Moonlighting

Background:

Actress Allyce Beasley achieved recognition and prominence thanks to her role as the rhyming receptionist Agnes DiPesto on the ABC series “Moonlighting” (1985-1989). For her outstanding acting job, she picked up two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.

The breast cancer survivor is also known for providing the voice of Miss Alordayne Grotkey in the Disney hit series “Recess” (1997-2000), the movie sequel “Recess: School's Out” (2001) and the direct to video installments “Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street” (also 2001) and “Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade” (2003). She has also guest starred in the TV series “Remington Steele,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “7th Heaven,” “Felicity,” “Joan of Arcadia” and “Medium” and had a recurring role on “As the World Turns.” Her film credits include “Loaded Weapon” (1991), “Stuart Little” (1999), “Legally Blonde” (2001) and “Shattered.” (2008). An active voice over actress, Beasley was also the announcer on Disney Channel's “Playhouse Disney” for many years and her voice has been heard in commercials.

As for charity, Beasley has worked with the Schools On Wheels program, through which she helps and tutors homeless children. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late 1990s but underwent successful surgery. She recalled, “I went to work a week after surgery and it probably saved my spirit and saved my life because this is what I love and I got to do it. Instead of thinking ‘Oh, I never know when I'll act again,’ I had a job waiting for me and I just did it and I loved it.”

Beasley had one son with the late actor Vincent Schiavelli (married from 1985 to 1988).

Allyce Tannenberg

Childhood and Family:

Allyce Beasley was born Allyce Tannenberg on July 6, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, Marvin and Harriet Tannenberg, were a cartoonist and bookkeeper, respectively. She attended Brockport State College.

Allyce has been married three times. She was married to first husband Christopher Sansoci from 1970 to 1972. Over a decade later, she tied the knot with actor Vincent Schiavelli (born on November 11, 1948; died on December 26, 2005) on August 4, 1985. They welcomed a son named Andrea Joseph in 1987 before divorcing on November 20, 1988. Allyce married her present husband, Jim Bosche, on January 15, 1999.

Recess

Career:

Allyce Beasley began her television acting career in the early 1980s with guest spots in the series “King's Crossing,” “Filthy Rich,” “Taxi” and “Cheers” (all 1982), “Remington Steele” (1983) and “Shaping Up” (1984). Her TV movie debut arrived in 1983 when she was cast as Mrs. Cutler in the CBS comedy “One Cooks, the Other Doesn't,” opposite Rosanna Arquette. Also that year, she did voice over work for the Emmy Award winning animated television movie “Garfield on the Town.”

Following a part as a receptionist in “The Ratings Game” (1984), a cable TV film directed by and starring Danny DeVito, Beasley landed her first regular role on “Moonlighting,” an ABC dramatic comedy that ran for 67 episodes from March 1985 to May 1989. The series starred Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis as private detectives Madelyn 'Maddie' Hayes and David Addison Jr., respectively, and Beasley as Agnes DiPesto, the offbeat receptionist who regularly answered the phone in rhymes. “Moonlighting” was a success with critics and audiences during its early seasons but the ratings gradually declined in season 3. For her work on the show, Beasley was nominated for two consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1986-1987) and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (1988). After the cancellation of “Moonlighting,” Beasley appeared in episodes of “ALF” (1990, as Margaret), “Superboy” (1991, as Agent Harris) and “Touched by an Angel” (1996, as Kate Pound). She also did a string of voice work for TV and film programs, including “Darkwing Duck” (1991), “Wilder Napalm” (1993), “Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man” (1994), “Extreme Ghostbusters” (1997) and “The Wild Thornberrys.” She also enjoyed success with the popular Disney animated series “Recess,” where she provided the voice of fourth grade teacher Miss Alordayne Grotkey from 1997 to 2000.

Beasley made her film acting debut playing Janice in the horror movie “Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation” (1990), a third sequel to the 1984 controversial movie “Silent Night, Deadly Night.” It was followed by performances in the movies “Motorama” (1991), “Magic Kid II” (1994), “Rumpelstiltskin” (1995), “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story” (1996), “Dream with the Fishes” (1997), “Stuart Little” (1999) and “The Prince and the Surfer” (1999), where she appeared with her former husband Vincent Schiavelli. Meanwhile, in 1993, Beasley also added to her TV credits performances in the made for TV film “Love, Lies & Lullabies,” starring Susan Day, and the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's “The Tommyknockers,” where she memorably played Deputy Becka Paulson (both ABC).

In the new millennium, Beasley portrayed Sarah Finch in the episode “Two Birds with One Sloan” of “Diagnosis Murder” and Mrs. Beasley in an episode of “7th Heaven” called “Liar, Liar” (both 2000). The next year, she reprised her voice role of Miss Grotkey in the movie version of the TV series “Recess,” “Recess: School's Out” (2001), which was directed by Chuck Sheetz. The film was a moderate success with critics, but was a huge hit among animation fans. She would later recreate the role for the direct to video sequels “Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street” (also 2001) and “Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade” (2003).

Still in 2001, Beasley made a brief appearance as a guidance counselor in “Legally Blonde,” a blockbuster comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and directed by Robert Luketic. She also guest starred in the popular college set drama “Felicity” and was featured in the television film “Call Me Claus,” starring Whoopi Goldberg. Next up for Beasley, she starred with James Eckhouse in the dramatic film “Cathedral” (2002) for director/writer Bruce Schwartz, played the mother of Michael Weston in the direct to video “Wishcraft” (2002), supported Tim Blake Nelson and David Arquette in the comedy “A Foreign Affair” (2003), which was directed by Helmut Schleppi and written by Geert Heetebrij, and played Doris in a 2003 episode of the short lived police drama “10-8: Officers on Duty.” In the 10 minute short “No Ordinary Hero” (2004), she starred as Zoe. The same year, she also appeared in an episode of “Joan of Arcadia.” Beasley did not take on another screen acting job until four years later when she appeared in the movie “Shattered” (2008), in which she starred with A. Russell Andrews, Lynsey Bartilson, Jill Bennett, Becky Boxer, and Jsu Garcia.

Recently, in 2009, Beasley played Ruth Boddicker in an episode of the supernatural series “Medium” called “The Talented Ms. Boddicker.” She then began the recurring role of Edna on the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns.” 2009 also found her on stage playing Mrs. Tottendale in “The Drowsy Chaperone” at the Gateway Playhouse on Long Island, New York.

Awards:
---