Tovah Feldshuh Looks Back on an Extraordinary Career Ahead of Hamptons Screenings of the Documentary TOVAH

Ahead of screenings at Guild Hall and the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, the acclaimed actress speaks with Spark Hamptons about more than 50 years in entertainment, the people who shaped her remarkable career, and the values of perseverance, kindness and purpose that continue to guide her life.

For more than five decades, Tovah Feldshuh has built one of the most distinguished careers in American entertainment, earning acclaim on Broadway, in film and on television through her talent, versatility and extraordinary range.

From her celebrated portrayal of Golda Meir to memorable roles in Funny Girl, The Walking Dead and Law & Order, Feldshuh has continually reinvented herself while remaining one of the industry’s most respected and enduring performers.

Now, audiences will have the opportunity to experience that journey through the documentary TOVAH, directed and produced by David Serero. Through exclusive interviews, rare archival footage and intimate behind-the-scenes moments, the film chronicles Feldshuh’s life and career while featuring appearances by Dustin Hoffman, Oscar Isaac, Kristen Bell, Patti LuPone, Katie Couric and others who reflect on her enduring impact on stage and screen.

Presented by Guild Hall and the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, the screening of TOVAH will take place at Guild Hall, followed by a live conversation between Feldshuh and bestselling author, publisher and literary tastemaker Zibby Owens.

Ahead of the Hamptons screening, Spark Hamptons spoke exclusively with Feldshuh about the documentary, the secret to a career spanning more than 50 years, working alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names, motherhood, faith, kindness and the lessons she hopes audiences take away from the film.

SPARK Interview: Tovah Feldshuh

The Making of TOVAH

Tell me about this film. How did it come about? Did the filmmaker approach you?

Tovah Feldshuh: Yes. He came to me and said he wanted to make a documentary. I said, “Sure. Why not?”

Then he asked if there were people who would speak about me. The following people showed up: Dustin Hoffman, Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Katie Couric, my wonderful manager Michael Adler, Oscar Isaac and others.

Who reached out to all of them? How did that work?

JL: The director did, and they were all happy to participate.

Oscar Isaac—I played his mother. Dustin Hoffman—I played his wife. Kristen Bell—I played her future mother-in-law. Adam Brody—I played his mother. Katie Couric is my friend. She’s just a wonderful friend. I’m also friends with Rosie O’Donnell over in Ireland.

For whatever reason, everyone said yes, and they commented on my work while the film shows examples from throughout my career.

Because I’m a New Yorker—I grew up in Scarsdale, went to Sarah Lawrence, and then Broadway—the film is also very local. We went back to Scarsdale and to places from my childhood.

There’s footage from where I lived in Paris as a student and a very funny section about that time in my life.

So it’s a film with some phenomenal, exciting footage that’s been beautifully edited into a 60-minute documentary about what it means never to give up—in marriage and in work. I’m very honored by it.

What was it like the first time you watched it in its entirety?

JL: I was very pleased with it—and very shocked.

It’s very moving to me because it talks about being a mother and about how, later in my career, I became known for playing heroic Jewish women, maternal figures, heads of organizations and even heads of the Mossad. They’re maternal figures, but not stereotypical ones.

Fifty years is quite an achievement in this business.

JL: It is.

I’m very proud that Patti LuPone and I can still do eight shows a week. I don’t know how many actresses in their 70s can still do that, but I know she and I can.

I’m very proud of that. — Tovah Feldshuh

More Than 50 years on Broadway

When I think of you, I think of excellence, resilience and storytelling. Some of those are innate gifts, but in terms of developing your craft and continuing to grow, what do you think has really accounted for your longevity in this business and your success?

JL: I love success. I really do.

I based my whole ethos on my parents’ behavior, especially my father’s love of his career. He loved being a litigator. He loved his work, and my brother and I are very much alike in that way.

I’m fortunate that I’m paid well to write keynote speeches. I’ve become a very skilled fundraiser. I learned a great deal from watching my father.

I love work. When I’m without a job, I’m working with the gardener, improving the house in Quogue and making sure my grandchildren learn to swim.

I love getting up in the morning and doing good things for good people. I want to leave the world a better place for having lived here.

I also think—if you want to get Judeo-Christian about it—you don’t have to believe in God to be a good Jew, but you do have to do mitzvahs. Acts of loving-kindness are at the center of Judaism.

You don’t have to be a deist. Many of us are intellectual. Many of us are scientific. Many people are agnostic.

