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Debra Jo Rupp

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Debra Jo Rupp
Rupp in 2019
Born (1951-02-24) February 24, 1951 (age 73)
EducationUniversity of Rochester
OccupationActress
Years active1980–present

Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Kitty Forman in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006) and its Netflix sequel series That '90s Show (2023–2024).[2] Rupp also had roles in the NBC sitcom Friends (1997–1998), the ABC animated series Teacher's Pet (2000–2002) and its 2004 sequel film, the ABC sitcom Better with You (2010–2011), and the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021) and its spin-off Agatha All Along (2024).

Rupp appeared in the comedy films Big (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Sgt. Bilko (1996), Garfield: The Movie (2004), and She's Out of My League (2010). She also starred as sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer in the plays Dr. Ruth, All the Way (2012) and Becoming Dr. Ruth (2013), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. She starred as Della in the play The Cake (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Early life and education

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Rupp was raised in Boxford, Massachusetts, where she attended Masconomet Regional High School, graduating in 1969.[3]

Career

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1980s

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Rupp left Massachusetts in 1979 to pursue an acting career in New York City. She frequently performed on stage and appeared in commercials before winning her first television role in 1980 as Sheila, a topless dancer, on the daytime drama All My Children.[4] Earlier the same year, Rupp played Helen, the wife of a cheating husband, in Sharon Tipsword's one-act comedy Second Verse, produced as part of a play festival at New York's Nat Horne Theater.[5]

Another notable stage performance was as the young bride Eleanor in the 1985 production of A. R. Gurney's The Middle Ages at the Whole Theater Company, established by Olympia Dukakis in Montclair, New Jersey.[6]

She garnered praise from Walter Goodman in a New York Times review of one of her many off-Broadway performances: as June Yeager, a young wife who feels she is never "loved enough", in the 1986 York Theater Company production of Arthur Laurents' dramatic play, The Time of the Cuckoo[7] staged at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City's Upper East Side.[8]

Rupp's list of stage credits includes appearances in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and Cynthia Heimel's A Girl's Guide to Chaos, the Broadway role which propelled her career forward. She originated the role of Cynthia in 1986, a character based on Heimel's observations made during her stints as a columnist for Playboy and The Village Voice. Directed by Wynn Handman, and sharing the stage with Rita Jenrette, Rupp's performance as Cynthia was immortalized by legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld and described in a New York Times review as "an appealing mixture of pluck and pathos".[9] In his review of Chaos, New York Newsday theater critic Allan Wallach called Rupp "a real find".[10]

In early 1987, Rupp was featured in an article written by Enid Nemy for the "Broadway" section of The New York Times. Entitled "New York is beckoning, but first, Los Angeles", the interview revealed how Rupp's success in the theater so soon after her arrival in New York City had scared the young actress enough to take time off from acting for several years. After returning to the stage, Rupp explained, she was often cast as an ingénue, but after her portrayal of Cynthia in Chaos, she began getting calls to audition in Los Angeles for "really crazy neurotic" parts in television pilots. She was realistic about the unpredictability of an acting career, and since she had promised her mother she would never wait tables when she left for New York, she had not given up her part-time work as a bookkeeper and was "learning computers" as something to fall back on.[11]

Rupp continued to devote herself to acting full-time through the 1980s, and performed in numerous regional stage productions. One such production was Sherry Kramer's Wall of Water in New Haven, Connecticut, at the Yale Repertory Theatre's Winterfest play festival of 1988.[12] She guest-starred on numerous television shows, including Kate & Allie, Spenser for Hire, and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. In 1988, Rupp landed her first feature-film role as Miss Patterson, the timid secretary of Tom Hanks' Josh Baskin, in the comedy Big.

