June Squibb’s path to becoming a recognizable face in film and television was built on decades of experience in regional theaters and national tours long before she stepped in front of a camera. Born in Vandalia, Illinois in 1929, Squibb was raised by a musically gifted mother and a father who worked in insurance and served in the Navy. From an early age, she was drawn to performing, tap dancing in local taverns and landing her first acting role as Goldilocks. Her passion took her to Chicago and later to the Cleveland Play House in the early 1950s, where she was encouraged to embrace comedic and musical theater — a move that solidified her future on stage.

In 1959, Squibb made her Broadway debut as a stripper in the original production of Gypsy, performing alongside Ethel Merman. Over the following decades, she built a steady and respected career with roles in Broadway productions such as The Happy Time and Sacrilege, while also working extensively in national tours, regional theaters, and Off-Broadway productions. Alongside acting, she shared her expertise by teaching at HB Studio in New York City. Despite the changing theater scene, Squibb remained a constant, active presence, and by her early sixties, she noticed many of her theater peers migrating to New York’s growing film industry — prompting her own transition to the screen at age 61.

Her screen debut came in Woody Allen’s Alice (1990), quickly followed by memorable roles in Scent of a Woman and Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, thanks in part to casting director Ellen Lewis. What began as a late start turned into a rich and prolific chapter of her career, as Squibb became a dependable character actress throughout the 1990s and 2000s. A significant breakthrough arrived in 2002 with Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt, where her brief but impactful role opposite Jack Nicholson caught industry attention. This collaboration with Payne led to her acclaimed performance in Nebraska (2013), earning Squibb an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress — a role she fondly admitted was inspired by her own mother.

Throughout her career, Squibb challenged the traditional limitations imposed on older actresses, with the encouragement of her late husband, acting coach Charles Kakatsakis. She worked hard to resist typecasting and navigate the challenges his classes presented. In a remarkable milestone, at the age of 94, Squibb starred in her first leading film role in the 2024 action-comedy Thelma, a project inspired by a real-life scam targeting grandparents. Impressively, she performed nearly all of her own stunts, drawing inspiration from iconic action films and showcasing a mix of grit, humor, and tenderness that director Josh Margolin described as essential to the movie’s spirit.

Now in her tenth decade, June Squibb remains a lively and active figure in entertainment. Living independently with the support of an assistant, she continues to take on diverse roles, including recent voice work and film appearances. Her career — spanning more than seventy years — stands as an inspiring example of perseverance, talent, and the defiance of age-based expectations. Squibb’s remarkable journey serves as a testament to the idea that limitations are often self-imposed or societal constructs meant to be broken, and that personal fulfillment comes from following one’s passion on one’s own terms, no matter the stage of life.