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Karen Akers

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American actress and singer (born 1945)

Karen Akers
Akers in 1985
BornKaren Orth-Pallavicini
(1945-10-13) October 13, 1945 (age 79)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materManhattanville College
Hunter College
Years active1982–present
Spouses
  • Jim Akers
    (m. 1968 – mid-1980s)
Kevin Power
​ ​(m. 1993)​
Children2
Websitekarenakers.com

Karen Akers, née Orth-Pallavicini (born October 13, 1945) is an American actress and singer, who has appeared on Broadway, and in cabaret and film.

Early life

Akers was born Karen Orth-Pallavicini in New York City on October 13, 1945. Her immigrant father, Heinnick Christian Orth-Pallavicini, was of Austrian and Swiss-Italian heritage. He was reportedly a member of the European nobility family Pallavicini who dropped his title when he came to America. Her American-born mother, Mary Louise (née Adams), was a chaplain. Akers graduated from Manhattanville College.

Career

Akers honed her acting skills as an amateur performer, starting in The Arlington Players (www.thearlingtonplayers.org) production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Akers first appeared on Broadway in the original production of Nine, a musical directed by Tommy Tune and based on the Federico Fellini film 8½, as Luisa Contini, the wife of promiscuous film director Guido Contini (played by Raúl Juliá). The show opened May 9, 1982, and had a successful run of 732 performances, closing February 4, 1984. Akers won a Theatre World Award for her performance. She was one of three actresses in the show nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, with the award eventually going to fellow cast member Liliane Montevecchi.

Beginning in 1985, Akers appeared in such feature films as Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (as a celluloid chanteuse), and in Heartburn (as the mistress of Jack Nicholson's character).

She appeared on Broadway in Grand Hotel, a musical adaptation of the novel and film, scored by Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Maury Yeston. In Grand Hotel Akers was reunited with Nine director Tommy Tune and Nine cast members Liliane Motevecchi and Kathi Moss. The show opened November 12, 1989, for a run of 1,018 performances, through April 19, 1992.

Akers covered "Sooner or Later" in her 1991 album Unchained Melodies, a song written for Madonna by Stephen Sondheim the year before.

Personal life

On September 19, 1993, Akers married Kevin Patrick Power, vice president of the satellite communications company Orion Network Systems, in a Roman Catholic ceremony at St. Paul's Chapel of Columbia University in New York.

It was her second marriage. She has two sons from her first marriage to Jim Akers in 1968, which ended in divorce.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1985 The Purple Rose of Cairo Kitty Haynes Also on the soundtrack, uncredited, performing "One Day at a Time".
1986 Heartburn Thelma Rice
1988 Vibes Hillary (final film role)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1984 Hart to Hart Raquel Moskowitz TV Series; 1 episode: "Whispers in the Wings"
1985 The Equalizer Cynthia TV series; 1 episode: "China Rain"
1987 Cheers Sally TV series; 1 episode: "My Fair Clavin"
1991 Today Herself TV series; 1 episode: "Episode dated 5 November 1991"
1983–1997 Great Performances Herself TV series; 2 episodes:
  • "Ellington: The Music Lives On" (1983)
  • "Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall" (1997)

DVD Concert Films

  • 2005: Karen Akers: On Stage at Wolf Trap

Partial discography

  • 1981: Presenting Karen Akers - Blackwood Records BLWD 001
  • 1982: Karen Akers - Rizzoli/Blackwood Records 1001
  • 1987: In A Very Unusual Way - Rizzoli Records 1004/71004
  • reissue 1999 In A Very Unusual Way - Cabaret 5002
  • 1994: Just Imagine - DRG 5231
  • 1996: Under Paris Skies - Cabaret Records 5019
  • 1997: Live from Rainbow and Stars - DRG 1450
  • 2001: Feels Like Home - DRG 1465
  • 2004: If We Only Have Love - DRG 1383
  • 2006: Like It Was - DRG CD 91498
  • 2008: Simply Styne - DRG 1506

References

  1. "Karen Akers Biography (1945-)".
  2. "Karen Akers "Sooner or Later"". CD Universe. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  3. "WEDDINGS; Karen Akers, Kevin Power". The New York Times. September 20, 1993. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  4. Holden, Stephen (October 30, 1981). "THE WORLDLY WISE WORLD OF KAREN AKERS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  5. "Karen Akers: On Stage At Wolf Trap". view.com. Retrieved October 20, 2013.

External links

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