1990s

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In 1990, Rupp returned to New York City to perform in a Broadway stage production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Kathleen Turner at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. In it, Rupp portrayed Mae (Sister Woman).[13] Her television work during the early 1990s included recurring roles as Ms. Higgins on the television series Davis Rules with Randy Quaid, and as Sister Mary Incarnata on Phenom with Judith Light, as well as guest roles on Blossom, Family Matters, L.A. Law, and ER.[citation needed]

In 1995, she began her stint as Jeff Foxworthy's sister-in-law Gayle on The Jeff Foxworthy Show, appeared in the science fiction miniseries The Invaders with Scott Bakula, portrayed Jerry Seinfeld's annoying booking agent Katie on an episode of Seinfeld (a role she reprised in 1996), and performed on stage as Meg in Broken Bones, a dark drama about spousal abuse by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, as part of a one-act play festival at Hollywood's Met Theater.[14] She provided the voice of Lana Lionheart in the "MGM Sing-Alongs" Videos in 1997.[citation needed] Also in 1997, Rupp appeared as the office manager in the 1997 independent film Clockwatchers, co-starring Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, and Toni Colette.

Rupp appeared in several episodes of Friends as Alice Knight, a home economics teacher who fell in love with and married Phoebe Buffay's (Lisa Kudrow) much younger half-brother, Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi). In 1998, she began portraying Kitty Forman in the comedy series, That '70s Show. She also portrayed Marilyn See, wife of astronaut Elliot See, in episode 11 of the Emmy Award-winning television miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, produced by Tom Hanks and directed by Sally Field.[15]

2000s

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She lent her voice as the character of Mrs. Helperman in Disney's animated series Teacher's Pet in 2000, and again for the 2004 movie version. She starred as a stand-up comic with a secret in the independent short film The Act, directed by Susan Kraker and Pi Ware, an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival which won several awards at film festivals around the world.[16] In 2004, she played Brad Hunt's nagging mother in Lucky 13, a full-length independent film starring Lauren Graham. She returned to All My Children for one episode in December 2005, playing a homeless woman named Victoria. [citation needed]

Rupp has often returned to Massachusetts and New York to appear in regional and off-Broadway stage productions. In 2004, she played Dotty Otley in Michael Frayn's Noises Off at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts.[17] In 2006, she appeared on stage in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as a kooky mother in French playwright Jean Anouilh's comedy Ring Round the Moon at Barrington Stage Company.[18]

New York theater-goers saw Rupp return to the off-Broadway stage in June 2007 as Valerie in the Second Stage Theatre production of Marisa Wegrzyn's The Butcher of Baraboo, directed by Judith Ivey.[19][20][21][22] Two months later, she performed in the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as Ida Bolton in a revival of Paul Osborn's 1939 play, Morning's at Seven.[23][24][25]

After That '70s Show ended in 2006, Rupp appeared in a dramatic television role as the wife of a murdered pharmaceutical CEO on the crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In the episode, entitled "Infiltrated", Rupp's character desperately attempts to hide her slain husband's past sexual abuses. In early 2007, the feature film Kickin' It Old Skool was released, in which Rupp was cast as Jamie Kennedy's mother. In 2008, she appeared as a restaurant owner who helps two homeless men in the comedy-drama-musical, Jackson, written and directed by J. F. Lawton. In the same year, she returned to daytime television in a guest role on As the World Turns.[citation needed]

Massachusetts theater-goers saw Rupp onstage in 2008 playing Olympia in Georges Feydeau's 1907 farce A Flea in Her Ear at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, and as Miss Maudie in To Kill a Mockingbird at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield.[26] In 2012, Rupp portrayed Ruth in She Wants Me, an independent romantic comedy.

2010s-present

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In June and July 2012, Rupp starred as Dr. Ruth Westheimer in Dr. Ruth – All the Way on the St. Germain Stage of the Barrington Stage Company.[27] The play showcased a sex therapist's life, from fleeing the Nazis in the Kindertransport and joining the Haganah in Jerusalem as a scout and sniper, to her struggles to succeed as a single mother coming to America.[28] Rupp reprised the role Off-Broadway in Becoming Dr. Ruth, for which she was nominated for the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.[29]

In 2021, Rupp joined the limited television series WandaVision as Mrs. Hart (aka Sharon Davis), Wanda and Vision's neighbor, and reprised her role in the spin-off series, Agatha All Along.[30]

