Aha Moment: Sandra Bernhard

Studio 360
The World

“Larger-than-life” doesn’t do justice to performer Sandra Bernhard. She can be cartoonishly tough and irreverent, but also intensely sincere. Her breakout role came in Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy (1983), in which she plays an obsessed fan who helps kidnap the talk show host played by Jerry Lewis.
Turns out Bernhard has her own (healthy) obsession with a famous performer. When she saw a touring production of Hello, Dolly!, starring Carol Channing, “right from the get-go, I assumed I should be a part of the cast. ‘Why am I not on stage here, playing at least one of the supporting roles?'” For one reason, because Bernhard was only eight at the time. But sitting there in the audience, “I felt I was home and where I belonged with these bigger-than-life characters.” Bernhard set out to have a career that would make her idol proud.
Is there a work of art that’s changed the way you see the world? Tell us in a comment below – or by email.
  
  
Video: Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly! (1979)

Will you support The World with a monthly donation?

Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!