Who is Constance Shulman, and what has happened to her?
Constance Ann Shulman was born in Johnson City, Tennessee USA, on 4 April 1958 – her zodiac sign is Aries and she holds American nationality. She is an actress who is perhaps still best known for having voiced one of the lead characters – Patti Mayonnaise – in the animated adventure comedy series “Doug”, created by Jim Jinkins and which also starred Billy West and Fred Newman. The series follows a young boy who meets new people and falls in love while attending sixth grade, and it won three awards while it was nominated for seven others.
There are rumors circulating the internet about how Constance might have retired from acting, however, she is today living in Los Angeles in California, and is still very active in the film industry.
Orange Is the New Black actress and UT alumna Constance Shulman is on campus at the Clarence Brown Theatre today teaching classes to some lucky theatre students.
Posted by University of Tennessee, Knoxville on Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Childhood and education
Constance was raised in Johnson City as an only child, by her father who was an insurance agent, and her mother who was a housewife – the family had just enough money to pay the bills and put food on the table.
Constance grew up being interested in acting, but was urged by her parents to focus on her education. She matriculated from high school in 1976, and then enrolled at the University of Tennessee from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech and theatre in 1980. Constance then came to New York City, and started attending the Circle in the Square Theatre School, not long after deciding to entirely focus on acting.
Roles in movies
Constance made her debut film appearance in 1989, when she played Cindy Mae in the comedy crime movie “Fletch Lives”, while the same year saw her portray The Beautician in the drama “Lost Angels”.
In 1990, Constance was cast as Carly in the comedy drama “Men Don’t Leave”, then made an uncredited appearance in the biographical mystery drama “Reversal of Fortune”. The year 1991 saw her play Nell Willis in the drama movie “Lethal Innocence”, which was both written and directed by Helene Whitney and starred Margaret Barker, David Strathairn and Blair Brown – the film follows three women who are running an adoption agency. She played Missy in the critically acclaimed drama “Fried Green Tomatoes” in 1991, which was a hit in the US as it won six awards and was nominated for 14 others including two Oscars, and two years later Constance appeared as The Tour Operator in the adventure comedy “Weekend at Bernie’s II”.
She voiced Patti Mayonnaise in the animated adventure comedy film “Doug’s 1st Movie” in 1999, and a few of her following roles were in the comedy drama “Sweet and Lowdown”, written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Sean Penn, the comedy “A Jersey Christmas”, and in 2009 her first short film, “Finding Jean Lewis” written and directed by Rachel Johnson.
After a six-year break from acting, Constance played Bishop’s Girlfriend in the drama “Nasty Baby”, written and directed by Sebastian Silva who also starred in the film, and in 2016 she appeared in the comedy “Better Off Single”. The year 2017 saw her in two movies: the comedy drama “Sylvio”, and the drama “The Broken Ones”. In 2018, Constance starred as Norma Shapiro in the comedy “Most Likely to Murder”, written and directed by Dan Gregor and which also starred Adam Pally and Rachel Bloom.
Three of her most recent roles in movies have been in the short comedy “Mama Jane” in 2018, the Pepi Ginsberg’s short drama “Miss America” in 2019, and the 2020 drama “Central Standard”. Constance has recently finished shooting for the adventure film “Strawberry Mansion”, and the short comedy “Stomach People”.
Roles in TV series
Constance made her debut TV series appearance in 1989, when cast to play Bonnie Sayles in two episodes of the romantic comedy “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd”, which starred Blair Brown, James Greene and Allyn Ann McLerie, and which is about Molly Dodd, a divorced woman in her thirties living in New York City – the series was a success as it won three awards and was nominated for 17 others, including 11 Primetime Emmys.
She gained recognition when invited to portray the supporting character Maggie in 21 episodes of the romantic drama “Loving” in 1991 and ’92. Two years later, Constance starred as Lilly Walker in the unsold pilot of the comedy “Heavens to Betsy”, but went on to portray one of the lead characters, Shelly Ray in the comedy “The Faculty” in 1996, which also starred Meredith Baxter and Peter Michael Goetz.
Constance’s following roles in series didn’t come until 18 years later in 2014, when she guest starred as The Daycare Manager in the episode “Wednesday’s Child” of the crime mystery drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. The year 2017 heard her voice Milly Sparkles in the episode “Mathmagic/The Bounce Lounge” of the animated action adventure series “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”, while she also guest starred in the episode “Sliding Doors” of the comedy “Broad City” in the same year.
Three of Constance’s most recent roles in TV series have been in the episode “Ilyas Surkov” of the crime mystery drama “The Blacklist” in 2017, in 48 episodes of the critically acclaimed comedy drama “Orange Is the New Black” which won 51 awards and was nominated for 142 others including six Golden Globes, and the episode “Radical Rescue” of the 2019 animated short action series “OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes”, in which she voiced Dr. Sphinxen.
Awards
Each year from 2015 to 2017, Constance and her colleague actors and actresses won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for “Orange Is the New Black” and were nominated for the same award in 2018.
Love life and husband
Constance met American actor Reed Birney in 1993, when they were shooting for the same movie, and they dated for a year before moving in together – Reed is perhaps best known for his roles in the film “Four Friends” and the series “House of Cards”.
On 7 August 1996, Constance gave birth to their son Ephraim Birney, who has also become an actor and is known for his roles in “Gotham”, “The Americans” and “Exploits of Daddy B”. Constance and Reed’s daughter Gus Birney was born on 27 July 1999, and she is also an actress who is known for her roles in “A Rainy Day in New York” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” – less than a month before Gus was born, Constance and Reed married in a private ceremony attended by less than 10 people.
Constance hasn’t talked about any other men she might have been with, and as of September 2020, she is married and has two children.
Hobbies and other interests
Constance is a huge lover of animals, who volunteered at several animal shelters during her teenage years, and she is today a supporter of the People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization – she has two pet dogs and a pet cat.
She is also a vegetarian and is advising people not to, at least, eat a lot of meat, as the lowering of meat consumption could save numerous animal lives. Constance believes that animals belong in the wilderness and not in zoos, and she urges people not to go to zoos.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks and Natalie Portman, and a few of her favorite movies are the franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “The Terminal” and “Leon: The Professional”. Constance also likes to watch sitcoms, and her favorite is “That ‘70s Show”.
Appearance
Constance is 62 years old. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes, her height is 5ft 6ins (1.67m) and she weighs around 120lbs (55kgs).
As of September 2020, her net worth has been estimated at over $6 million.