That '90s Show, a spin-off from That '70s Show, saw Rupp return as Kitty Forman. The first series was filmed in 2022 and released in early 2023.[31]

Personal life

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She has two homes, one in Lee, Massachusetts, where she stays when she is doing theatrical projects in New York, and another one in Los Angeles, where she stays during television and film projects. She said in an interview that she is a Methodist. [32]

Acting credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1988 Big Miss Patterson
1988 Robots R. Jane Direct-to-video
1992 Death Becomes Her Psychiatric Patient
1996 Sgt. Bilko Mrs. Hall
1997 MGM Sing-Alongs: Searching for Your Dreams Lana Lionheart Short film; voice role
MGM Sing-Alongs: Having Fun
MGM Sing-Alongs: Friends
MGM Sing-Alongs: Being Happy
Clockwatchers Barbara
1998 Senseless Fertility Clinic Assistant
2004 Teacher's Pet Mrs. Mary Lou Moira Angela Darling Helperman Voice role
2004 Garfield Mom Rat
2004 The Act Rosy Marconi Short film
2005 Lucky 13 Mrs. Baker
2006 Spymate Edith
2006 Air Buddies Belinda Direct-to-video; voice role
2007 Kickin' It Old Skool Sylvia Schumacher
2008 Jackson Nice Lady
2010 She's Out of My League Mrs. Kettner
2011 Spooky Buddies Zelda Direct-to-video; voice role
2012 She Wants Me Ruth Baum
2012 Congratulations Nancy Riley
2013 Super Buddies Cow Direct-to-video; voice role
2014 The Opposite of Sex Tracy
2019 Fair Market Value Carol Coogan
2019 The Social Ones Sheila Berger

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987 Spenser: For Hire Helen Episode: "Gone Fishin'"
1987 Kate & Allie Toy Store Clerk Episode: "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
1988 The Equalizer Marge Episode: "Regrets Only"
1988 The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd Waitress Episode: "Here's What Happened to That Earring You Lost"
1989 Mothers, Daughters and Lovers Lottie Television film
1989 Newhart Irene Sadler Episode: "Ramblin' Michael Harris"
1990 Grand Cheryl Ann Episode: "The Pretty Good Mother"
1991 Davis Rules Ms. Higgins Recurring role
1991–1994 Empty Nest Danielle / Dr. Simmons / Claire 3 episodes
1991 Civil Wars Florence Herrigan Episode: "Have Gun, Will Unravel"
1992 A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story Alice Television film
1992 Blossom Lucy Robinson 2 episodes
1992 Great Scott! Sally O'Donnell Episode: "Stripe Gripe"
1993 Family Matters Miss Connors Episode: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad House"
1993 Evening Shade Mrs. Holloway Episode: "Teaching Is a Good Thing"
1993 In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco Dorrie Television film
1993–1994 Phenom Sister Mary Incarnata Recurring role
1993 The Odd Couple: Together Again Plaza Asst. Manager Television film
1993 L.A. Law Gretchen Tomba Episode: "Pacific Rimshot"
1994 MacShane: Winner Takes All Alice Television film
1994 The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Ms. Plowright Episode: "Stagecoach"
1994 MacShane: The Final Roll of the Dice Alice Television film
1994 Hearts Afire Brenda Swain 2 episodes
1994 Diagnosis: Murder Dr. Nora Stebbings Episode: "The Busy Body"
1995 The Office Beth Avery 6 episodes
1995 ER Mrs. Dibble Episode: "Men Plan, God Laughs"
1995, 1996 Seinfeld Katie 2 episodes
1995 If Not for You Eileen Recurring role
1995 The Invaders Rita 2 episodes
1995–1996 The Jeff Foxworthy Show Gayle Recurring role
1996 High Incident 2 episodes
1996 Caroline in the City Melody Episode: "Caroline and the Red Sauce"
1997 Crisis Center Marilyn 4 episodes
1997–1998 Friends Alice Knight Buffay Recurring role
1997 7th Heaven June McKinley Episode: "See You in September"
1997 Touched by an Angel Mayor Risa Hoigard Episode: "Jones vs. God"
1997 Over the Top Rose Episode: "Pilot"
1998 From the Earth to the Moon Marilyn See Mini-series
1998 To Have and To Hold Margaret Jarrod Episode: "Pilot"
1998–2006 That '70s Show Kitty Forman Main role
2000–2002 Teacher's Pet Ms. Mary Lou Moira Angela Darling Helperman Recurring role; voice role
2001 The Hughleys Karen Clark Episode: "Daddy's Lil' Girl"
2004 The Tracy Morgan Show Ms. Laneworthy 2 episodes
2005 Robot Chicken Kitty Forman Episode: "Gold Dust Gasoline"; voice role
2005 All My Children Victoria Episode: #1.9266
2006 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Debra Hartnell Episode: "Infiltrated"
2008 As the World Turns Edna Winklemeyer Recurring role
2010–2011 Better with You Vicky Putney Main role
2013 Hart of Dixie Besty Maynard Episode: "Where I Lead Me"
2014 Cuz-Bros Merle Television film
2015 He's With Me Alice Adams 2 episodes
2016 Pearl DeeDee Television film
2017 Elementary Sheriff Malik Episode: "Crowned Clown, Downtown Brown"
2017 NCIS: Los Angeles Ginger Episode: "Old Tricks"
2017–2020 The Ranch Janice Phillips Recurring role
2017–2018 This Is Us Linda 4 episodes
2018 I Feel Bad Griff's Mom Episode: "My Kid Has to Grow Up"
2019 Grey's Anatomy Jo's Therapist Episode: "Nothing Left to Cling To"
2020 At Home with Amy Sedaris Belinda Thornberry Episode: "Valentine's Day"
2021 WandaVision Sharon Davis / "Mrs. Hart" Recurring role
2021 Marvel Studios: Assembled Herself Documentary; Episode: "Assembled: The Making of WandaVision"
2023–2024 That '90s Show Kitty Forman Main cast
2024 Agatha All Along Sharon Davis / "Mrs. Hart" Main cast; 5 episodes

