Peters was born into an Italian-American family in Ozone Park in the New York City borough of Queens, the youngest of three children. Her mother, Marguerite (née Maltese), started her in show business by putting her … See more

In January 1958, at age nine, she obtained her Actors Equity Card in the name Bernadette Peters to avoid ethnic typecasting, with the stage name taken from her father's first name. She made her professiona… See more