Suzanne Shepherd, Sopranos and Goodfellas Actress, Dead at 89

Shepherd appeared in 20 episodes of the HBO series as Carmela Soprano’s mother.

Suzanne Shepherd, the actress best known for her roles in The Sopranos and Goodfellas, has died at the age of 89, Variety reports. Shepherd played the mother of Lorraine Bracco’s character Karen in 1990’s Goodfellas, and yet again took on the role of a mobster’s mother in-law to play Carmela Soprano’s mother Mary DeAngelis for 20 episodes of HBO’s The Sopranos.

Shepherd made her film debut as Aunt Tweedy in 1988’s Mystic Pizza alongside Julia Roberts, before going on to appear in films such as Working Girl, Uncle Buck, and Requiem for a Dream, among others. On television, she appeared on Law & Order, its spin-offs SVU and Criminal Intent, and Blue Bloods as the mother of Detective Anthony Abetemarco, played by her Sopranos co-star Steve Schirripa. Shepherd was also a founding member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s, which is considered to be the first improvisational theater in the United States.

According to Variety, Shepherd is survived by her daughter Kate Shepherd, son-in-law Miles McManus, and granddaughter Isabelle Shepherd.

• [Variety]

Related

• I Couldn’t Imagine Being Happy. But I Could Imagine Being Carmela.