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue Notes
1985 The Middle Ages Eleanor The Whole Theater
1986 The Time of the Cuckoo June Yeager York Theatre Company
1987 A Girl's Guide To Chaos Cynthia American Place Theater
1988 The Wall of Water Meg Yale Repertory Theatre
1990 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Mae Eugene O'Neill Theatre Broadway debut
2004 Noises Off Dotty Otley Cape Playhouse
2006 Ring Round the Moon Isabelle's Mother Barrington Stage Company
2007 The Butcher of Baraboo Valerie Second Stage Theater
2007 Morning's at Seven Ida Berkshire Theatre Festival
2008 A Flea in Her Ear Olympia Williamstown Theatre Festival
2008 To Kill A Mockingbird Miss Maudie Barrington Stage Company
2009 True West Mom Williamstown Theatre Festival
2012 Dr. Ruth, All the Way Dr. Ruth Barrington Stage Company
2013 Becoming Dr. Ruth Dr. Ruth TheaterWorks Hartford
2013 Becoming Dr. Ruth Dr. Ruth Westside Theatre Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (nomination)

Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (nomination)

2014 Annapurna Emma TheaterWorks Hartford
2016 Kimberly Akimbo Kimberly Levaco Barrington Stage Company
2016 Love Letters Melissa Gardner Barrington Stage Company
2017 The Cake Della The Echo Theater Company Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award: Lead Performance

Ovation Award: Lead Actress in a Play

2018 The Cake Della Barrington Stage Company
2018 The Cake Della Geffen Playhouse
2019 The Cake Della Manhattan Theatre Club Drama League Award: Distinguished Performance (nomination)
2019 Time Flies and Other Comedies Performer Barrington Stage Company
2020 Three Viewings Performer Barrington Stage Company Virtual stage reading

