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Mercedes Ruehl

Acting

Born February 28, 1948 · Queens, New York, USA

Biography

Mercedes J. Ruehl is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. Her most acclaimed film role was in The Fisher King; her performance in the film earned her the 1991 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an American Comedy Award, a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Golden Globe. Ruehl is known for her leading performance in the play Lost in Yonkers (1990) and supporting performance in the film The Fisher King (1991). Her other film credits include Big (1988), Married to the Mob (1988), Last Action Hero (1993), Roseanna's Grave (1997), and Hustlers (2019). She also played the mother of main character Vincent Chase in HBO's Entourage.

Awards & recognition

  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 1992
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Supporting Actress – Motion Picture · 1992
  • Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actress in a Play · 1991
  • Tony AwardBest Actress in a Play · 1991
  • Tony AwardBest Actress in a Play · 2002 · nominated
Show all 7 awards →
  • Tony AwardBest Featured Actress in a Play · 1995 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 1992 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

New Amsterdam

2018as Grace

Psych

2006as Detective Goochberg

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

1999as Lucia Barba

Disclosure

2020as Self (archive footage)

Frasier

1993as Kate Costas

The Warriors

1979as Policewoman

NCIS

2003as Marie Quinn

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962as Self

Entourage

2004as Rita Chase

Crimes and Misdemeanors

1989as Party Guest (uncredited)

The Fisher King

1991as Anne

Law & Order

1990as Zina Rybakov

2 Broke Girls

2011as Olga

Big

1988as Mrs. Baskin

84 Charing Cross Road

1987as Kay

Life in Pieces

2015as Mia

Monday Mornings

2013as Judge Beverly Natheson

Gia

1998as Kathleen Carangi

Radio Days

1987as Ad Man

The Mysteries of Laura

as Val Santiani

Bull

2016as Judge Hudson

Indictment: The McMartin Trial

1995as Lael Rubin

The Cosby Show

1984as Bernadette Foley

Accused

2023as Connie

Loving Leah

2009as Janice

Doctors of the Dark Side

2011as Narrator

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands

1976as American girl in casino

The Lost Child

2000as Rebecca

Hustlers

2019as Mother

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

2015as Self

Mom at Sixteen

2005as Terry Jeffries

For Roseanna

1997as Roseanna

Last Action Hero

1993as Irene Madigan

The Secret of My Success

1987as Sheila

Lost in Yonkers

1993as Bella Kurnitz

Spooky House

2002as Boss

Married to the Mob

1988as Connie Russo

Heartburn

1986as Eve

Kate & Allie

1984

Crazy People

1990as Dr. Liz Baylor

What's Cooking?

2000as Elizabeth Avila

The Minus Man

1999as Jane

Another You

1991as Elaine

Star Spangled Banners

2013as Rosalind Banner

A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story

2006as Sylvia Guerrero

Guilt by Association

2002as Susan Walker

All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story

2000as Jane Newhall

The Nana Project

2023as Nana

Chu and Blossom

2014as Mrs. Fefterg

Robin Williams: Behind Closed Doors

2016as Self