SPOTLIGHT ON ELAINE STRITCH

I never knew too much about Elaine Stritch until her role on the television show 30 ROCK, playing Alec Baldwin's mother. I caught up on the talented actress, and I never realized what a wonderful career she has had. Stritch was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1926, the daughter of Mildred (née Jobe), a homemaker, and George Joseph Stritch, an executive with B.F. Goodrich.Her family was wealthy and devoutly Roman Catholic. Stritch's father was of Irish descent and her mother was of Welsh descent.Stritch was a niece of Samuel Stritch, a former Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago.

Stritch trained at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City under Erwin Piscator;other students at the Dramatic Workshop at this time included Marlon Brando and Bea Arthur. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs. She is known for her performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" in Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company, her 2001 one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty, and recently for her role as Jack Donaghy's mother Colleen on NBC's 30 Rock. She has been nominated for the Tony Award four times in various categories, and won for Elaine Stritch at Liberty.

Her late husband, John Bay was part of the family that owns Bay's English Muffins, and Stritch sends English muffins as gifts to friends. Every Christmas, she still sends friends and family English muffins...