American actress (1924–2003)
Fritzi Burr |
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| Born | (1924-05-31)May 31, 1924
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| Died | January 17, 2003(2003-01-17) (aged 78)
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| Other names | Freda Steinberg |
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| Occupation(s) | Actress, comedienne |
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| Years active | 1953-1997 |
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| Spouse(s) | Aaron Heyman, 1990-1995, his death |
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Fritzi Burr (May 31, 1924 – January 17, 2003) was an American character actress that was most notable for her roles as Miss Collins on the sitcom What's Happening!! and as various comedic foils to Fred Sanford on the sitcom Sanford and Son in the 1970s. She was the sister-in-law of Sanford and Son producer Saul Turteltaub.[1]
Biography
Burr was born Freda Berr in Philadelphia on May 31, 1924,[2] to Pauline Berr (née Devore) and David Berr.[3] Not only parents were both Russian Jews,[4][5] but their families came from the same city, Berdichev.[6] Even father's original last name, Berdichevsky,[7] as it was before it was shortened to Berr, is also derived from the name of their native town. Parents divorced while she was little, and her mother took her to live with her parents, Harry and Rose Devore.[8] A few years later, Mother would remarry and have two more daughters, Shirley and Thelma, by her second husband Benjamin Steinberg. In the late 1930s the family moved from Philadelphia to Newark, NJ,[9] where Freda spent her formative in the close proximity of New York stage scene. Eventually, her stepfather formally adopted her and from then on she would be known officially as Freda Steinberg,[10] keeping a slightly modified Burr as the stage name.
Burr performed in little theater and in skits with the vaudeville comedy team of Smith and Dale. By the late 1950s, she was working on Broadway and appeared in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, the show in which Barbra Streisand first gained national attention.[11] Later, Burr replaced Kaye Medford as the mother of Fanny Brice (played by Streisand) in Funny Girl (1968).[11] Her Broadway credits included portraying Sylvia Goldman in The Family Way (1965).[12]
Burr worked regularly in small theaters and dinner theaters and in touring companies of such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof, in which she played, at different times, Yente and Tevye's long-suffering wife, Golde. Moving to Hollywood, she found steady work as a character actress in movies and on television.[11][13]
Burr appeared in the movies How Do I Love Thee? (1970), Frasier, The Senusous Lion (1973), Chinatown (1974), The New, Original Wonder Woman (1975), Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977), and 3 Ninjas (1992). Her television appearances include The Rockford Files (6 different roles in 6 episodes), What's Happening! (as the high school teacher, Mrs. Collins in 7 episodes), The Nanny, Melrose Place, Hunter, The Golden Girls, The Incredible Hulk, NBC-TV's Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, Friends[13] and The Odd Couple.[11]
Personal life and death
Burr was married to Aaron Heyman until his death in 1995.[14] Burr died in Fort Myers, Florida of natural causes[11] on January 17, 2003,[15] aged 78.[14]
