Academy Award-winning actress hails from Queens
In conjunction with the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society, TimesLedger
Newspapers presents
noteworthy events in the
borough’s history.
Born on February 28,
1948 in Jackson Heights,
Queens, Mercedes J. Ruehl
is a theater, television
and film actress. She is
perhaps best known for her
Academy Award-winning
performance in the 1991 film
“The Fisher King”, while
also earned a Tony Award for
“Lost in Yonkers” that same
year. The Queens native has
recently appeared in TV
shows, including “NCIS” as
well as theater productions
such as “Torch Song.” She
currently lives with her
husband, painter David
Geiser, in Easthampton,
New York and teaches acting
in New York City.
The future star of stage
and screen was named for
her mother, a schoolteacher,
while her father was a career
FBI agent who relocated the
family for his work. Her
older brother, Peter, was
a well-known newspaper
columnist in Australia who
passed away in 2011.
After graduating the
College of New Rochelle in
1969, Ruehl began her acting
career with a theater in
Denver, Colorado, supporting
herself with odd jobs between
COLUMN
theater engagements. When
she was in her 30s, the
unknown, aspiring actress
nearly gave up on her dream
of a career on stage. After an
acting classmate introduced
her to playwright Albert
Innaurato, however, the
Jackson Heights native
began to gain traction.
Her stroke of good luck
came when another actress
actually broke a leg and
Ruehl found herself in the
1984 Broadway production
“I’m Not Rappaport.” The
same year, she won an Obie
Award for her performance
in the dark comedy “The
Marriage of Bette and
Boo.” The Obie is an award
presented for excellence in
Off Broadway productions.
Hollywood soon came calling
for the up and coming star.
Ruehl had already played
bit parts in some movies,
including the 1979 cult
favorite “The Warriors.”
Commenting on this early
role, she recalled “That’s
the first thing I ever did. I
remember filming that little
scene and being terrified,
just a scared thing, like
a quivering aspen leaf. I
wasn’t prepared for it.”
Larger roles on the silver
screen followed her success
on stage, culminating in
1980s hits “The Secret of
My Success,” “Big” and
“Married to the Mob.”
The Queens native was
recognized with an Academy
Award for Best Supporting
Actress for her role alongside
Robin Williams in the
comedy-drama “The Fisher
King.” On stage, she earned
a Tony Award for her role
as Bella in the Neil Simon
drama “Lost in Yonkers.”
The acclaimed performer
was also nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Actor
in the Broadway plays “The
Shadow Box” and “The Goat,
or Who is Sylvia?”
Not limiting herself to
stage and screen, Ruehl
has also made a splash on
TV. Starting in the early
1980s, the versatile actress
first appeared in an ABC
Afterschool Special, and
then earned roles in wellknown
series, including
“Kate & Allie,” “The Cosby
Show” and the “Frasier.”
More recently, Ruehl has
appeared in “Entourage,”
a fictional series about an
actor from Queens, as well
as “Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit” and “NCIS.”
Reflecting on an acting
career spanning five
decades, Mercedes Ruehl
recently gave valuable
advice to her students. “As
long as you get up in front of
other people, even if it’s in a
class, a class that you paid
for, you’re increasing the
chance of word-of-mouth.
That’s how it happened
to me.”
For further information,
contact the Society at 718-278-
0700 or visit our website at
www.astorialic.org.
OP-ED
MTA must open commuter rail systems by lowering fares
In recent years, New York
City has undergone profound
economic and demographic
shifts, most of them outside
of Manhattan.
Over the last two decades,
more than three quarters of
the city’s job and population
growth have occurred in
Queens, Brooklyn, and
the Bronx – a dramatic
residential and economic
explosion that has radically
changed the transportation
needs of New Yorkers.
Unfortunately, the MTA
has not kept pace with these
changes, instead relying
on a subway system built
mostly in the last century
and a bus system that is now
the slowest in the nation.
And things aren’t going
to get better anytime soon,
with the MTA proposing
fare hikes and service cuts
to close its ballooning budget
deficit.
Fortunately, there is a
sliver of hope: the Outer
Borough Transportation
Fund, a little-known, $50
million addition to the state
budget that was legislated
last year in conjunction
with the a surcharge on
for-hire vehicles.
The intent of the fund is
to improve transit outside of
Manhattan, and we believe
there is a way to put those
dollars to great use — the
MTA should open up its
commuter rail systems to
New York City residents
by lowering fares for all
in-city trips to the price
of a Metrocard swipe, and
allowing free transfers to all
subways and buses.
With 22 LIRR stations in
Queens, three in Brooklyn,
and 13 Metro-North stops in
the Bronx, this would have
a dramatic and immediate
impact. Many of these
SCOTT STRINGER NILY ROZIC
stations have the potential
to drastically improve the
ability of New Yorkers to
get where they need to go,
but they are all but out of
reach to city residents due to
prohibitively expensive (and
unfair) fares.
While it costs only $3.25
to travel dozens of miles
on the LIRR from Montauk
to Westhampton or Oyster
Bay to Floral Park, the same
peak hour trip from Queens
Village to Long Island City
or Bayside to Penn Station
is an astronomical $10.25.
Traveling from the Bronx
to Grand Central Station,
meanwhile, costs $9.25
during commuting hours.
We need to get back to
building a transit system
deserving of New Yorkers,
and the Outer Borough
Transportation Fund is a
good place to start. It should
be dedicated to upgrading
local commuter rail service
by reducing fares and
increasing the number of
trains that stop in the city.
For the 1.4 million
Queens, Bronx, and
Brooklyn residents living
near a local commuter rail
station, more affordable
and frequent service will
be transformative, slashing
commute times, improving
job access, and bringing
high-quality, accessible rail
service to transit desserts
throughout the city.
Now, more than ever, we
need to be offering these
robust and viable transit
alternatives.
The MTA cannot delay any
longer; the time to act is now!
A five borough city and five
borough economy demands
a robust and dynamic five
borough transit system.
By Comptroller
Scott Stringer and
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic
TIMESLEDGER,24 FEB. 22-28, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
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