Anne Pitoniak Has Died

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:46am

Anne Pitoniak, who began her stage career in late middle age, but received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut, in “ ’night, Mother,” and had an enduring career playing strong-willed older women, died on Sunday at home in Manhattan. She was 85.

The cause was complications of cancer, said her son, Christian Milord.

Other than a few roles in summer stock theater right out of college, Ms. Pitoniak spent most of her acting life in television and radio commercials. But in 1975, when she was in her mid-50s, her marriage having ended in divorce and her two children grown, she decided to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Two years later she became a resident actor at the Actors Theater of Louisville in Kentucky, where her first role was in Marsha Norman’s first play, “Getting Out.”

Ms. Pitoniak quickly developed a following at the Actors Theater, the host theater of the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Among the plays she appeared in were John Pielmeier’s “Agnes of God” and Jane Martin’s “Talking With,” which was moved to Off Broadway by the Manhattan Theater Club.

“ ’night, Mother” was the third of Ms. Norman’s plays in which Ms. Pitoniak starred. She portrayed a fiercely desperate mother whose daughter, played by Kathy Bates, suddenly announces suicidal intentions, a performance described as “harrowing” by Frank Rich in The New York Times. The play went to the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., then to Broadway, where it opened in 1983.

Read on...
Anne Pitoniak, 85, Actress Who Played Strong Older Women, Dies

Updated On: 4/26/07 at 09:46 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:56am

She will be greatly missed. A wonderful actress.

She had a very funny bit in The Roundabout's production of "Picnic". She played the next door neighbor Helen. She's standing onstage talking to the other women in the scene. You hear a voice offstage call for Helen and Pitoniak says "Coming Mother".

[Hiram]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:22am

I had the privilege of seeing Ms. Pitoniak on stage several times. She used to go for physical therapy in my building. We spoke a few times. She was always so lovely and gracious. A great Actress. She'll be missed.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:30am

I wish I could have seen her performance in 'NIGHT, MOTHER.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 10:48am

I wish I could have seen her performance in 'NIGHT, MOTHER.

Me, too.

RIP.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 12:56pm

'Night Mother' RIP.

[andyf]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:12pm

You can see her performance in 'night, Mother at the Lincoln Center Library.

It was a fascinating production, especially being so familiar with the text and the revival production, it was interesting to see the performances and just how true everything in the original production was to Norman's text. Also, it ran at the Golden Theatre, which has a much smaller stage than the Royale (now the Jacobs), where it was revived, so even just seeking how that affected the production was fascinating.

It's definitely worth checking out.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:45pm

I saw her in NIGHT MOTHER twice, and cannot pickup the text and hear anyone else's voice but hers. She and Bates had a synergy that was unequaled. (One of the things missing in the revival -- Falco and Blethlyn didn't seem in the same family). She had an easy way with the southern rhythms, without adding a layer of DESIGNING WOMEN-styled affect, and was fiercely unsentimental. I'll never forget the moment when Jesse says to her something like "I'm not good company, am I?" And Pitoniak snapped, "no" with an immediacy and level of truth that stopped the play cold. Funny, isn't it? A mere "no" was so memorable? But then, the last line, "Oh Jesse, I thought you were mine" so belonged to Pitoniak ... perhaps only she could make it resonate as both poetry and reality. (It didn't make it into the film, and can sound very tacked on in a performance too full of hystrioniac).

[Piercemn]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 1:52pm

She was a genuinely lovely person. I met her when she played the lead in Right of Way at the Guthrie, and she participated in the reading of a play I'd written. She was so nice and a thorough professional. She also enjoyed life, and went out of her way to participate in anything that took her fancy.

She will, indeed, be missed.

[wexy]

Posted: 4/26/07 at 2:29pm

Did get to see her in Picnic and Uncle Vanya with Derek Jacobi back in 2000.
Rest In Peace.