Actress, acting coach

Actress and acting coach Susan Peretz died Aug. 27 in Los Angeles of breast cancer. She was 59.

Born in New York, Peretz graduated from SUNY Buffalo. She began her acting career after joining the Actors Studio, where she later served on the executive board.

On Broadway she was seen in Paul Zindel’s “Ladies at the Alamo,” “42 Seconds From Broadway” and a Joseph Papp production of “A Comedy of Errors.” Her Off Broadway credits include “Hillbilly Women,” “American Gothics” and “Susan Peretz at the Manhattan Theater Club.”

Moving to Los Angeles, she expanded her career into motion pictures and TV, playing Al Pacino’s wife in Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon.” Her later films include Jonathan Demme’s “Melvin and Howard,” “Swing Shift” and Clint Eastwood’s “Honky Tonk Man.”

Peretz was a series regular on “A.E.S. Hudson Street” and starred in her own TV series for Fox television, “Babes.” She also guested on series including “Murder, She Wrote,” “L.A. Law,” “E.R.,” “Cagney & Lacey” and “Married With Children” as well as appearing in several TV movies.

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She returned to her theater roots when she founded the Third Street Theater, where she taught acting and directed numerous productions, winning Drama-Logue Awards for her direction of Leonard Melfi’s play “Birdbath” and her perf in “A View From the Bridge.”

Peretz was invited to participate in the AFI Directors Workshop for Women.

Her last role was a recent guest spot on “My Wife and Kids.”

She is survived by a sister, two nephews and a niece.

A memorial celebration will be held Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Greenway Court Theater, 544 N. Fairfax, Los Angeles.

Donations may be made to IFADD (Intl. Foundation for Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery), 27 W. Morten Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021-7246, attn. Marcia Horn; or We Spark, 13520 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, attn. Wendy Jo Sperber.

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