Jo Anne Worley

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Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress. Her work covers television, movies, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

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[edit] Biography

Worley was born in Lowell, Indiana, the third of five children. In 1962, her father remarried and his second union gave her two half-brothers and two half-sisters. Always remembered for her loud voice, Worley once said that when she attended church as a little girl, she never sang the hymns but would only lip-synch them for fear that she would drown out everyone else. Before graduating from high school, she was named School Comedienne.

After graduating from high school in 1955, Worley moved to Blauvelt, New York, where she began her professional career as a member of the Pickwick Players. This led to a drama scholarship to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

After studying at Midwestern for two years, she moved to Los Angeles to study at Los Angeles City College and the Pasadena Playhouse. She was soon given her first musical role in a production of Wonderful Town. In 1961, she received her first major break when she appeared in the musical revue Billy Barnes People; this performance soon moved to Broadway.

In 1964, Worley was selected to appear as a stand-in on the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! One year later, she created her own nightclub act in Greenwich Village, where she was discovered by Merv Griffin in 1966.

Impressed by Worley's talents, Griffin allowed her to be one of his primary guest stars on his show, where she made approximately 200 appearances. That same year, she co-starred Off-Broadway in The Mad Show, a musical revue based on Mad Magazine. In 1967, her stint on Griffin's show led to her discovery by George Schlatter, who soon cast her in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

In 1970, she left Laugh-In to pursue other projects and has made guest appearances on several TV shows, including Hot Dog, Love, American Style, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Andy Williams Show, and different game shows, such as Hollywood Squares. She continued working in various movies, TV shows, and theatrical performances (original productions and revivals alike) over the years; and she also became known for her work as a voice provider for several cartoons and animated movies (particularly Disney movies). In 1989, she returned to Broadway to appear in the sole performance of Prince of Central Park (the show was a notorious bomb, and was cancelled after one performance).

Her voice work includes Nutcracker Fantasy (1979), the Disney movies Beauty and the Beast (1991), A Goofy Movie (1995), and Belle's Magical World (1998).

Onstage, Worley played The Wicked Witch of the West in a 1999 musical production of The Wizard of Oz, directed and adapted by Robert Johanson, with Mickey Rooney playing the eponymous role. The production had a limited run at the Pantages Theater, Hollywood, CA. On January 9, 2008, Worley replaced Carol Kane as Madame Morrible at the same Theater for Wicked, the musical.

Worley continues to perform today in several acting circuits in New York and Los Angeles, and she has also been active at times in the lecture circuit. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Actors and Others for Animals. Her most recent role was playing the voice of the Wardrobe in the hit video game Kingdom Hearts II.

Worley played Mrs. Tottendale in the hit Broadway musical, The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre from July through December 2007.

Since January 9, 2008, Jo Anne has been playing Madame Morrible in the Los Angeles Cast of Wicked. She replaced Carol Kane.

[edit] Television Work

[edit] Filmography

[edit] External links

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