Sadie Gertrude Stern (October 31, 1934 – November 17, 2023), known professionally as Suzanne Shepherd, was an American actress and theater director.
Background Shepherd was born Sadie Gertrude Stern on October 31, 1934, to a Jewish family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the daughter of Dora (Mendelson), a cook, and David Stern, a distributor of jukeboxes and vending machines. She began using the name "Suzanne" when she was 13. She attended Battin High School and Bennington College, and studied acting with Sanford Meisner. She later went on to teach Meisner's program of acting study, the first woman to do so.Suzanne Shepherd, interview with Sanford Meisner, Yale Theatre 8, nos. 2 and 3 (1977): 38–43.
Career Shepherd was a founding member of the Compass Players in the early 1960s, along with Alan Alda and Alan Arkin.
Shepherd was known for her portrayal of Aunt Tweedy in the film Mystic Pizza, Karen's overbearing mother in the film Goodfellas, Carmela Soprano's mother Mary DeAngelis in the HBO television series The Sopranos, and the assistant school principal in Uncle Buck, receiving a memorable verbal assault from Buck. She also played the role of Mrs. Scarlini in the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, and Big Ethel in A Dirty Shame. In 2016, she played the role of Lucille Abetemarco the mother of Detective Anthony Abetemarco played by former Sopranos co-star Steve Schirripa in "Good Cop Bad Cop" the second episode of the seventh season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods. In 2018, she reprised the role of Lucille Abetemarco in "Trust" the sixth episode of the ninth season of Blue Bloods.
Shepherd was also a theatre director, working in New York and in regional theatre.
Personal life and death From a marriage to David Shepherd, which lasted from 1957 until their divorce in 1966, she had a son, who died in 2011, and a daughter, artist Kate Shepherd. Her second marriage, to Carroll Calkins, lasted from 1996 until his death in 2006.
Shepherd died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney failure at her home in Manhattan on November 17, 2023, at the age of 89.
Filmography Film +YearTitleRoleNotes1988Mystic PizzaAunt Tweedy1988Working GirlTrask Receptionist1989Uncle BuckMrs. Hoargarth1989Second SightMarilyn Bloom1990GoodfellasKaren's Mother1990Jacob's LadderHospital Receptionist1995The Jerky Boys: The MovieMrs. B1995PalookavilleMother1996BulletCookie Stein1996Trees LoungeJackie1997LolitaMiss Pratt1998IlluminataMarco's mother1998Living Out LoudMary1998American CuisineMartha1999On the RunLady in Travel Agency2000Requiem for a DreamMrs. Scarlini2001Never AgainMother2004A Dirty ShameBig Ethel2008ChokeWaitress2008HaroldMaude Sellers2009I Hate Valentine's DayEdie2012Delivering the GoodsMrs. Weinbaum2013Jerome's BouquetElana KleinShort film2017Where Is Kyra?Ruth2018FurloughElizabeth Anderson2018The Week OfAunt Iris2023The PerformanceTess
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1990Law & OrderArraignment Judge Victoria SawyerEpisode: "The Reaper's Helper"1998VigAgnesTelevision film2000Third WatchSheatsEpisode: "Young Men and Fire..."2000, 2004EdElaine / Edna2 episodes2000–2007The SopranosMary DeAngelis20 episodes2002Law & Order: Criminal IntentJoanEpisode: "Homo Homini Lupus"2003Law & Order: Special Victims UnitOld WomanEpisode: "Desperate"2010GravityScarf WomanEpisode: "Dogg Day Afternoon"2016–2018Blue BloodsLucille Abetemarco2 episodes
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