Rosemary Foley—actress, prolific playwright, and devoted civic spirit has left behind a legacy radiant with wit, generosity, community, and art. She brought joy, creativity, and inspiration to all who knew her.
Rosemary Foley was an actress, prolific playwright, and devoted civic spirit has left behind a legacy radiant with wit, generosity, community, and art. She brought joy, creativity, and inspiration to all who knew her.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Rosemary discovered the stage as her natural domain, acting and singing in productions at Mundelein College. Her gifts soon led her to study acting and improvisation under Viola Spolin and Paul Sills of Chicago’s famed Second City, performing with their ensemble while also using drama as a tool for social purpose and human connection at Hull House.
Her path carried her to New York City, where she appeared off-Broadway with the IRT Theater to favorable notice in The New York Times. When the stage grew less hospitable to women of advancing years, she turned her talents to writing. Over several decades she produced more than one hundred plays, stories, poems, and books—works marked by irony, insight, and delightful unpredictability. Her play Punch and Judy, brought forth by Jean Erdman and Joseph Campbell of Theater of the Open Eye, inaugurated a distinguished literary career. Named among the ten best women playwrights by Works by Women, she received the Festival of New Works prize for I’m Sorry, I’m Sorry (1990), the Havemeyer Award for Ophelia’s Mother (2004), and saw her play Oh, Promise Me—first staged at the Theatre Artists Workshop (TAW) in Norwalk, Connecticut—adapted into a film that screened at the Big Apple Film Festival and won Best Screenplay at The Mountain Film Festival in 2008. Throughout these years, she remained a vital member and board member of the Theatre Artists Workshop. A retrospective of Rosemary’s plays, Bushwhacked, directed by TAW’s Andrea Green was performed in 2023.
Beyond the stage, Rosemary and her husband, Bill Foley, rendered enduring service to Pelham, New York, strengthening its cultural and educational life. Through her original productions, she helped raise funds for community institutions and was honored with induction into the Pelham Hall of Honor in 2010. She was instrumental in the founding of the Pelham Art Center, the creation of Pelham’s public library, and the financial stability of the Manor Club, among many other contributions. A dedicated teacher, she worked with children in public schools, led workshops at the Metropolitan Opera House, and, with Lenka Peterson, a Broadway actress, guided young performers at the Westchester Young Actors Theater encouraging bold invention, collaboration, and the joy of making plays.
Her home was always a place of merriment. Rosemary’s zest for life shone through her festive holiday gatherings, where charades, sing-alongs, generous tables, and lively games were part of the tradition. Known for her delicious lasagna and chili, she made every dinner party a celebration of art, food, and connection—yet her greatest feast was the joy she gave to others.
er lively spirit and keen imagination endure in the hearts she warmed and in the works she leaves behind.
Rosemary’s dynamic spirit, humor, and creativity will be deeply missed. Her plays—full of irony, insight, and humanity—brought joy and reflection to audiences far and wide.
Brava, Rosemary; your legacy will live on.