Allyce Beasley

Name	Allyce Beasley
Image
Caption	Beasley at the 1987 Primetime Emmy Awards
Birth Name	Allyce Tannenberg
Birth Date	1951-7-6
Birth Place	Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Education	SUNY Brockport
Known For	Moonlighting ⋅ Legally Blonde ⋅ Coach's Daughter ⋅ Stuart Little
Years Active	1982–present
Children	1

Early life

Beasley was born in Brooklyn, New York as Allyce Tannenberg, the daughter of Marvin, a magazine cartoonist, and Harriet Tannenberg, who worked as a bookkeeper. Beasley is Jewish. She and her family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Philadelphia, Long Island, and New York City, before settling in the latter location.

She studied philosophy at SUNY Brockport, aspiring to be a poet. However, Beasley developed an interest in acting and soon shifted her focus to theater. She dropped out of college and began acting in local theater productions in New Mexico. Upon returning to New York, Beasley took drama classes under Lee Strasberg during the day while working nights as a waitress to make ends meet. Her professional surname was chosen after football player Beasley Reece. She moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1982.

Career

Television and film work

Early in her career, Beasley appeared as Coach Pantusso's daughter on Cheers and played the role of Latka Gravas' one night stand on the sitcom Taxi. She also made guest appearances on crime drama Remington Steele and sitcom ALF.

In 1985, she landed the role of receptionist Agnes DiPesto on Moonlighting, starring opposite Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis. Beasley claims to have auditioned for the role multiple times before getting the part. For her work on Moonlighting, Beasley received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1986 and 1987. Beasley continued playing the character until the series ended in 1989.

Following the end of Moonlighting, Beasley was often typecast in roles similar to Agnes, which she found creatively frustrating. She was a friend of Susan Dey's character in the television film Lies and Lullabies and acted in the 1993 miniseries The Tommyknockers, based on the novel by Stephen King. Beasley started appearing in films during the 1990s, having roles in Dream with the Fishes (1997) and Stuart Little (1999).

She guest starred in one episode of Joan of Arcadia as Cat Woman God. On Bored to Death, she played the role of Florence, the mother of Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman), and appeared on the YouTube Premium series Champaign ILL.

Voice work

Beasley has also worked as a voice actress. Her first voice over work was portraying two cats in the Garfield special Garfield on the Town (1983). She is best known for her role as Miss Alordayne Grotke in the popular Disney TV series Recess (1997−2001), reprising this role in the feature film Recess: School's Out (2001) and three direct-to-video specials.

She voiced herself in an episode of Johnny Bravo, made a guest appearance in the television series The Wild Thornberrys, Extreme Ghostbusters, Pound Puppies, Darkwing Duck, Lloyd in Space and Duckman in addition to voicing several characters in the video game EverQuest II.

Beasley narrated for Playhouse Disney from March 2001, until March 30, 2007. She was also the announcer for the safety video with Itchy and Scratchy that plays during The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida.

Stage work

During the summer of 2009, she performed onstage in The Drowsy Chaperone at Gateway Playhouse on Long Island, playing Mrs. Tottendale.

She replaced Veanne Cox in the role of Mme. Renaud/Mme. Dindon in the Tony Award-winning revival of La Cage aux Folles alongside Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge on September 14, 2010.

In the spring of 2014, Beasley portrayed Doris in the musical Damn Yankees with Lora Lee Gayer at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut.

Personal life

Beasley married photographer Christopher Sansocie in 1970. They divorced in 1972. While appearing on Taxi, Beasley met actor Vincent Schiavelli. The two were married from 1985 to 1988, and had one son, Andrea Schiavelli. In 1999, Beasley married for the third time to her current husband Jim Bosche, a writer.

Beasley was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. After undergoing a partial mastectomy and stem cell transplant, she was declared cancer free.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

• "Moonlighting" Star Beasley Joins Cast of Grecian Formula, Gans, Andrew, July 17, 2008, Playbill, October 20, 2022
• Snauffer, Douglas, The Show Must Go On: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series, McFarland & Company, March 10, 2015
• As Ms. Dipesto, Moonlighting's Ditzy Receptionist, Allyce Beasley Finally Answers the Call of Fame, Grant, James, April 28, 1986, People, October 20, 2022
• BEASLEY: 'A LOT OF ME IN DIPESTO', Betty, Goodwin, chicagotribune.com, August 17, 1986, January 19, 2024
• Pace, Constance, December 27, 1985, Allyce Beasley always knew 'Moonlighting' would go far, Altus Times
• Gorga, Denise, December 14, 1986, Subject: Allyce Beasley, Gadsden Times
• Guttman, Monika, April 1, 1986, Allyce Beasley: 'Moonlighting For a Living', The Spokesman-Review
• Buck, Jerry, March 14, 1986, Zany Beasley jingled to stardom, Star-News
• 'Cheers' Said Goodbye 25 Years Ago: Raise a Toast With These 9 Essential Episodes, Wolk, Josh, May 18, 2018, The New York Times, October 20, 2022
• Carter, Alan, June 10, 1986, Future's bright for Allyce Beasley, The Evening Independent
• Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Television shows, Lentz, Harris M., 2001, McFarland & Company
• 'Moonlighting' First Episode: THR's 1985 Review, September 2, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter, October 20, 2022
• Deeb, Gary, May 22, 1988, Beasley key supporting ingredient, Herald-Journal
• Allyce Beasley, Emmy Awards, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, October 20, 2022
• Buck, Jerry, May 9, 1989, David and Maddie of 'Moonlighting' lose a case, Eugene Register-Guard
• With An Eye On . . . : The Beast In Beasley Finally Emerges In 'The Tommyknockers', King, Susan, May 9, 1993, The Los Angeles Times, October 22, 2022, live, March 6, 2016
• May 9, 1993, Stephen King novel airs as miniseries, The Beaver County Times
• Screen World 1998, Willis, John, John A. Willis, February 1999, Hal Leonard Corporation
• June 27, 2001, Being recognizable fails to guarantee an income, The Vindicator
• Television Series of the 2000s: Essential Facts and Quirky Details, Rowman & Littlefield, October 15, 2018, Terrace, Vincent
• 'Champaign ILL' Review: Adam Pally and Sam Richardson Pop in Sharp YouTube Comedy, Travers, Ben, December 12, 2018, IndieWire, October 20, 2022
• Over the Moon, February 21, 2000, People, October 22, 2022, Miller, Samantha
• The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows, Perlmutter, David, Rowman & Littlefield, May 4, 2018
• Willis, John, John A. Willis, Lynch, Tom, Screen World 2002, Applause Theatre & Cinema Book Publishers, December 2002
• Allyce Beasley (visual voices guide), October 20, 2022, Behind the Voice Actors, A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information
• What's Up, Allyce Beasley? The TV Fave Gets a Long Overdue Broadway Debut in La Cage aux Folles, Henderson, Kathy, September 24, 2010, Broadway.com, October 20, 2022

External links