Janie Sell Dies: Tony-Winning ‘Over Here!’ Broadway Actor Was 86
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- Janie Sell died June 9 at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, New Jersey, following a brief illness; her death was announced by friends including actor James Dybas and composer Alan Menken.
- Sell won the sole Tony Award for the 1974 Broadway musical 'Over Here!,' a World War II-era nostalgia show co-starring the Andrews Sisters (Maxine and Patty Andrews); the cast also included up-and-comers Treat Williams, John Travolta, Ann Reinking, Phyllis Somerville and Marilu Henner.
- Alan Menken wrote on Facebook that Sell was 'my very first leading lady, in my very first produced musical, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater' in 1979, calling her 'wonderful to work with and beautiful and evocative as the character of Sylvia Rosewater.'
- Sell's Broadway career began with 1968's 'George M!,' followed by 'Irene' (1973), 'Pal Joey' (1976), 'Happy End' (1977), and a 1978 replacement stint in 'I Love My Wife' alongside Tom and Dick Smothers, Tom Wopat and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs.
- Sell largely retired from acting by the 1990s but returned as a standby and substitute for Carol Burnett in 'Moon Over Buffalo' in 1995.
- Her TV credits included the 1975 TV movie 'Wives' (directed by Jay Sandrich, written by Garry Marshall) and 'Lost and Found' (with George Segal and Glenda Jackson), plus the 1984 TV movie 'A Good Sport' with Lee Remick and Ralph Waite.
- Sell is survived by son Jason Fries, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild; she was predeceased by husbands Earl Fries and Pat Trese.
Why it matters: Sell's Tony was the production's only win from a cast that launched Travolta, Reinking, and Henner, making her the sole award legacy of 'Over Here!' Menken's personal tribute marks her as the first leading lady of a composer who would go on to define modern Disney musicals, a concrete link between a 1979 off-Broadway debut and decades of film scoring.
