Biography
Who is Sandra Bernhard?
Early life and background
Sandra Bernhard was born on June 6, 1955, in Flint, Michigan. Her parents were Jeanette and Jerome Bernhard, and she grew up in a Conservative Jewish household alongside her three older brothers named Dan, David, and Mark. When she reached the age of ten, her family relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. She attended Saguaro High School and graduated in the year 1973.
Following her high school graduation, she traveled to Israel and spent seven months living at Kibbutz Kfar Menahem with a friend. She later returned to Israel during the Yom Kippur War before moving to Los Angeles in 1974. Upon her arrival in California, she enrolled in beauty school while beginning to perform stand-up comedy at local clubs.
Rise to comedy and acting fame
Sandra became a regular performer at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where Paul Mooney and Lotus Weinstock served as her mentors. Her growing popularity led to a supporting role on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. Throughout the 1980s, she built a reputation for her sharp stand-up routines that often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures.
She transitioned into film acting when she was cast in Martin Scorsese's movie The King of Comedy, earning the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also made thirty appearances on Late Night with David Letterman starting in 1983, which further boosted her profile in the entertainment industry.
Television and film career
In 1991, Sandra joined the cast of the ABC sitcom Roseanne, portraying Nancy Bartlett Thomas across thirty-three episodes until the show concluded in 1997. This role made her one of the first actresses to play an openly bisexual recurring character on American television. She also hosted Reel Wild Cinema on the USA Network for two seasons starting in 1995.
Her later television work includes playing Nurse Judy Kubrak in the FX drama series Pose and Nurse Cecily on the Apple TV+ series Severance. In film, she appeared in Hudson Hawk, Dallas Doll, and joined the cast of the A24 film Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie.
One-woman shows and music
Sandra developed several performance art-oriented one-woman shows, beginning with I'm Your Woman in 1985. She launched her off-Broadway show Without You, I'm Nothing, With You, I'm Not Much Better at the Orpheum Theatre in 1988, which was later adapted into a film and a double album. That project earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Comedy Album in 1990.
She returned to Broadway in 1998 with I'm Still Here... Damn It! And later staged Everything Bad & Beautiful in New York. Aside from comedy, she performs pop music, jazz, and blues tunes, and she began hosting a radio show called Sandyland on Sirius XM in 2015.
Personal life
Sandra identifies as bisexual and is an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ rights. She gave birth to her daughter, Cicely, on July 4, 1998, and raised her with Sara Switzer, her partner of more than twenty years. She was also previously in a relationship with Venezuelan actress Patricia Velásquez.
Birthday and age
Sandra Bernhard was born on June 6, 1955, which makes Sandra 71 years old today. That birthday falls under the Gemini sign. Sandra shares the date with 52 other famous people.
Explore more
