Candice Azzara
Encyclopedia
Candice "Candy" Azzara is an American
character actress
frequently cast in Italian
or Jewish roles.
Azzara was born in Brooklyn
, the daughter of Josephine (née
Bravo) and Samuel Azzara. She was inspired to pursue acting by the film La Strada
and theatre legend Eleanora Duse. She studied with Lee Strasberg
and Gene Frankel
and soon began appearing off-Broadway
and in regional theatre
s.
Billed as Candy Azzara, she made her Broadway
debut in Lovers and Other Strangers
in 1968. Additional stage credits include Jake's Women
, Cactus Flower, Any Wednesday
, Barefoot in the Park
, and The Moon Is Blue
.
Azzara was cast as Gloria in the second pilot of All in the Family
when it was entitled Those Were the Days and the family name was Justice instead of Bunker. She was a regular on the sitcom
Calucci's Department
and had recurring roles on Caroline in the City
, Who's the Boss, Soap
, and Rhoda
. She has guested on numerous series, including Diff'rent Strokes
, The Practice
, Married With Children, Kojak
, Barney Miller
(as a manicurist, in Season 2 Episode 3), Trapper John, M.D.
, L.A. Law
, Murder, She Wrote
, ER
, Married with Children (1992) and Joan of Arcadia
.
On screen Azzara has appeared in In Her Shoes, Ocean's Twelve
, Catch Me If You Can
, Easy Money, House Calls, Unstrung Heroes
, Pandemonium
, Fatso, and Made for Each Other
.
Azzara is the aunt of actress Lana Parrilla
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
character actress
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
frequently cast in Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
or Jewish roles.
Azzara was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, the daughter of Josephine (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Bravo) and Samuel Azzara. She was inspired to pursue acting by the film La Strada
La Strada
La Strada is a 1954 Italian neorealist drama directed by Federico Fellini in which a naïve young woman is sold to a brutish man and goes on the road as a part of his itinerant show....
and theatre legend Eleanora Duse. She studied with Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
and Gene Frankel
Gene Frankel
__notoc__Eugene V. "Gene" Frankel was an American actor, theater director, and acting teacher especially notable in the founding of the off-Broadway scene...
and soon began appearing off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and in regional theatre
Regional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
s.
Billed as Candy Azzara, she made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in Lovers and Other Strangers
Lovers and Other Strangers
Lovers and Other Strangers is a 1970 comedy film based on the play by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The film features an ensemble cast including Richard Castellano, Gig Young, Cloris Leachman, Anne Jackson, Beatrice Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Harry Guardino, Anne Meara, Bob Dishy,...
in 1968. Additional stage credits include Jake's Women
Jake's Women
Jake's Women is a play by Neil Simon. It centers on Jake, a writer with a struggling marriage. Jake talks to many of the women he knows, both in real life and in his imagination, as he works to save his marriage...
, Cactus Flower, Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday
Any Wednesday is a 1966 comedy film directed by Robert Ellis Miller, starring Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, and Dean Jones. The story centers around a Manhattan woman who is trying to decide between two suitors on the day of her 30th birthday.On August 18, 2009, Warner Brothers released the movie...
, Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
, and The Moon Is Blue
The Moon Is Blue
The Moon Is Blue is a 1953 American comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert, based on his 1951 play of the same title, focuses on a young woman who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and quickly turns his life...
.
Azzara was cast as Gloria in the second pilot of All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
when it was entitled Those Were the Days and the family name was Justice instead of Bunker. She was a regular on the sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Calucci's Department
Calucci's Department
Calucci's Department was an American television sitcom broadcast by CBS on Friday at 8:00pm Eastern Time. It premiered on September 14, 1973 and, after struggling to compete in the ratings against Sanford and Son on NBC, was cancelled after the December 28 episode.The series focused on Joe Calucci,...
and had recurring roles on Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City is an American situation comedy that ran from September 21, 1995 to April 26, 1999 on the NBC television network. It starred Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy. The series premiered in the two-hour Thursday night block led by Friends.-Premise:Caroline Duffy is a...
, Who's the Boss, Soap
Soap (TV series)
Soap is an American sitcom that originally ran on ABC from 1977 to 1981.The show was created as a parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial format and included melodramatic plot elements such...
, and Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
. She has guested on numerous series, including Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
, The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
, Married With Children, Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
, Barney Miller
Barney Miller
Barney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
(as a manicurist, in Season 2 Episode 3), Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Married with Children (1992) and Joan of Arcadia
Joan of Arcadia
Joan of Arcadia is an American television fantasy/family drama telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi , who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays, 8-9 p.m...
.
On screen Azzara has appeared in In Her Shoes, Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
, Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor...
, Easy Money, House Calls, Unstrung Heroes
Unstrung Heroes
Unstrung Heroes is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Diane Keaton. The screenplay by Richard LaGravenese is based on a memoir by journalist Franz Lidz.-Plot synopsis:...
, Pandemonium
Pandemonium (film)
Pandemonium is a 1982 comedy film spoofing horror movies. It had an ensemble cast including Eileen Brennan, Phil Hartman, Tab Hunter, Carol Kane, David Lander, Eve Arden, Paul Reubens, and Tom Smothers....
, Fatso, and Made for Each Other
Made for Each Other (1971 film)
Made for Each Other is a 1971 feature film directed by Robert B. Bean.Both starring and written by the husband and wife team of Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna, the movie traces the relationship of Pandora and Giggy, a seemingly incompatible couple who meet in a group therapy session and fall in...
.
Azzara is the aunt of actress Lana Parrilla
Lana Parrilla
Lana Parrilla is a Puerto Rican-American actress, best known for her roles on Spin City, 24, Boomtown and Miami Medical...
.