Anita Gillette

Anita Gillette (b. 1936) is an actress who has worked frequently in Broadway musicals and on television. She appeared in Sesame Street Episode 2269 in 1987, as an unflappable lady splashed by Oscar's pet whale. ‎

Gillette made her New York debut in the 1960 off-Broadway revue Russell Patterson's Sketchbook. Although the show closed after three performances, Gillette gained critical notice and was cast as a replacement in Gypsy. When Carnival! opened, Gillette played a gypsy and was standby for Lili (which she took over during the run). Ingenue roles in shorter-lived musicals followed, including All American (book by Mel Brooks) and Mr. President (songs by Irving Berlin). She played Sarah Brown in the 1965 revival of Guys and Dolls and was a replacement Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Straight plays include Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water and Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs.

On television, Gillette was a frequent game show panelist starting in the sixties with stints on What's My Line, various versions of Match Game and Password, and different dollar denominations of Pyramid. She co-starred on a string of one-season seventies sitcoms (Me and the Chimp, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, All That Glitters, and The Baxters). On Quincy ME, she played Quincy's late wife in a flashback and then recurred as Dr. Emily Hanover (who he married). Guest spots include St. Elsewhere, Mad About You, Frasier, the Law & Order franchise, 30 Rock (twice as Liz Lemon's mother), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (four times as Catherine Willows' mother), Elementary, and Modern Family.

In film, Gillette took character roles in Moonstruck, Bob Roberts (with Tim Robbins), Boys on the Side (with Whoopi Goldberg), and Shall We Dance (with Susan Sarandon).