Irma St. Paule

Irma St. Paule (March 23, 1926 – January 9, 2007) was a Ukrainian-born American character actress who appeared on stage, screen and television from 1985 to 2007. Often portraying elderly characters, she appeared in productions on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and in regional theatre productions across the United States during her career. Early life Irma St. Paule was born on March 23, 1926, in Odesa in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Her mother was from Russia and her father came from Turkey. At an early age, St. Paule and her family moved to New York City. She later moved to Chicago after she was married. There, St Paule enrolled at the Goodman School of Drama (now the Theatre School at DePaul University) to study as a ballerina. After she and her husband were granted a divorce, she returned to New York City and later said of her relocation to an interviewer, "By then, my family was mostly gone so I was able to do as I wished. And I did!". Career Later in life, St. Paule began a career in acting, appearing in several films and television shows from 1985, often playing grandmothers of Italian descent. Films in which she was credited in during the 1980s were The Oracle (1985), Walls of Glass (1985), Psychos in Love (1987) and Rain (1989). St. Paule made her debut in a television film by being cast in The Bride in Black in 1990, and portrayed Ya Ya Andros on the NBC soap opera Guiding Light from 1992 to 1994. In the meantime, she was cast in three films in 1993: St. Paule played Teresa in The Cemetery Club, Household Saints, and The Saint of Fort Washington. She later was seen in Who Do I Gotta Kill? (1994), Party Girl, Mother Teresa in Jeffrey, and 12 Monkeys (the final three films were released in 1995). In 1995, St. Paule made her sole appearance on Broadway, portraying The Strega in a revival of The Rose Tattoo. The following year, she was cast in the films Caught, Love is All There Is, Trees Lounge, The Big Bajoor, and Thinner. For the remainder of the 1990s, St. Paule was in Better Than Ever (1997), Kiss Me, Guido (1997), Grandma Matilda in Desecration (1999), Coming Soon (1999), and Fever (1999). Throughout 2000 she appeared in the films Wirey Spindell, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Where the Money Is, Fast Food Fast Women, Fear of Fiction, and A Piece of Eden. St.