Julie Bovasso

Julia Anne Bovasso (August 1, 1930 – September 14, 1991) was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. Bovasso was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of this borough, the daughter of Angela Mary (née Padovani) and Bernard Michael Bovasso, a teamster. She was Albanian-Italian-American. She attended The High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. Bovasso appeared in numerous films, including Saturday Night Fever (1977) as Florence Manero, the mother of John Travolta's character, Tony Manero.

She reprised the role in the film's 1983 sequel Staying Alive. Before Saturday Night Fever, she appeared in the 1970 Otto Preminger film Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. In addition to Staying Alive, she was in a number of films in the 1980s, including Willie & Phil (1980), The Verdict (1982), Daniel (1983), Off Beat (1986), Wise Guys (1986), Moonstruck (1987). In the 1990s, Bovasso was seen in Betsy's Wedding (1990) and My Blue Heaven (1990). On-stage, Bavasso wrote and appeared in avant-garde productions off-Broadway such as Jean Genet's The Maids.

For the latter, she won the first Best Actress Obie (Off-Broadway) Award in 1956, presented to her by Shelley Winters. Before her film work, Bovasso established the experimental Tempo Playhouse at 4 St. Marks Place in Manhattan during the 1950s.