Before writing “90 Pound Suburban Housewife Driving in Her SUV” with life partner Suzanne Sheridan, Rozanne Gates enjoyed a productive career as an Actor’s Agent for over 25 years. Finding the new faces in the crowd has been her specialty. Many of the actors she discovered and nurtured have had superlative careers including Edward Norton, Bronson Pinchot, W.H. Macy, Lynne Thigpen, Christopher Noth, Robert Prosky, Joe Mantegna, John McDonough (The All New Captain Kangaroo), and Howard E. Rollins. In fact, in the history of the Academy Awards, until now only 33 actors have been nominated in the acting category for their first film. Two of those actors were clients of Rozanne: Edward Norton (“Primal Fear”) and Howard E. Rollins (“Ragtime”).
The day after Rozanne picked up her BFA (major in Acting ) diploma from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, she and fellow classmate Milton Justice headed up to New York City in Milton’s blue Chevy Impala convertible to “make it big”. But rude awakenings were in store. She discovered that 4 years in a university acting program did not include the practical realities of what a newly launched acting major needed to know. So to help rectify this situation, Rozanne and fellow classmates Kathy Bates (future Academy Award winner), Garland Wright (former artistic director of the Guthrie Theatre), and Jack Heifner (“Vanities”) wrote and produced a so-called “training film” for future graduates of the SMU Acting program. Among the people who actually saw this little film was Milos Forman (Academy Award winning director of “Amadeus”) who became one of Rozanne’s mentors. Milos came into Rozanne’s life when he cast Kathy Bates, then Rozanne’s New York City roommate, in Ms. Bates’ first film, “Taking Off”. It was Milos who subsequently cast Rozanne’s client Howard E. Rollins in Howard’s Academy Award-nominated role of “Coalhouse Walker, Jr.” in “Ragtime” and Edward Norton in his follow-up film to “Primal Fear”, “People vs. Larry Flynt”.
Following these first years in New York City, Rozanne returned to her hometown, Houston, Texas, to work at the Alley Theatre. After four years as an assistant stage manager, Rozanne made the move to Chicago to work as an Actor’s Agent, which she did at the Shirley Hamilton Agency. It was in Chicago that Rozanne met W.H. Macy and Joe Mantegna who subsequently followed her to New York City when she moved back there to work at the Michael Thomas Agency. Rozanne’s association with the Michael Thomas Agency lasted over 20 years (until Michael’s retirement) and established her as one of the most respected agents in New York City. Following Michael’s retirement, Rozanne wrote a book called “How to Succeed in the Business of Show Business – or everything they don’t tell you in acting school but I will” and she moved to another agency, Peter Strain and Associates.
Always the adventuress, Rozanne spent a few years abroad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and can actually speak fluent Dutch. She has authored a screenplay called “Someone Is Watching”(a mystery in the Hitchcock vain of so-called normal people doing “bad” things) and a children’s musical called “Sqush the Mush”, a love story about a mushroom that falls in love with a toadstool.
Rozanne taught at two universities, Columbia and SUNY-Purchase. Teaching a course she designed called "Entering the Profession - the Business of Acting", Rozanne has been able to transition many student actors into professional, working actors. She has lectured at Rutgers University, Central Connecticut State University and the University of Nebraska. Currently, she is on staff at Stella Adler Studios in New York City. She is Director of Programming for the Lynne Thigpen/Bobo Lewis Foundation. This foundation supports, mentors, and educates young actors coming to New York City to make theatre a career.
Rozanne lives in Westport, Connecticut where she has been involved in many community activities. Among those activities have been: acting as co-chair of the Fairfield County Pride Day; organizing a statewide rally at the state capitol in Hartford for “Stand For Children”; producing a candlelight vigil for Matthew Shepard at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Westport; producing a benefit rock ‘n roll extravaganza called “She’s A Rebel – Fearlessly Going Where No Woman Has Gone Before”; Executive Director of First Night Westport/Weston; and Production Manager for the Westport Arts Center. In recognition of her community volunteer work, Rozanne received a 1998 Bloomer Award, which was bestowed annually on outstanding citizens of the State of Connecticut by the Hartford Courant Newspaper.
Contact information:
info@90poundsuv.com
mail: PO Box 745, Westport, CT 06881
Luckily, Suzanne Sheridan has been singing all her life. A brief history:
In High School, she and her sister Patty purchased a guitar for $37.50. After a few self-taught guitar lessons, they were able to play enough rudimentary chords to play in their church Folk Group. It seems she has come full circle.
In college (SUNY-New Paltz) she played the New Paltz club circuit. As a junior-year-abroad student at the Sorbonne in Paris, she performed at little boites or caves, night clubs, and in the Paris Metro.
Following college she moved to New York and was chosen to sing her first commercial jingle, " Join the Pepsi People", for Pepsi Cola and won a Clio Award in 1975. She played many of the New York folk clubs, wrote music for THE ELECTRIC COMPANY on PBS, and worked as a legal assistant at New York law firms. Her songwriting efforts were rewarded also by the John Lennon Songwriting Contest when she won Honorable Mention for a song she co-wrote with Lee Kweller called "The Power's in You."
Then she moved to Connecticut where she became a member of the Unitarian Church in Westport. Along with her life partner, Rozanne Gates, she became co-chair of the Rainbow Task Force, an action oriented group that works to educate people about Gay, Lesbian Bi-sexual and Transgender issues. To that end, in April of 1998, Rozanne produced a sold-out rock 'n roll concert at the church starring Ms. Sheridan and "Another Octave", the Connecticut Women's Chorus, called "SHE'S A REBEL, FEARLESSLY GOING WHERE NO WOMAN HAS GONE BEFORE". The music consisted of famous rock 'n roll songs from the 50's, 60's, and 70's that had previously been sung only by male vocalists to that elusive woman. In the voice of a woman, these songs took on an entirely new level of meaning.
The Unitarian Church in Westport has indeed been a musical home for Ms. Sheridan. It is there that she teamed with Andy Gundel, Scarlett Moore, and Ed Thompson to become "The Key Ingredients", a spiritually-based, Unitarian-gospel, three-part harmony, guitar-driven, musical powerhouse. Ms. Sheridan considers herself blessed and could not be happier than being able to work, sing, and perform with these amazing and fun musicians. Working and playing with "The Key Ingredients" has been the best musical experience of Ms. Sheridan's life and she can not wait to see where this all leads.
In Westport, Connecticut, Ms. Sheridan is a professional photographer (Suzanne Sheridan Photography) and took the photo of author Prill Boyle that was used on the cover of "90 Pound Suburban Housewife Drivin' In her SUV". She is also a music teacher and performer.
Contact information:
info@90poundsuv.com
mail: PO Box 745, Westport, CT 06881
