Betsy Aidem
American actress
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Betsy Aidem is an American actress.
Betsy Aidem | |
|---|---|
 Aidem in 2026 | |
| Occupations | Actress, director |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Her film work includes The Bleeding House, See You in the Morning, A Vigilante, and Aeris. Her television work includes The High Life and The Americans, appearing in the latter in the episodes "Safe House" and "Covert War".
Her stage work includes Steel Magnolias and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in Prayer for the French Republic. In 2007, she was given an Obie Award for "sustained excellence of performance" for her work Off-Broadway.[1]
Background
Aidem first became interested in acting while she was in high school. Her debut was as a fairy in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[2] She was the first wife of William Fichtner and had a child with him.[3]
Career
Stage work
Midway through 2009, Aidem was in Nicki Bloom's Tender, a story about an act of violence that destroys a family. The play, directed by Daniela Topol, also starred Kerry Bishé, Michael Cullen, and Matt Dellapina.[4] In October 2018, she appeared as the loony and flamboyant Professor Carroway in Love Course which was about two eccentric neurotics, Carroway and Professor Burgess, teaching a course in romantic literature and two students who attend the course and end up teaching it.[5][6][7] She is also a stage play director and her first professional production as director was 2018's A Doll's House, Part 2, a George Street Playhouse production of the Lucas Hnath comedy.[8]
Film work
Her earliest film work was in the 1982 film A Little Sex, where she played a passer-by.[9] In 1985, she appeared in the television film Kojak: The Belarus File as Elissa Barak.[10]
She appeared in Sarah Daggar-Nickson's 2018 film A Vigilante which starred Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector and Kyle Catlett.[11] Also that year she was in Aeris, a film about a couple adopting a sick kitten.[12]
Television shows
Her work on television shows includes recurring roles on The High Life as Irene,[13][14] and as Dr. Sloane on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[15]
Stage appearances
| Title | Role | Playwright | Director | Year | Notes # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balm in Gilead | Kay | Lanford Wilson | John Malkovich | 1984 | Off-Broadway |
| Crossing the Bar | Performer | Michael Zettler | Jerry Zaks | 1985 | Off-Broadway |
| A Lie of the Mind | Sally | Sam Shepard | Sam Shepard | Off-Broadway | |
| Steel Magnolias | Shelby | Robert Harling | Pamela Berlin | 1987 | Off-Broadway |
| Road | Carol | Jim Cartwright | Simon Curtis | Off-Broadway | |
| The Night Hank Williams Died | Nellie Bess Powers Clark | Larry L. King | Christopher Ashley | 1989 | Off-Broadway |
| Five Women Wearing the Same Dress | Georgeanne | Alan Ball | Melia Bensussen | 1993 | Off-Broadway |
| Teibele and Her Demon | Teibele | Isaac Bashevis Singer | Daniel Gerroll | 1994 | Off-Broadway |
| The Butterfly Collection | Performer | Theresa Rebeck | Bartlett Sher | 2000 | Off-Broadway |
| Good Thing | Nancy Roy | Jessica Goldberg | Jo Bonney | 2001 | Off-Broadway |
| Sea of Tranquility | Phyllis | Howard Korder | Neil Pepe | 2004 | Off-Broadway |
| Celebration and The Room | Julie | Harold Pinter | 2005 | Off-Broadway | |
| Mary Rose | Mrs. Moreland | J. M. Barrie | Tina Landau | 2007 | Off-Broadway |
| Crooked | Elise | Catherine Trieschmann | Liz Diamond | 2008 | Off-Broadway |
| Tender | Nicki Bloom | Daniela Topol | 2009 | Off-Broadway | |
| The Metal Children | Lynne / Roberta Cupp | Adam Rapp | Adam Rapp | 2010 | Off-Broadway |
| Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling | Performer | Neil Pepe | 2011 | Off-Broadway | |
| Nikolai and the Others | Lisa Sokoloff | Richard Nelson | David Cromer | 2013 | Off-Broadway |
| All the Way | Lady Bird Johnson / various | Robert Schenkkan | Bill Rauch | 2014 | Broadway[16] |
| Mama's Boy | Marguerite Oswald | Rob Urbinati | Brian P. Allen | 2015 | Regional[17] |
| Final Follies | Wilma Trumbo/Professor Carroway | A. R. Gurney | David Saint | 2018 | Off-Broadway |
| Prayer for the French Republic | Marcelle Salomon Benhamou | Joshua Harmon | David Cromer | 2022 | Off-Broadway |
| Leopoldstadt | Grandma Emilia | Tom Stoppard | Patrick Marber | Original Broadway Production | |
| Prayer for the French Republic | Marcelle Salomon Benhamou | Joshua Harmon | David Cromer | 2023 | Original Broadway Production |
| Liberation | Margie | Bess Wohl | Whitney White | 2025 | Off-Broadway World Premiere |
| Original Broadway production |
Partial filmography
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play | Prayer for the French Republic | Nominated | [18] |
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Nominated | [19] | ||
| 2024 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | [20] | |
| Tony Award | Best Actress in a Play | Nominated | [21] | ||
| 2025 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | The Ask | Nominated | [22] |
| Outstanding Ensemble | Liberation | Won | [23] | ||
| New York Drama Critics' Circle | Best Ensemble | Won | [24] | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Nominated | [25] | ||
| Tony Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Nominated | [26] | ||