Sandra Bernhard Biography

For 25 years, Sandra Bernhard has been challenging fans and critics with her knife-edged humor, satire and emotive performances on film, television and stage. “An Evening with Sandra Bernhard” includes comedy, commentary and music, and Bernhard appears with musical director/pianist, Mitch Kaplan and guitarist Pam Adams.
The SF Weekly praised Bernhard, “One moment, her voice is lulling you into a wistful sigh; the next, she's knocking you back several rows with it.”
Bernhard's last show, “Hero Worship,” featured a five-piece band and was a post-September 11th tribute to Bernhard's commitment to irony–that it, too, has survived September 11th. The show featured a range of musical numbers (some original and some covers). It was a fearless attempt to show that life must continue and the show must go on. Other notable performances include her participation in the “Stormy Weather Benefit '98,” organized by Don Henley, which also featured Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell, as well as “The Elton John Tribute for Broadway Cares.”
Her critically acclaimed 1998, one-woman Broadway hit, “I’m Still Here...Damn It!” which played the Booth Theater, had critics raving. Created and conceived by Bernhard, the show first ran for five months off-Broadway at New York’s Westbeth Theatre, where it garnered ecstatic reviews. The New York Times called Bernhard’s performance: “An angst driven, foul-mouthed poison-laced joy ride that banks and careens frenetically through the worlds of fashion, celebrity, rock, and religion ? In her own voice, unfiltered, [Bernhard is a living, breathing bonfire.” The show went on to play sold-out runs in Boston and San Francisco, and one of the Bay Area performances was filmed for an HBO special (“I’m Still Here?Damn It!” which aired in the summer of 1998) photographed by cinematographer Haskel Wexler, and produced and directed by Marty Callner.
Since her first film accolades in 1983 in Martin Scorseses’, “The King of Comedy” featuring Jerry Lewis and Robert De Niro, Bernhard has since appeared in numerous films including “Inside Monkey Zetterland,” “Hudson Hawk” and more recently, “Dinner Rush.”
Throughout her career, Bernhard’s formidable presence has also had a place on television. From 1991-1996, she portrayed Nancy on “Roseanne,” and has had guest starring roles on “Ally McBeal,” “Chicago Hope” and “Will & Grace.” She has appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman,” as well as “The Tonight Show,” “Rosie O’Donnell” and “The View.” She hosted the season premiere of “MadTV” and the Bravo network recently profiled her career. In 2001, Bernhard hosted her own talk show, “The Sandra Bernhard Experience” for A&E television.
Along with writing for performance, Bernhard has put her musings into book form. Currently working on her fourth collection, her books, just as her shows, are full of personal insights, introspective rants, prose and essays. She made her publishing debut in 1987 with “Confessions of a Pretty Lady” and followed that up with “Love, Love, and Love.” Her third book, “May I Kiss You on the Lips, Miss Sandra?” was published in 1998, prior to her Broadway run. Her work has also been published in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, Rolling Stone, Interview, Spy, Elle and Allure.