Search by Name

Add a Memory

Send Flowers

Make a Donation

Share Obituary

BARBARA SPIEGEL Obituary

SPIEGEL--Barbara Joy 1943-2020 Barbara Joy Spiegel passed away on November 6, 2020 at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. Barbara was a native New Yorker and lived life to the fullest in the city she loved. She was a talented actress and teacher, founder of the B. Spiegel Theater workshop and lifetime member of the actors studio. Barbara has had a notable career appearing at Lincoln Center, numerous off Broadway productions, multiple movies such as tootsie and she had many TV roles. Barbara studied and lived the philosophy of the Gurdjieff work, whose central focus is awakening consciousness. She was an inspiration to all who knew and loved her. She was admired for her wit and humor, Barbara will be deeply missed. She was preceded in death by her mother Sophia Rubenstein and her stepfather Charles Rubenstein.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by New York Times on Nov. 15, 2020.

Memories and Condolences
for BARBARA SPIEGEL

17 Entries

Ellen David

March 12, 2025

Thinking of you today dear Barbara on your Birthday... wasn't sure where to put this, so I figured here, where you are surrounded by the fond remembrances of the people who loved you is as good a place as any. You are missed, and I am still in a bit of denial that you have left this earthly plane. xoxo Ellen

Amy

August 9, 2024

Barbara was like a mother to me and provided direction and support at a very vulnerable time in my life. She provided an amazing container for learning, fun, creativity, friendship, and ultimately a marriage of forty years and counting (first started in her world). I could not appreciate her fully when I knew her many years ago, but I appreciate her contribution more fully now.

Ellen David

August 4, 2024

I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Barbara's passing. We had seen each other not long before COVID and wrote each other right up until May of 2020. I wrote her or texted her a few times since then and did not hear back and I let it go as I was experiencing a lot of loss myself during the last few years. The dust has settled a bit, and I was determined to get back in touch... only to read the heartbreaking news. Barbara and I met at the RADA theatre school in London and stayed in touch and saw each other when I was in NY from Montreal. She was a force to be reckoned with... a funny and dear friend and I will miss her, her elegant style, and witty banter. My deepest condolences to all who knew and loved her. May her memory be a blessing.

M.C. Antil

November 9, 2022

Thinking of you today, Barbara. Though we only knew each other for a brief time, I still miss our conversations, our mutual love of acting and the theater, and, of course, that smiling face of yours. Peace, my friend.

Eliezer Quiñones

November 10, 2021

My dear Barbara it´s been a year of your passing and every day that I come to work I think of you of how you used to come into the building and we would have a long conversation and the beautiful friendship that we had over the years you will always be missed.

Craig Singleton

November 9, 2021

I miss you every day Barbara. But you are always with me, guiding me with wisdom and that delightful smile of yours that exemplified such wisdom and humor. I will always cherish our friendship! Craig Singleton

Susan Kerner

November 9, 2021

I think of you often, Sweet Barbara Joy. Xo

GLENN WEIN

July 20, 2021

It was at the Westside Theater where I first met Barbara in the audience before a play. I approached her and asked her if she was an actress. When she confirmed my suspicions I told her that I was the star/director/co-creator of "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral" and that she would be perfect for the role of my Aunt Marlena. This led to her becoming a replacement in the show over the course of its long run. While nobody was the comic genius that the late Sheri Goldner who originated the role was, Barbara was my dream interpreter of the role because she was the most like my real aunt who the part was based on. When I acted with her it was uncanny because I felt like I was with my real Aunt Marlena. She looked and sounded just like her. Unlike my Aunt, Barbara kept an immaculate home and we stayed in touch over the years. She would tell me stories about working with Leonard Frey. While our theatrical temperaments collided and caused riffs, we had an intense connection. I will never forget her and feel so grateful to have worked with her in such a unique situation. G-d bless you Barbara. You're with your beloved mother again.

Elizabeth Harriman Nicholls Brower

April 3, 2021

Dear Barbara,
You were a friend, teacher and companion in seeking the truth in life. You helped me understand the way of truth in acting....as a former dancer and also interested in the true meaning of acting you gently guided my wish to understand--I will always remember you and be grateful for your encouragement...Your death is probably a rebirth on another deeper unknown level....wishing you all good and peace and light and luv xoxoxox ElizabethH.N. Brower

M.C. Antil

February 26, 2021

Barbara was such a wonderful woman. She had me as a student when, at midlife, I quit a good job and began trying to write and act for a living. In time, our lessons became less about acting technique and more a weekly occasion to swap stories and share philosophies in her little apartment on the Upper East Side. I, sadly, had lost touch with her after I left New York, but tried just this morning to find her number and reach out. For some reason I was compelled to give her a call to see how she was doing in these crazy times. That's when I learned of her passing. Barbara was many things to many people. Artist. Soldier. Actress. Director. Teacher. Friend. Lover. But she was, above all, her own person. And she followed her sometimes singular path through life in the dogged pursuit of something that so many of us seem to lose sight of as our months turn into years: herself. Godspeed, Barbara Spiegel. And thank you for the laughs, the insights, and what little time we were able to share with each other what is now, officially, a lifetime ago.

Susan L Kerner

February 9, 2021

I was SO saddened to hear of Barbara's death - we fell out of touch during COVID and I was shocked to learn that she had passed away when I reached out to her recently. If anyone is able to fill me in I'd greatly appreciate.

Thanks,
Susan Kerner

Eliezer Quinones Guerra

Planted Trees

Craig Singleton

November 23, 2020

Barbara was my friend and I loved her! She was brilliant and helped make me a better man and a better Artist. She was one of my first directors and teacher when I moved to NYC in 1982, and remained one of my dearest and cherished friends ever since. I only wish we had more time together. Your wisdom will always be with me, and I will continue to share it with the world as long as I live. I will miss you Barbara, and the special friendship we had together.
Craig Singleton

Angel Rivera

November 15, 2020

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
You will always have a special place in my heart.Tho we had met 13 years ago seems like a life time .. Learn so much of goodness thanks..

Jimmy Beharovic

November 15, 2020

Rest In Peace Barbara, you will be missed from the strand staff.

elvis lekaj

November 15, 2020

In loving memory of a wonderful person. We will love you and miss you always.

Joe Maruzzo

November 15, 2020

Dearest Barbara! I will remember you always. We have a connection special to the two of us! I was there with you at your bedside. We laughed, slightly scolded each other, then words of love appeared. You kept a sense of humor fighting the inevitable. I asked you about death, you said in part it must be the writer in me wanting information. I told you maybe a small part of me but, no, I really wanted to know. You said when the switch is on your living, when it shuts off its death. Thinking of you my friend!!

Showing 1 - 17 of 17 results