Sandra Bernhard
Bernhard's eclectic, confrontational and largely autobiographical one-woman stage show, "Without You I'm Nothing," was a smash off-Broadway in 1988 but sputtered at the box office in its 1990 screen rendition. A regular performer on TV stand-up comedy specials, she ventured into the land of sitcoms with a six-year (1991-96) recurring role as a married woman who came out as a lesbian on the hit ABC sitcom "Roseanne," offering perhaps her most mainstream exposure to date. Bernhard kept her profile high with guest turns on shows like "Chicago Hope" (CBS) and "Ally McBeal" (Fox) and as host of Comedy Central's "The A-List" (1992-93) and the USA Network's "Reel Wild Cinema with Sandra Bernhard" (1996), but her career seemed stalled until she roared back with "I'm Still Here ... Damn It!," which marked her Broadway debut when it moved uptown in 1998. Featuring a blistering stream of cool, vindictive campy asides and muttered put-downs of everyone from Madonna to Princess Diana, it served notice that Bernhard was back, edgy as ever, ready to reveal almost everything.