Elizabeth Owens

Elizabeth Owens was born Irma Schneider in Brooklyn, NY. Her parents were Sophie Yadlovker/Jadlovkier Schneider, an immigrant from Vilna, Lithuania, and Benjamin J. Schneider, an immigrant from Vienna, Austria. At age 16, Irma Schneider became an emancipated minor, moving to Manhattan to attend acting school at the Neighborhood Playhouse, the Actors' Studio and later at the New School. She acted under several stage names before choosing the name Elizabeth Owens. She performed with Walter Matthau, Elaine Stritch, Shelley Winters, Harry Belafonte and Marlon Brando during her early days in theater. Owens married Gene Feist in 1957. In 1965 the couple founded the Roundabout Theater. They later had two daughters, Nicole Feist and Gena Feist. Owens' Broadway debut was in 1956 with Leslie Stevens' "The Lovers". She also performed at the Kennedy Center. Owens appeared in the national tours of "The Winslow Boy, "Driving Miss Daisy," "Me and My Girl" and "The Sound of Music" (with Marie Osmond), as well as films such as "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "Room 302" and "Mr. Deeds". Upon her death in 2005, Owens was survived by her husband, Gene Feist, her two daughters and a grand-son.