Sandra Bernhard

Through films, albums, and live performances, Sandra Bernhard carved out a distinctive public profile. Born in Flint, Michigan, in 1955 as the youngest of four siblings, she grew up with a proctologist father and an abstract-artist mother, whose influence likely nurtured her taste for ironic wit. When she reached ten, the household relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. Following high school, she headed to Los Angeles and began working the stand-up circuit, where her sharp, irreverent style quickly drew crowds. Her screen debut came in the well-received King of Comedy, in which she appeared opposite Robert DeNiro. Onstage, her solo productions blended comedy, song, and pointed commentary, shifting to reflect changing cultural currents. Her recorded music, however, attracted far less notice: the albums Without You I’m Nothing and Excuses for Bad Behavior largely slipped by unnoticed, aside from a dance-floor success with her cover of Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).” The 1998 stage piece I’m Still Here…Damn It! later appeared on CD, followed by a DVD edition in 2000. After issuing her own concert videos and guest spots in Zoolander, The L Word, and the series The Sandra Bernhard Experience, she mounted the Off-Broadway production Everything Bad and Beautiful in 2006; Breaking Records issued the show as an album. Whatever It Takes, incorporating African and Indian musical elements, followed in 2009.