Penny Leigh Orloff

Penny Orloff was a working actor/dancer in Los Angeles when a Juilliard scholarship took her to New York. She had featured roles on Broadway, working for such directors as Harold Prince and Joseph Papp, and sang more than 20 Principal Soprano roles for New York City Opera under Julius Rudel and Beverly Sills.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, she starred in over 100 productions off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally.  Her first solo show, “Jewish Thighs on Broadway” (based on her best-selling novel of the same name, available on Amazon.com), toured the U.S. for a decade, including a successful off-Broadway run in 2005. 

Having outlived most of her early competition for film roles, since 2012 she has enjoyed acting in a range of interesting shorts, Indie, and feature films (silver-white hair and a Botox-free face are, apparently, in short supply in LA…).

 

When Penny wasn’t performing on stage, she was spending time with the love of her life, Charles, known by most of us as Chuck, as they’d ride their bikes around town and explore the desert. She was known for her love of animals, and was always taking food scraps home from parties to feed her wild coyotes and other animal friends.  Just picture Snow White singing in the forest with birds on her arms and tiny animals surrounding her. That was Penny. She was an artist through and through—her stunning succulent and cacti garden was another example of this gift of hers. 

Penny showed up for her family like no one else. If you asked her to be somewhere or needed a favor, she wouldn’t hesitate. She was generous beyond measure, she adored her family and friends, and dammit she’ll be missed.  

 

If you feel inclined to honor Penny‘s memory, please feel free to donate to your favorite charity in her name.