Rebecca Luker, a three-time Tony nominee, has died. (Photo by Walter McBride/Getty Images)
She also starred as Maria in The Sound of Music, Marian in The Music Man and Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins, each of which earned her Tony nominations in 1995, 2000 and 2007, respectively.
Luker also appeared in a handful of high-profile television shows including several episodes of Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: Special Victim s Unit and NCIS: New Orleans.
Luker was born in Alabama on April 17, 1961 where she sang in her church choir and played in her high school marching band, according to the outlet. She won a college scholarship after scoring first runner-up in a beauty pageant in which she performed the song Much More from The Fantasticks.
Tony-nominated Broadway soprano Rebecca Luker dies at 59 theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Soprano Rebecca Luker, a three-time Tony nominated actor who starred in some of the biggest Broadway hits of the past three decades, died Wednesday at the age of 59.
According to
The New York Times, Luker died Wednesday in a Manhattan hospital after announcing in February that she had been diagnosed with ALS late last year. Her death was confirmed by her agent, Sarah Fargo.
Survivors include her second husband, Danny Burstein, like his wife a beloved Broadway performer. The seven-time Tony nominee wrote two columns for
THR this year about his recovery from COVID-19 and how Luker helped him get past the virus.
An operatic soprano, Luker portrayed Magnolia, the daughter who marries a sleazy riverboat gambler, in
Show Boat, which opened on Broadway in 1994; the librarian Marian in
Rebecca Luker, Broadway actress from Alabama, dies at 59
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Rebecca Luker, a 3-time Tony nominee born in Alabama, has died.
She was 59. The Helena native passed away after a battle with ALS. She was wife to actor Danny Burstein.
The New York Times reports Luker’s death was confirmed by her agent Sarah Fargo. Luker announced in February that she had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“I have the best medical care in the world and the greatest support,” Luker said via Twitter earlier this year. “My dear husband Danny has been an angel. I will get well. In the meantime, we fight and go forward. Keep us in your thoughts.”