainstream films such as ''

Hudson Hawk ''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote the story. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine Toussaint, Frank Stallo ...

'' and '' Dallas Doll''. In 1991, she released her first studio album, '' Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One)''. In 1995, she briefly appeared as a guest in the "Jerk" episode of the animated talk show ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American live-action/ adult animated hybrid television series created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and first broadcast in 1994. It takes the form of a surreal parody of talk shows, hosted by a reimagi ...

''. In 1996, she guest-starred on an episode of '' Highlander: The Series'' called "Dramatic License", where she played a romance novelist writing about the life of the main character. She appeared as herself on '' Will & Grace'', in an episode where the title characters spuriously bid on Bernhard's

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

apartment in an attempt to become friendly with her. When their ruse is exposed, Bernhard rants at them, with the sounds of a blender (she was having a smoothie made) blotting out supposed obscenities. She briefly returned as herself two years later. Bernhard returned to Broadway in 1998 with the show '' I'm Still Here... Damn It!'', recorded for a live comedy album. She was pregnant at the time, and gave birth to a daughter, Cicely, on July 4, 1998. She returned to New York in 2006 with the

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 ...

show '' Everything Bad & Beautiful''. The CD of the show, released by indie label Breaking Records, was lauded as one of her best. That year she also hosted the first season of the reality competition show ''The Search for the Funniest Mother in America'' on

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...

. 2007 saw the debut of her one-woman show ''Plan B from Outer Space'', and the inclusion of her

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

-themed song "Miracle of Lights", which she co-wrote with Mitchell Kaplan, in the Breaking Records compilation album ''Breaking For the Holidays''. She toured ''Plan B'' through 2008 and performed "Miracle of Lights" on some morning shows in New York. Bernhard was a featured guest singer with children's artist Dan Zanes on the ''Family Dance'' album's "Thrift Shop". In an interview with

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

, she revealed that she was originally offered the role of

Miranda Hobbes Miranda Hobbes is a fictional character from the HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its film adaptations, and the sequel series '' And Just Like That...''. The character is portrayed by Cynthia Nixon, whose performance earned her a Pri ...

on the TV show ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', but opted out owing to the "terrible" original script and small paycheck. In 2013, it was announced that she would join the cast of ABC Family's '' Switched at Birth'' with ''Glee''s Max Adler, where she would play an art professor on the season 3 opener in January 2014. In 2015, she began hosting a radio show, ''Sandyland'', on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

's Radio Andy. In 2015, she made her first appearance as the recurring character of Joedth ("Joe") in season 4 of ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...

''. From 2018 until 2021, she played Nurse Judy on FX's '' Pose'', a show based on

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

and

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Sociology * Trans, a sociological term which may refer to: ** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...

ball culture The Ballroom scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture. The scene traces its origins to the drag balls of the mid-19th century United State ...

in Manhattan inspired by the documentary '' Paris Is Burning''. In 2025, she appeared in '' Severance'' as Cecily, a nurse.

Public controversies

In 1995, while serving as a guest panelist on the

talk show ''

Politically Incorrect "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

'', Bernhard became engaged in an argument with fellow panelist, conservative political commentator John Lofton. Bernhard then stood up and spat at Lofton and exclaimed, "If I had you, you’d be an abortion." In August 2006, Bernhard served as the spokesperson in a commercial for Make-up Art Cosmetics (MAC). In the commercial, promoting PlushGlass lipgloss, she referred to someone who might not approve of her outspokenness as a "little freaked out, intimidated, frightened, right-wing Republican thin-lipped bitch." MAC edited the line from the commercial to avoid offending some of its customers. In September 2008, she warned vice-presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...

that she would be gang-raped by her "big black brothers" if she visited Manhattan. Palin had a campaign stop planned in New York City at the time. In November 2020, during an interview with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...

called out Bernhard for her comments about Carey and Black men in her 1998 comedy show ''I'm Still Here… Damn It!'' In the show, Bernhard disparaged Carey's Black ancestry, saying "She's trying to backtrack on our asses by acting real nigger-ish there at the Royalton Hotel suite with

Puff Daddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

and all the greasy, chain-wearing Black men."

Personal life

Bernhard identifies herself as bisexual and is a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights. On July 4, 1998, she gave birth to a daughter, Cicely, whom she raised with Sara Switzer, her partner of over 20 years. Bernhard was also in a relationship with Venezuelan actress Patricia Velasquez.

Music

Bernhard performs classic

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

tunes. She has released several albums (combinations of music and comedy).

Albums

* '' I'm Your Woman'' * '' Without You I'm Nothing'' * '' Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One)'' (#40 Billboard Heatseekers Chart) * '' I'm Still Here... Damn It!'' * ''The Love Machine'' * '' Hero Worship'' * '' Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part Two)'' * ''The Love Machine Remastered'' (entirely different from ''The Love Machine'') * ''Giving Til It Hurts'' * ''Live and Beautiful'' (Promotional album sold at website sandrabernhard.com) * '' Gems of Mystery'' * '' Everything Bad & Beautiful'' * ''Whatever It Takes'' * ''I Love Being Me, Don't you?'' - featuring Carla Patullo (#9 Billboard Comedy Chart)

Singles

* "Everybody's Young" * "

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, produced by Harvey Fuqua and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer's four ...

" ( U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

) * "Manic Superstar" * "Phone Sex (Do You Want Me Tonight?)" * "On the Runway" ( U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play) * "

Perfection Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence. The terminology, term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discre ...

" * "Miracle of Lights" * "All Around"

Compilations

* '' Stormy Weather''; song " Is That All There Is?" * ''Divas of Dance - Volume 3 (Remixes)''; song "

" * ''Breaking For the Holidays''; song "Miracle of Lights"

Books

* '' Confessions of a Pretty Lady'', an autobiography (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

October 1989 ) * ''Love, Love and Love'', essay collection (HarperCollins June 1993 ) * ''May I Kiss You on the Lips, Miss Sandra?'', semi-autobiography (HarperCollins October 1999 )

Filmography

Film

Television

Short subjects

Awards

References

External links

* * * *
Bernhard's brief appearance in Philadelphia (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhard, Sandra 1955 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Flint, Michigan Actresses from Scottsdale, Arizona American Conservative Jews American bisexual actresses American bisexual musicians American dance musicians American film actresses American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ comedians LGBTQ rights activists from Michigan American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American stand-up comedians American women comedians Women stand-up comedians American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Bisexual women musicians Bisexual singers Bisexual comedians Bisexual feminists Bisexual Jews Conservative Jewish feminists American feminist musicians GLAAD Media Awards winners LGBTQ Conservative Jews LGBTQ people from Arizona Jewish American actresses Jewish American comedians Jewish women comedians Jewish American musicians Sex-positive feminists Writers from Flint, Michigan Comedians from Michigan LGBTQ women singers Jewish LGBTQ women