New York, NY (Top40 Charts) A laugh out loud look at life and love!
Publisher Avi Gvili of Boulevard Books announces that the hit comedy book "God, Please Give Me Patience…and Hurry!" written by TV sketch comedy writer Michael Conley and Brooklyn born Sicilian-American actress and comedienne Candice Azzara is a great gift to celebrate Moms, Step-Moms, and Grandmothers for Mother's Day.
Azzara celebrates her landmark 40 years in showbiz and has starred in numerous hit major movies playing a "Mom" to the Who's Who of Hollywood A-Listers: from Jorja Fox in "Food for the Heart" to a "
Mother" to Jennifer Jason Leigh in "
Easy Money" with Rodney Dangerfield to her critically-acclaimed role of "step-mother" to both
Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in the fan favorite feature film called "In Her Shoes" directed by Oscar winner Curtis Hanson.
She has also played memorable recurring "
Mother" roles for decades in hit Network sit-coms and TV movies. Most recently, she played "Mom" to Mayim Bialik in Lifetime's "The Flight Before Christmas" and most memorably as "mother" to Amy Pietz in "Caroline in the City." She also was the (adoptive) mother to Lucy Liu in "Pearl," and played a mother-in-law to Alyssa
Milano in "Who's the Boss?" with Tony Danza. Azzara had other memorable recurring (non-motherly) roles on "Soap" and "Rhoda." In addition to playing Pietz's mother, Azzara loved the duality of the role as she was Lea Thompson's nosy next-door Italian neighbor the same seasons.
Azzara started her esteemed acting career when she starred in "Lovers and Other Strangers" on Broadway as an ingénue herself. Especially on Mother's Day, Azzara fondly recalls the legendary actresses who played her mother on screen, Oscar winner,
Shelley Winters on "The Love Boat" movie and the inimitable Irish actress,
Geraldine Fitzgerald in "East Money."
She also dedicates the book to her Sicilian mother, Josephine Bravo Azzara and pays homage to her in Chapter 15 called "Italian Mothers" in "God, Please Give Me Patience…and Hurry!"
Conley is a veteran of variety/comedy sketch writing and a tribute award show writer who cut his teeth at the tender age of 22 (in 1982) when he began his writing career with sketch comedy for TV legend Bob Hope. He is born and raised in LA, Jesuit educated, and a veteran Hollywood publicist; he also served as Vatican Press Advance for
Pope John Paul II and His Papal Mass at the LA Coliseum. He also dedicates the hit comedy book to his mother, Vivian Mary Conley.