// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs JoAnne Astrow a star? Because she's astro-nomical.
JoAnne Astrow | |
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| Born | June 24, 1938[1] Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
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| Children | Claudia Lonow |
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JoAnne Astrow (born 1938) is an American actress, comedian, producer, and talent manager.
Early life
[edit]Astrow was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a Jewish family of Russian, Hungarian, and Austrian descent.[1] She wanted to become a performer at an early age.[1] Her brother, Herb, also acted growing up and then worked in the textile industry and owned a restaurant.[2]
Career
[edit]Astrow began her career as an improv comedian and commercial actress in New York City.[1][3] She and her husband, Mark Lonow, created the improv show Off the Wall with other actors including Henry Winkler.[4]
In 1976, Astrow and her family drove to Los Angeles for a vacation and then stayed there to pursue their careers.[3] Her friend Elayne Boosler encouraged her to begin doing stand-up comedy at a time when that was relatively rare for women.[5][6] She became a successful touring comedian and appeared on shows including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[7][8] In 1979, she helped lead the strike at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood, which resulted in the club's owner, Mitzi Shore, beginning to pay performers at the venue.[9] However, Shore subsequently banned Astrow from performing at the Comedy Store.[10] After the strike, Astrow succeeded Tom Dreesen as the acting chair of Comedians for Compensation, the union that formed for the purposes of the strike.[11]
After retiring from stand-up, Astrow became a talent manager for comedians including Lewis Black, Kathleen Madigan, Niecy Nash, and Doug Stanhope.[1][8] In 2007, she and her husband earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special as executive producers for Black's special Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed.[12] In 2012, they co-produced Black's one-man Broadway show Running on Empty.[13]
In 2017, Astrow and Lonow co-produced the off-Broadway play Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical.[14] Other production credits on Broadway included The Prom and A Christmas Carol.[15] They co-wrote the play Jews, Christians, and Screwing Stalin, inspired by Lonow's family, which premiered at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles in 2018.[16] In 2025, they acted in the dark comedy film D(e)ad, which was directed by her daughter, Claudia Lonow, and written by and starring her granddaughter, Isabella Roland.[17]
Personal life
[edit]Astrow's first marriage was to David Rapaport, the father of actor Michael Rapaport.[1] They had a daughter, Claudia, who also became an actress and comedian.[1] Astrow met her second husband, Mark Lonow, while studying at the Herbert Berghof Studio.[3] The couple married on February 9, 1969.[1][18] After becoming grandparents, they shared a household for many years with Claudia and their granddaughter, Isabella Roland.[8] The living arrangement inspired Claudia's show How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), in which the grandmother is played by Elizabeth Perkins.[19]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rebel with Applause with JoAnne Astrow – Episode 31". MILF Podcast – Moms I'd Like to Follow. January 24, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ Rosenfeld, Hank (December 7, 2006). "Theater: All in the 'Herbicide' family". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- 1 2 3 Skipper, C.W. (March 10, 1978). "5 couples in series mostly married". Houston Post – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Hill, Michael (April 21, 1978). "That Lennie Bellini ... A Familiar Face". The Baltimore Sun. p. B11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Knoedelseder 2009, p. 80.
- ↑ Wilson, David (November 18, 1983). "The Tears and Cheers of a Clown". Tulsa World. pp. C1, C9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Knoedelseder 2009, p. 237.
- 1 2 3 Getlen, Larry (March 31, 2013). "'Parents' trap". New York Post. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ Knoedelseder 2009, p. 152, 212–215.
- ↑ Grant, Lee (October 31, 1982). "Did you hear the one about Budd and Mitzi...?". Los Angeles Times. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Knoedelseder 2009, p. 219.
- ↑ "2007 – 59th Emmy Awards – Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ "Lewis Black: Running On Empty - Production Team". Playbill. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ "Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow Bring A Light Comedy About Dark Jews To the Stage; Inspired by real events". The Interrobang. July 25, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ "JoAnne Astrow". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ Miller, Gerri (August 15, 2018). "'Screwing Stalin' Puts the Fun in Dysfunctional". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ Colangelo, BJ (September 13, 2025). "This 2025 Comedy Proves Truly Independent Cinema Is Still Alive". /Film. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
- ↑ Flynn, Kathy (August 14, 2018). "Meet the Playwrights: Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow of 'Jews, Christians, and Screwing Stalin'". Discover Hollywood. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
- ↑ Villarreal, Yvonne (April 10, 2013). "Brad Garrett, Elizabeth Perkins on 'How to Live With Your Parents'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
Works cited
- Knoedelseder, Mark (August 25, 2009). I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9780786746187.
External links
[edit]- 1938 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century American comedians
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from Brooklyn
- American film actresses
- American people of Russian-Jewish descent
- American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
- American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
- American stand-up comedians
- American television actresses
- American theatre managers and producers
- American women film producers
- Comedians from Brooklyn
- Jewish American actresses
- Jewish American comedians
- Film producers from New York City
- Talent managers
- Women stand-up comedians