Mercedes Ruehl was born February 28, 1948 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, to Mercedes, a school teacher, and Vincent Ruehl, an FBI agent. She made several film and television appearance before coming to her most successfully received role in 'Terry Gilliam' .
Her father was of German and Irish descent and her mother was of Cuban and Irish ancestry.
Won Broadways 1991 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for "Lost in Yonkers." She was nominated on two other occasions: in 1995 as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for a revival of "The Shadow Box," and in 2002 as Best Actress (Play) for Edward Albee s "The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?"
Won a 2005 Obie Award for her performance in "Woman Before A Glass."
She and Irene Worth both won Tony Awards for their roles in the Broadway production of Neil Simon s "Lost in Yonkers." She and Worth reprise their respective roles in Simons film version, Lost in Yonkers .
She and her husband have adopted a son, Jake Xavier Ruehl Geiser, born in May 1997.
One son, Christopher, given up for adoption when she was 28. Reunited in the late 90s when he was 21 and godfather to his half-brother Jake.
Graduated in English from The College of New Rochelle, New York, in 1969.
Her husband, David Geiser, is an abstract expressionist painter.
She lives with her husband in East Hampton, Long Island, NY.
She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Joined the Board of Trustees of Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, NY on Tuesday, March 15, 2011.
Her brother, American-Australian columnist and humorist Peter Ruehl , passed away suddenly on April 12, 2011. A respected journalist/columnist for the Australian Financial Review, the 64 year-old was survived by his Australian wife, and three children: Mercedes, John, and Tom.
Was the 103rd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Fisher King at The 64th Annual Academy Awards on March 30, 1992.
Is one of 27 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for The Fisher King . The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert ( It Happened One Night ), Loretta Young ( The Farmers Daughter ), Josephine Hull ( Harvey ), Judy Holliday ( Born Yesterday ), Audrey Hepburn ( Roman Holiday ), Goldie Hawn ( Cactus Flower ), ( A Touch of Class ), Lee Grant , Diane Keaton ( Annie Hall ), Maggie Smith , Mary Steenburgen ( Melvin and Howard ), Jessica Lange ( Tootsie ), Anjelica Huston ( Prizzis Honor ), Olympia Dukakis ( Moonstruck ), Cher ( Moonstruck ), Jessica Tandy ( Driving Miss Daisy ), Marisa Tomei ( My Cousin Vinny ), Dianne Wiest ( Bullets Over Broadway ), Mira Sorvino ( Mighty Aphrodite ), Frances McDormand ( Fargo ), Helen Hunt ( As Good as It Gets ), Judi Dench ( Shakespeare in Love ), Gwyneth Paltrow ( Shakespeare in Love ), Penlope Cruz ( Vicky Cristina Barcelona ), and Jennifer Lawrence ( Silver Linings Playbook ).
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 28, a son Christopher Robert Ruehl in April 1976. Childs father is unknown to the public and Ruehl subsequently gave her son up for adoption.
Paternal granddaughter of William Edward Ruehl (1889-1956) and Kathleen Viola Tobin (1894-1964).
Daughter of Vincent Edward (1920-2003) and Mercedes Ruehl (1914-2000).
Paternal great granddaughter of William Ruehl (1859-1923) and Catherine Downing (1867-1932).
Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady , Teresa Wright , Anne Revere , Celeste Holm , Claire Trevor , Judy Holliday , Shirley Booth , Susan Hayward , Patty Duke , Anne Bancroft , Barbra Streisand , Jane Fonda , Lee Grant , Beatrice Straight , Whoopi Goldberg , Marisa Tomei , Mira Sorvino , Susan Sarandon , Jennifer Connelly , Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway.
