--- description: She was one of theater's funniest women for over 60 years title: Elaine Stritch, Great Dame of Broadway image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d00fae549a67c/69869c2d06f2c1144132ff0b/1elaine_stritch.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Elaine Stritch, Great Dame of Broadway by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2014 6:40 PM CUT  Actress Elaine Stritch c. 1956 Actress Elaine Stritch c. 1956NBC/NBCU Photo Bank by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2014 6:40 PM CUT  Actress Elaine Stritch c. 1956 NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  Ed Sullivan talks with Elaine Stritch on TOAST OF THE TOWN on November 14, 1954. CBS/Getty Images  Elaine Stritch, Ray Bolger NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  THE PERFECT FURLOUGH, Troy Donahue, Les Tremayne, Linda Cristal, Keenan Wynn, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Elaine Stritch, King Donovan in 1958. Everett Collection  Grover Dale and Elaine Stritch of the cast of Sail Away on November 27, 1961. Bettmann/Corbis  Elaine Stritch on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. NBC/Getty Images  Elaine Stritch talks to patrons while serving drinks at Elaine's (no relation) where she works as a barmaid on August 12, 1964\. Miss Stritch chose to spend the summer working in a bar even though she could have had her pick of summer theater tours. Bettmann/Corbis  Elaine Stritch poses for a portrait at the Tunnel night club in the mid 1990s in New York City. Catherine McGann—Getty Images  Elaine Stritch performs at the Kennedy Center Honors on October 29, 1994. CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images  Elaine Stritch with her Emmy for "Outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program," for "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty," in the press room at the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on September 19, 2004. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters/Corbis  Elaine Stritch performing in the New York Philharmonic Gala Evening at Avery Fisher Hall New York City on March 15, 2010. Walter McBride—Retna Ltd./Corbis  Bradley Dean, Katherine McNamara, Alexander Hanson, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, Kevin David Thomas, Karen Murphy, and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning masterpiece A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, directed by Tony Award-winner Trevor Nunn. Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City on July 13, 2010. Walter McBride—Retna Ltd./Corbis  Elaine Stritch performs during a White House music series concert saluting Broadway in the East Room at the White House in Washington on July 19, 2010. Kevin Dietsch—UPI/Corbis  George Grizzard as George Albright, Elaine Stritch as Martha Albright, Jane Curtin as Dr. Mary Albright and John Lithgow as Dr. Dick Solomon in 3rd Rock From The Sun. NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy and Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy in 30 Rock. NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  Elaine Stritch performing 'Movin' Over And Out' her final engagement ever at the Cafe Carlyle in New York City on April 2, 2013. Walter McBride—Retna Ltd./Corbis ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3002070/elaine-stritch-great-dame-of-broadway/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3002070/elaine-stritch-great-dame-of-broadway/"},"headline":"Elaine Stritch, Great Dame of Broadway","datePublished":"2014-07-17T18:40:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:05.760Z","description":"She was one of theater's funniest women for over 60 years","url":"https://time.com/3002070/elaine-stritch-great-dame-of-broadway/","keywords":["broadway","Theater"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d00fae549a67c/69869c2d06f2c1144132ff0b/1elaine_stritch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d00fae549a67c/69869c2d06f2c1144132ff0b/1elaine_stritch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actress Elaine Stritch c. 1956","caption":"Actress Elaine Stritch c. 1956","creditText":"NBC/NBCU Photo Bank","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3002070/elaine-stritch-great-dame-of-broadway/","name":"Elaine Stritch, Great Dame of Broadway"}}]}] ```