Full name, Julia Anne Bovasso; born August 1, 1930, in Brooklyn, NY; died ofcancer, September 14, 1991, in New York, NY. Performer, director, producer, educator, and playwright. Bovasso began her career as a stage actress in the 1940s, appearing in New York City productions of The Importance of Being Earnest and Faustina. In 1953 Bovasso founded the Tempo Playhouse, which earned her the Obie Award for best experimental theatre in 1956. In thisforum she directed, produced, and performed in The Typewriter and The Lesson, and received an Obie Award for her performance in twentieth-century French author Jean Genet's The Maids. Bovasso continued to perform throughout the 1960s, but shifted her focus to education, serving as drama instructor at the New School for Social Research, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and Sarah Lawrence College. During the late 1960sand early 1970s Bovasso was involved with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club,directing and performing in her own experimental plays, such as Schubert's Last Serenade and Angelo's Wedding, and winning a Triple Obie Award as playwright, director, and actress for Gloria and Esperanza in 1969. Bovasso explored other media in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on episodes of the television series Miami Vice and Cagney and Lacey aswell as in the feature films Saturday Night Fever, The Verdict, and Moonstruck.
Bovasso died of cancer on September 14, 1991, in New York (Manhattan), New York.
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