But you still have to be kind.

On Acting, Motherhood and Kindness

You seem to have so much determination, so much moxie, and yet you also have such a big heart and tremendous empathy. What qualities are most important to what you bring to your work?

JL: Well, I have the privilege—just as you do—of being a mother.

Motherhood makes us natural heroes. A child comes into your life, and suddenly you would give your life for another human being. I would give my life for Brandon or Amanda. Tomorrow is Brandon’s birthday.

I still remember my son’s birth. He wouldn’t come out. He got stuck on my pubic bone. They had to use forceps. When he finally came out, he looked like one of the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live.

But from that moment on, your life belongs to that child. That feeling translates directly into acting. It teaches you to put the other actor before yourself. That’s something I can access very easily. It’s part of my personality and part of my character.

When I’m with Lea Michele in Funny Girl, no matter what kind of day she’s having, my job is to love her. My job is to give her my complete focus. I love her the way a mother loves a child. That’s what acting is to me.

Once you’re on the tennis court with another actor, you don’t judge them. You simply play. You pray they can hit the ball back. If they can’t, after 50 years in this business, that’s not going to destroy my work. It may change my reactions, but I’m never going to become angry and say, “You’re ruining my performance.” That sentence doesn’t exist for me.

We simply have to be together.

Kindness matters. And suspending judgment. My trigger is when people don’t do their jobs to the best of their ability. That really triggers me.

I’ve learned to muzzle myself. Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes I don’t.

There’s a Japanese saying: “He who gets angry loses.”

I think about that often.

Fatih, Family and the Hamptons

Your Jewish identity is obviously very important to you.

JL: It has become paramount.

I often say we may be one of the world’s smallest minorities, but we’re also one of the world’s largest families. There are fewer than 16 million Jews in the world. No matter where you’re from, if you’re Jewish, we’re family.

I hope we can return to what I call the common river of humanity, where people simply want to live together. That’s what I hope for.

When did you first discover the Hamptons? And what is the best thing about the Hamptons for you?

JL: That’s a two-part question.

We live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, overlooking the Reservoir. We have a beautiful view. But when it came time to choose a place outside the city, I chose the Hamptons because of the sea.

I didn’t choose Westchester, where I grew up. Many people from my hometown belonged to country clubs and had that lifestyle. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted the ocean.

I love the sea. If I had to choose between land and the sea, I’d choose the sea every time.

Almost every day that I’m here, I bike or drive down to the beach. Sometimes I only walk in up to my knees. Even if it’s freezing, I want to feel the Atlantic Ocean.  — Tovah Feldshuh

The Atlantic is no joke. It’s powerful. It’s rough. That’s what I love.

The best thing about the Hamptons for me is the silence… and the sea.

I just love it. It’s been one of the greatest gifts in my life. — Tovah Feldshuh

What She Hopes Audiences Take Away

If people come to see the documentary, what do you hope they leave with?

JL: I hope they leave believing that perseverance matters. That kindness matters. That hard work matters. That family matters. That marriage matters. That motherhood matters.

I hope they leave believing that you don’t give up. You keep going. You keep learning. You keep loving. You keep working.

And if you’re fortunate enough to have a gift, you use it in service of other people.

That’s really what my life has become.

If You Go

Guild Hall Screening

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 | 7 p.m.
Guild Hall
158 Main St.
East Hampton, NY 11937
Phone: (631) 324-0806

Tickets: https://purchase.guildhall.org/EventAvailability?EventId=22601

The Hampton Synagogue Screening

Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026 | 9 p.m.
The Hampton Synagogue
154 Sunset Ave.
Westhampton Beach, NY 11978
Phone: (631) 288-0534

Admission: Free

For more information about Tovah Feldshuh, visit TovahFeldshuh.com.

Angela LaGreca

Editor, Co-Founder/Publisher

Angela LaGreca, Editor-in-chief and co-Founder/Publisher of Spark Hamptons, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, producer, writer and comedian/host. Her TV credits include NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “The View,” and, most recently, the primetime cable news program “Cuomo” on NewsNation. On the East End, she was the Creative Director at LTV, VP Features/Events/Photo Editor at Dan’s Papers, and has performed at Guild Hall, Bay Street Theater and the WHBPAC. Her publishing career began at Modern Photography, where she was managing editor. LaGreca lives in Manhattan and East Hampton and can be reached at angelatvmedia@gmail.com and angela@sparkhamptons.com .