Rose Gregorio obit

Rose Gregorio, Tony Nominee for ‘The Shadow Box’ and Actress on ‘ER,’ Dies at 97

The wife of late director Ulu Grosbard also appeared on the big screen in ‘The Swimmer,’ ‘True Confessions,’ ‘Eyes of Laura Mars’ and 'The Deep End of the Ocean.' 

She was not on the list.

Rose Gregorio, who received a Tony nomination for her performance as the browbeaten daughter of Geraldine Fitzgerald’s declining old woman in the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Shadow Box, has died. She was 97.

Gregorio died Aug. 17 of natural causes in her Greenwich Village home, her nephew Robert Grosbard told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gregorio was married to Belgium-born stage and film director Ulu Grosbard from 1965 until his death in 2012, and she appeared for him as the ex-wife of Dustin Hoffman’s character in Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971); as a local madam in True Confessions (1981); and as the mother of Treat Williams’ character in The Deep End of the Ocean (1999).

On television, she had a recurring role on NBC’s ER as Nurse Carol Hathaway’s (Julianna Margulies) mom from 1996-99.

Gregorio also landed a Drama Desk nom and a Clarence Derwent prize in 1977 for her portrayal of Agnes in Michael Cristofer’s The Shadow Box, winner of the Tony for best play. In his review for The New York Times, Clive Barnes took note of her “eyes dully lit with the pain of the rejected and the martyrdom of the brave.”

The family drama also starred Mandy Patinkin and Laurence Luckinbill.

Born in Chicago to Italian immigrants on Oct. 17, 1925, Gregorio attended Steinmetz High School in her hometown, the School of Speech at Northwestern and the School of Drama at Yale University, where she earned a master’s degree and first met Grosbard.

She moved to New York and appeared in the early ‘60s on such TV shows as Naked City, East Side/West Side and Route 66 and played the title character opposite Robert Duvall in the off-Broadway drama The Days and Nights of Beebee Fenstermaker, directed by Grosbard.

On Broadway, Gregorio served as a standby for Diana Sands in the original 1964-65 production of The Owl and the Pussycat, as an understudy in 1966’s The Investigation (also directed by Grosbard) and as standby again in 1967’s Daphne in Cottage D.

She acted alongside Raul Julia, Rip Torn and Conrad Bain in The Cuban Thing, which closed on opening night in 1968, then worked with Hoffman and Cleavon Little in Jimmy Shine, which lasted four months through April 1969.

Also in 1968, she made her movie debut as an annoyed woman at a public pool in Frank Perry’s The Swimmer, starring Burt Lancaster.

Gregorio’s big-screen résumé included Desperate Characters (1971), Mr. Ricco (1975), Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Five Corners (1987), John Sayles’ City of Hope (1991), Tarantella (1995), Maze (2000) and Good Time (2017).

She had a regular gig on the NBC soap opera The Doctors in 1972 and showed up on episodes of The Bob Newhart Show, The Rookies, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, The Rockford Files, Falcon Crest, Doogie Howser, M.D., Murder, She Wrote and The Practice.

She returned to Broadway as Beatrice in a revival of A View From the Bridge in 1983 and as Helga in the original production of M. Butterfly in 1988.

She and Grosbard had no children. Her survivors include another nephew, John, and a niece, Lisa.

 

Actress

Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie in Good Time (2017)

Good Time

7.3

Loren Ellman

2017

 

Irene & Marie (2015)

Irene & Marie

7.1

Short

Irene

2015

 

Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Eric Bogosian, Julianne Nicholson, and Chris Noth in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001)

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

7.5

TV Series

Lupe Garcia

2003

1 episode

 

Laura Linney, Rob Morrow, and Craig Sheffer in Maze (2000)

Maze

6.4

Helen

2000

 

George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, Ming-Na Wen, Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Alex Kingston, Eriq La Salle, Kellie Martin, Paul McCrane, Michael Michele, Erik Palladino, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjic in ER (1994)

ER

7.9

TV Series

Helen Hathaway

1996–1999

7 episodes

 

Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael McElroy in The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

The Deep End of the Ocean

6.3

Rosie

1999

 

Lara Flynn Boyle, Dylan McDermott, Steve Harris, and Kelli Williams in The Practice (1997)

The Practice

7.7

TV Series

Michelle Sardo

1997

1 episode

 

Mira Sorvino in Tarantella (1995)

Tarantella

5.3

Pina

1995

 

City of Hope (1991)

City of Hope

7.3

Pina

1991

 

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)

Murder, She Wrote

7.2

TV Series

Rosa Abruzzi

1991

1 episode

 

The Brotherhood

4.5

TV Movie

Maria

1991

 

Against the Law (1990)

Against the Law

6.0

TV Series

Risa Ferrante

1990

1 episode

 

Neil Patrick Harris in Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989)

Doogie Howser, M.D.