References

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  1. ^ "Birthdays". The Modesto Bee. The Associated Press. February 24, 2019. p. 2A. Actress Debra Jo Rupp is 68.
  2. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 8, 2021). "'That '70s Show' Spinoff 'That '90s Show' With Kurtwood Smith & Debra Jo Rupp Ordered By Netflix". Deadline. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Actress Debra Jo Rupp inspires Class of 2015".
  4. ^ Erica Brown, "AMC Nabs Rupp for Guest Role"[permanent dead link‍], soapoperadigest.com; accessed September 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Michiko Kakutani, "Stage: 5 of the 'Best' Short Works at the Nat Horne", The New York Times, March 22, 1980; retrieved January 22, 2008.
  6. ^ Alvin Klein. "The Middle Ages at the Whole Theatre", The New York Times, April 7, 1985; retrieved January 22, 2008.
  7. ^ Walter Goodman, The Time of the Cuckoo Opening Night Cast Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, lortel.org; accessed September 24, 2017.
  8. ^ "Stage: Michael Learned in Time of the Cuckoo" (January 21, 1986), The New York Times; retrieved January 22, 2008.
  9. ^ Stephen Holden, "Stage: Cynthia Heimel Comedy, 'Guide to Chaos", The New York Times, December 14, 1986.
  10. ^ Allan Wallach, "A Girl's Guide to Men and Sex in the '80s" (December 12, 1986), New York Newsday; retrieved February 24, 2008.
  11. ^ Enid Nemy, "Broadway: New York is beckoning, but first, Los Angeles:, February 20, 1987, The New York Times; retrieved January 22, 2008.
  12. ^ Alvin Klein, "4 Comedies on the Bill in Yale Rep Winterfest Series", The New York Times, January 24, 1988; retrieved February 24, 2008.
  13. ^ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cast and Crew, ibdb.com; accessed September 24, 2017.
  14. ^ Hoyt Hilsman, "Act One '95 Evening B Review" Daily Variety, June 7, 1995.
  15. ^ "From the Earth to the Moon - Episode 11: The Original Wives Club".
  16. ^ The Act; accessed January 5, 2022.
  17. ^ Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon, Entertainment Reviews: "Cast, energy propel 'Noises'" Archived 2012-06-30 at archive.today, Cape Cod Times, July 8, 2004.
  18. ^ Review by Frances Benn Hall for NewBerkshire.com Archived November 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "The Butcher of Baraboo Opening Night Cast, Lortel Archives at the Internet Off-Broadway Database". Lortel.org. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  20. ^ Murray, Matthew (June 11, 2007). "The Butcher of Baraboo". talkinbroadway.com. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  21. ^ Zinoman, Jason (June 12, 2007). "That Nice Midwestern Mom, the One Who's Handy With a Knife". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  22. ^ Blankenship, Mark (June 12, 2007). "The Butcher of Baraboo". Variety. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  23. ^ Elyse Sommer, The Berkshire Theatre Festival's Summer 2007 Season, Curtain Up Reviews, August 24, 2007.
  24. ^ J. Peter Bergman, Review Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, berkshirebrightfocus.com, August 5, 2007.
  25. ^ James Yeara, Review: Lovely Senior Moments Archived 2007-10-17 at the Wayback Machine, Metroland/net, August 9, 2007.
  26. ^ "Reviews". BerkshireReview.net. October 24, 2008. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  27. ^ "Barrington Stage Company | Dr. Ruth, All the Way". barringtonstageco.org. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012.
  28. ^ Rooney, David (October 29, 2013). "The Sex Therapist's Story, From Calamity to Cliché". New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  29. ^ Rooney, David (October 29, 2013). "'Becoming Dr. Ruth,' With Debra Jo Rupp, at Westside Theater". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 3, 2023). "'Agatha: Coven Of Chaos': Debra Jo Rupp Joins 'WandaVision' Marvel Spinoff For Disney+". Deadline. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  31. ^ Schneider, Michael (November 29, 2022). "'That '90s Show' Sets Netflix Premiere Date, Producers Break Down the Creation of 'That '70s Show' Sequel (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  32. ^ "Well-Known Methodists, just to name a few..." Archived from the original on November 15, 2012.
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