Georgia Bright Engel (born July 28, 1948) is an American film, television, and stage actress.

Early life

Engel was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Ruth Caroline (née Hendron) and Benjamin Franklin Engel, who was a Coast Guard officer, eventually achieving the rank of Vice Admiral. She received her high school diploma from The Academy of the Washington Ballet, and her college degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her sister, Robin Ruth Engel, was Miss Hawaiʻi in 1967.

Career

After college, Georgia appeared in musical productions with Washington's American Light Opera Company. She moved to New York City in 1969, appearing off Broadway in Lend an Ear, and for a year as Minnie Fay in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!. A 1971 off Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves eventually played in Los Angeles, where Engel was seen by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, producer Grant Tinker.

Engel is probably best known as Georgette Franklin Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which she appeared from 1972 until the show ended in 1977. The role won her two Emmy nominations. After that series ended, she teamed up with former Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star Betty White for The Betty White Show during its first and only (1977–1978) season. She then co-starred on the short-lived 1980 sitcom Goodtime Girls, as Loretta Smoot.Engel had a recurring role on Coach as Shirley Burleigh and starred as the voice of Love-a-Lot Bear in The Care Bears Movie (1985). She also has been seen in the recurring role of Ezmeralda the good witch on the NBC soap opera Passions.

Engel received consecutive Emmy nominations as outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in 2003, 2004, and 2005 for her role on Everybody Loves Raymond as Robert Barone's mother-in-law, Pat MacDougall.

Engel later returned to her stage roots. In 2006, she appeared on Broadway in the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, with Sutton Foster and Edward Hibbert. She created the role of Mrs. Tottendale, which she continued to perform as of early 2007. In September 2007, she reprised the role in Toronto for the North American tour. She recently performed the role at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, an engagement that ended on Sunday, August 17, 2008. In recent years, she has been appearing at The Muny Theater in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

Personal life

Engel has neither married nor had children, is left-handed, and is a Christian Scientist.

Partial filmography

• Open Season (2006)
• Everybody Loves Raymond (2003–2005)
• The Sweetest Thing (2002)
• Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
• Coach (1991–1997)
• The Care Bears Movie (1985)
• Papa Was a Preacher (1985)
• Jennifer Slept Here (1983–1984)
• The Betty White Show (1977–1978)
• Mary Tyler Moore (1972–1977)
• The Jacksons (1976)

References

1. Georgia Engel Biography (1948-)

External links

• New York Times biography
• Biography in TV Guide