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WATCH: The Lady Who Sang: Remembering Elaine Stritch

WATCH: The Lady Who Sang: Remembering Elaine Stritch

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Elaine Stritch, a longtime favorite of LGBT audiences, died today at age 89. But her performances of work by Sondheim, Coward, and others make her immortal.

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Elaine Stritch, legendary Broadway star and gay icon, died today at age 89 at her home in Birmingham, Mich., where she had retired last year after being a long-term resident of the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan.

Stritch, a Tony- and Emmy-winner, was the hotel's most famous resident and a frequent performer at its Cafe Carlyle, where she gave a farewell show, Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin' Over and Out, a free-form evening of story and song, before moving back to her native Michigan.

Stritch had many LGBT admirers and always returned the love, and she had gay connections too numerous to list -- to name just a few, she's one of the greatest interpreters of the work of Noel Coward, who built the musical Sail Away around her character, and Stephen Sondheim, who gave her the song that became her signature, "The Ladies Who Lunch," in Company. In addition to her stage work, she had a significant TV and movie career. On TV, she famously played Alec Baldwin's domineering mother in 30 Rock, and her films included A Farewell to Arms, starring Rock Hudson, whom she even dated.

We've compiled video of some highlights of Stritch's storied career. Everybody rise!


"The Ladies Who Lunch": Stritch's signature song from the Broadway musical Company by Stephen Sondheim


Elaine Stritch performs "Broadway Baby" (by Stephen Sondheim, from the musical Follies) at In Performance at the White House: A Broadway Celebration, an event held in the East Room to honor the arts and celebrate the importance of arts education, July 19, 2010.


Stritch performs "I'm Still Here" (by Stephen Sondheim, from the musical Follies) at In Performance at the White House: A Broadway Celebration.


Elaine Stritch in her one-woman show At Liberty, on choosing Rock Hudson over Ben Gazzara


The Noel Coward Trilogy: Sail Away, starring Elaine Stritch

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.