Renée Taylor has been widowed since the death of her lifelong husband, Joseph Bologna. The pair got married in 1965, just a year after her first marriage with Frank Baxter ended.
Together with Bologna, they welcomed their only child, a son, Gabriel Bologna. For the next several years, Bologna gave her all the needed support as a collaborative partner to reach the top of her career until his sad demise in August 2017.
Her love life continues to interest many due to a successful career that has lasted more than seven decades. She wrote Lovers and Other Strangers and became a household name as Sylvia Fine in The Nanny (1993–1999).
At the rate she is going, the 91-year-old The Bronx native seems not to be stopping anytime soon. In fact, her energy can be felt in My Life on a Diet, which she started appearing in off-Broadway in 2018.
Renée Taylor has Been a Widow for 7 Years Now
Taylor is not married to anyone as of this writing, and this is likely not going to change anytime soon. This is because she has not indicated that she moved on after the death of her lifelong husband, Joseph Bologna.
The two got married on The Merv Griffin Show in 1965 and managed to pursue a successful career as well as a marriage.
Despite such a picture-perfect marriage, this was not the case from the beginning. Apparently, Bologna’s Italian family did not want him to marry the Jewish Taylor, and in order to reduce the tension, the two opted for a drama-free wedding. Since both families wanted to be on TV, they decided to hold their peace and be happy for the couple, or so it seemed as if no record of issues were heard.
The pair became close professional collaborators, and to show how well they worked together, they produced works like Lovers and Other Strangers (1968), which was nominated for an Academy Award for the film adaptation. They collaborated on other works like Made for Each Other (1971).
Also, they had one son, Gabriel Bologna. Over the years, there has been speculation that Gabriel was not the only child of the couple. However, Tayor and Bologna clarified this error by stating that the other alleged child was Gabriel’s wife.
Like his parents, Gabriel also took a career path after his parents by becoming a filmmaker. He served as a director on Tango Shalom, which his parents appeared in.
Moving on, Taylor and Bologna’s love story was cut short following his death from pancreatic cancer on August 13, 2017.
Renée Taylor’s Marriage with Bologna was a Second One for Her
Though she was with Bologna for over 50 years, their marriage was not the only one for her. She was previously married to Frank Baxter between 1958 and 1964.
The Bronx Native Was Named after a Silent Film Actress
She was born Renée Adorée Wexler on March 19, 1933, in the Bronx, New York, to Charles Wexler and Frieda Silverstein. Her mother was a struggling actress, and understandably, she picked a name for her daughter after an actress she admired, the silent film actress Renée Adorée.
But this is not the only fascinating detail about her background.
She discovered a passion for performing as a child, and soon she started acting on stage. By the time she was 5, she had won the daily News Charming Child contest, which led her to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she graduated.
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She is an Emmy Winning Entertainer
Taylor started her career back in the 1950s as an actress, doing small roles. She added comedy to her acts in the 1960s and would often be found cracking people up at the Bon Soir nightclub in New York. One of her earliest features as an actress was The Producers.
As mentioned, she also collaborated with her late husband. She is notable for The Nanny, a show she became a regular on during the first season. Since then, she has taken on both screen and off-screen roles, written, and produced, and directed movies.
For a career spanning more than six decades, Taylor has garnered many accolades and recognitions. In 1973, Taylor and Bologna won an Emmy award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music for Acts of Love and Other Comedies.
She has also been nominated for awards like the Writers Guild Awards and the Academy Awards. You may be wondering if she is still acting her age. The short answer is yes.
Taylor started acting in My Life on a Diet, a play that was written together with Bologna and is played at an off-Broadway theater in St. Clements. She took the production across the US.