6.5

TV Series

Hospital Board Member

1989

1 episode

 

Hothouse (1988)

Hothouse

6.8

TV Series

Karen

1988

1 episode

 

Five Corners (1987)

Five Corners

6.1

Mrs. Sabantino

1987

 

The Last Innocent Man (1987)

The Last Innocent Man

6.3

TV Movie

Monica Powers

1987

 

Do You Remember Love (1985)

Do You Remember Love

7.4

TV Movie

Betty Marcus

1985

 

Falcon Crest (1981)

Falcon Crest

6.2

TV Series

Mary Giannini

1984

2 episodes

 

Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall in True Confessions (1981)

True Confessions

6.3

Brenda Samuels

1981

 

Another World (1964)

Another World

7.0

TV Series

Doris Wagner

Dr. Doris Wagner

1981

3 episodes

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.5

TV Series

Matron Wallace

1979

1 episode

 

Dummy (1979)

Dummy

7.2

TV Movie

Jean Markin

1979

 

The Rockford Files (1974)

The Rockford Files

8.2

TV Series

Natalie Cotton Arnow

1978

1 episode

 

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Eyes of Laura Mars

6.2

Elaine Cassell

1978

 

The Storyteller

6.3

TV Movie

Mrs. Eberhardt

1977

 

Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress (1977)

Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress

5.8

TV Movie

Anne Dowling

1977

 

Robby Benson in The Death of Richie (1977)

The Death of Richie

6.8

TV Movie

Betty Firmani

1977

 

Jack Warden in Jigsaw John (1976)

Jigsaw John

7.4

TV Series

Estelle Morrissey

1976

1 episode

 

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976)

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

7.9

TV Series

Florence Baedecker

1976

2 episodes

 

David Janssen in Harry O (1973)

Harry O

7.6

TV Series

Dorina

1975

1 episode

 

George Peppard in One of Our Own (1975)

One of Our Own

7.1

TV Movie

Rose Sanantonio

1975

 

Mr. Ricco (1975)

Mr. Ricco

5.8

Angela

1975

 

Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean in The Rookies (1972)

The Rookies

6.8

TV Series

Millie

1975

1 episode

 

Miles to Go Before I Sleep (1975)

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

7.2

TV Movie

Selma

1975

 

James Daly in Medical Center (1969)

Medical Center

7.1

TV Series

Emma

1974

1 episode

 

The Bob Newhart Show (1972)

The Bob Newhart Show

8.1

TV Series

Janet Hoffman

1974

1 episode

 

Tell Me Where It Hurts (1974)

Tell Me Where It Hurts

6.7

TV Movie

Agnes

1974

 

James Pritchett in The Doctors (1963)

The Doctors

7.1

TV Series

Lorraine Jarrett

1972

13 episodes

 

Great Performances (1971)

Great Performances

8.0

TV Series

1971

1 episode

 

I Never Promised You a Long Run

Short

Jean

1971

 

Desperate Characters (1971)

Desperate Characters

6.2

Ruth

1971

 

Dustin Hoffman in Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971)

Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

5.4

Gloria Soloway

1971

 

Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (1968)

The Swimmer

7.6

Sylvia Finney

1968

 

New York Television Theatre (1965)

New York Television Theatre

7.7

TV Series

Beebee Fenstermaker

1965–1967

2 episodes

 

The Reporter (1964)

The Reporter

7.8

TV Series

1964

1 episode

 

George Maharis and Martin Milner in Route 66 (1960)

Route 66

7.7

TV Series

Mrs. Santos

1964

1 episode

 

George C. Scott in East Side/West Side (1963)

East Side/West Side

8.6

TV Series

Miss Reagan

1963

1 episode

 

Zina Bethune and Shirl Conway in The Doctors and the Nurses (1962)

The Doctors and the Nurses

7.6

TV Series

Mrs. Harding

1963

1 episode

 

Naked City (1958)

Naked City

8.2

TV Series

Puerto Rican Woman

1961

1 episode

 

The Power and the Glory (1961)

The Power and the Glory

7.2

TV Movie

The Indian Woman

1961

 

Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950)

Armstrong Circle Theatre

7.9

TV Series

Princess Maria

1961

1 episode