Willi Burke (Doc’s former wife) made her Broadway debut as Thea LaGuardia in the Tony winning musical, “Fiorello!” directed by George Abbot. Other Broadway credits include the Tony winner, “On the 20th Century,” directed by Harold Prince. She created the role of Laurie in “The Happy Time” opposite Robert Goulet, directed by Gower Champion, and played Roxanne opposite Jose Ferrer in “A Song for Cyrano.” She toured as Laurie in “Carousel” opposite Howard Keel, with her children, Sharyn and Geoffrey Felder, playing two of the “Snow” children. And when she appeared in the title role of “A Song for Anastasia, Sharyn shared the stage with her, as a Russian child. Recent regional stage appearances include “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Collected Stories” and “On Golden Pond” with her husband, Bob Brooks.
On TV, Willi played Aunt Allison with Laura Linney on “The Big C,” was saved from choking by Edie Falco on the premier episode of “Nurse Jackie” and had a liason with a firemen on “Rescue Me.” Her soap opera credits include long stints as Fran Gordon in “One Life to Live” and Ruth Martin on “All My Children.” Films include “Just Tell Me What You Want”, directed by Sidney Lumet, and “Choke” with Sam Rockwell and Angelica Houston. Favorite, among her many commercials, is one for the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the great Luciano Pavarotti.