Shaw Purnell

Shaw's heritage is thick with steel workers and preachers, but has only one blood link to the theater, Sir Henry Irving, who in response to his wife's question, "Are you going to be fool enough to do this for your entire life?" walked out the door never to return. Destiny, Faith, Courage. After student days in Switzerland and at the University of London, Shaw returned to Pittsburgh, her hometown, planning to become a teacher. But soon, that road dissolved and she found herself in NYC. Commercials came first. Then a summer at the famously-fated LCT (The Loss of Nameless Things) where art flowed free. Off- Broadway, "Death of a Miner" recalled her coal mining roots, and "Never Say Die" introduced her to her husband-to-be, Bill Smitrovich. Home, Family, Children. Now, over thirty years later, Shaw revives her latent career. Finding first joy, then success, she welcomes the roles of the age: Crone, Matriarch, Queen!