Sandra Church

Sandra Church (born January 13, 1938) is an American actress in films and theatre, primarily known for her performance as Gypsy Rose Lee in the 1959 musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Church was born and raised in San Francisco, California. Her father died when she was two years old; her mother, a nurse, "thrust her into show business." Although Church had originally detested the idea, she later decided to choose acting as her vocation. She attended Immaculate Heart High School, Hollywood.

Films and television

Church's first on-screen appearance was on the Producers' Showcase, followed by the role of Jeannie in The Mugger (1958). She subsequently guest starred on the television series Look Up And Live (1959), as well as The DuPont Show of the Month in 1960. Three years later, she played Marion MacWhite in the film adaptation of Eugene Burdick and William Lederer's novel, The Ugly American (1963). Also in 1963, she appeared on television in The Eleventh Hour and Kraft Suspense Theatre.

Theatre

In 1953, she made her Broadway debut in William Inge's Picnic at the Music Box Theatre. Church then starred as Betsy Dean in the Ronald Alexander play Holiday for Lovers.

Church's first major theatre role was in Gypsy: A Musical Fable, in which Church starred as Louise Hovick ("Gypsy Rose Lee"). In his autobiography, Arthur Laurents states, "It came down to between Suzanne Pleshette and Sandra Church. Suzanne was the better actress, but Sandra was the better singer. We went with Sandra." In Gypsy, Church introduced the popular standard "Let Me Entertain You."

Following Gypsy, Church appeared in the 1960 Broadway play Under the Yum Yum Tree at Henry Miller's Theatre, directed by Joseph Anthony, which ran for 173 performances.

In October 1961 it was widely reported that Church and Gypsy composer Jule Styne would marry, although this was untrue. In November 1964, she married Broadway producer Norman Twain in Barbados; the couple divorced in 1975. Church has no children.