Sara Botsford stars as Estelle Burroughs on ABC Family's "Sophie." Estelle is Sophie's eccentric client and a former mistress of her father. Because of the loose ties to the family, Estelle thinks of herself as Sophie's family.
Sara Botsford hails from a small mining village in northern Canada, where her first exposure to theatre was at age six, playing the Virgin Mary, cast because she owned the only boy doll in town. From that auspicious beginning, she went on to study theatre at York University in Toronto. Since then, she has worked on stage, in television and film as an actress, producer, director and writer.
In 1973, she joined the Stratford Festival for two seasons. Theatre highlights include: in "The Real Thing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Top Girls," "Private Lives," and "The Royal Family." Television highlights include the long running, award winning Canadian series "E.N.G.," as Ann Hildebrandt; Norma in the AMC series "The Lot;" the acclaimed Canadian mini-series "The Arrow," with Dan Aykroyd; as well as a myriad of guest starring roles on U.S. primetime, including "NCIS," "ER," "The West Wing," "Ally McBeal," "Law and Order," "NYPD Blue," "The L Word," "Crossing Jordan," and "Judging Amy" to name a few.
Botsford has won an Obie Award for "Top Girls," at the New York Shakespeare Festival, a Gemini Award for best actress for "E.N.G.," and been nominated for a Genie Award for best actress in the film "By Design" and a Gemini for best supporting actress in "The Arrow."
As a director, Botsford has directed the feature film "Dead Innocent," starring Geneviève Bujold and Graeme Greene (1996) as well as several stage productions, and a television pilot. Botsford has also directed the theater productions of "The Cover of Life," "The Good Life," "Zen and the Art of Mourning A Mother," "Dorothy Parker" and "the Shoot," all in Los Angeles, and "Summer and Smoke" at the Firehall Theatre in Vancouver.
She is co-founder and co-artistic director of 49th Parallel Theatre, now in its second season and enjoying enormous critical success in Los Angeles. The mandate is to bring great Canadian plays to Los Angeles and their recent production of "Palace of the End," which has been hailed by critics and audiences alike. The lead actress is nominated for an L.A. Ovation Award for best actress.
Botsford is the writer, co-director and co-producer of "Canooks," a half hour comedy pilot about Canadian actors desperate to make it big in Los Angeles.
Sara Botsford hails from a small mining village in northern Canada, where her first exposure to theatre was at age six, playing the Virgin Mary, cast because she owned the only boy doll in town. From that auspicious beginning, she went on to study theatre at York University in Toronto. Since then, she has worked on stage, in television and film as an actress, producer, director and writer.
In 1973, she joined the Stratford Festival for two seasons. Theatre highlights include: in "The Real Thing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Top Girls," "Private Lives," and "The Royal Family." Television highlights include the long running, award winning Canadian series "E.N.G.," as Ann Hildebrandt; Norma in the AMC series "The Lot;" the acclaimed Canadian mini-series "The Arrow," with Dan Aykroyd; as well as a myriad of guest starring roles on U.S. primetime, including "NCIS," "ER," "The West Wing," "Ally McBeal," "Law and Order," "NYPD Blue," "The L Word," "Crossing Jordan," and "Judging Amy" to name a few.
Botsford has won an Obie Award for "Top Girls," at the New York Shakespeare Festival, a Gemini Award for best actress for "E.N.G.," and been nominated for a Genie Award for best actress in the film "By Design" and a Gemini for best supporting actress in "The Arrow."
As a director, Botsford has directed the feature film "Dead Innocent," starring Geneviève Bujold and Graeme Greene (1996) as well as several stage productions, and a television pilot. Botsford has also directed the theater productions of "The Cover of Life," "The Good Life," "Zen and the Art of Mourning A Mother," "Dorothy Parker" and "the Shoot," all in Los Angeles, and "Summer and Smoke" at the Firehall Theatre in Vancouver.
She is co-founder and co-artistic director of 49th Parallel Theatre, now in its second season and enjoying enormous critical success in Los Angeles. The mandate is to bring great Canadian plays to Los Angeles and their recent production of "Palace of the End," which has been hailed by critics and audiences alike. The lead actress is nominated for an L.A. Ovation Award for best actress.
Botsford is the writer, co-director and co-producer of "Canooks," a half hour comedy pilot about Canadian actors desperate to make it big in Los Angeles.