Phyllis Jeanne Somerville was born in Iowa City, Iowa, to Lefa Mary (née Pash; 1918–2011) and the Rev. Paul Somerville (1919-1995), who moved the family around as he preached at different churches, until settling in Traer, and eventually Cresco, Iowa. There, her mother worked as a librarian, and Phyllis attended high school, where she was involved with cheerleading, drama, and music, including playing clarinet in the All-State band. She had three brothers: Paul, (Clinical social worker MBA) (1947–2005), and Stephen, (Naval officer, Forensic pathologist.) And Bruce (Artist).
She attended Morningside College and then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa, studying theatre and graduating with a degree in English in 1966. In college, she starred in productions such as The Visit, Electra, and Macbeth. She next did graduate work performing classical roles such as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Hilberry Theatre through Wayne State University in Detroit and later became a resident equity actress with the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Her first paid job as an entertainer was at Buckskin Joe amusement park over summer break in college.
She lived in New York City, where she died in 2020, aged 76, of natural causes.
Sommerville whose scores of stage, television and film roles spanned over 50 years in the industry was rarely idle. Sommerville thrived on her secondary roles and ensemble work. Her Broadway debut in Over Here! a musical about life on the home front during World War II. A favorite of the director, Tom Moore, who cast her in Over Here! gave her a role in Once in a Lifetime starring John Lithgow. Her only other Broadway credit was in To Kill a Mockingbird as Mrs. Dubose, a virulent racist. She was better known Off Broadway and in regional theatres.
Featured in all four seasons of The Big C, Mary McNamara, a television critic at The Los Angeles Times said Phyllis Sommerville "inevitably steals every scene she's in." She also had a recurring role on WGN America series Outsiders which ran for two seasons beginning in 2016. Sommerville's appearance on television were as well-known as her theatre and film roles.
Best known for her film roles in Little Children, 2006, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2008, Surviving Family, 2012, Sommerville went on to appear in 30 films. In one of her last roles, the 2019 film Poms, Sommerville was among a group of women living in a retirement village who started a cheerleading club. She may have tapped into some long-ago firsthand experience for that role as mentioned in an interview with The Waterloo Courier in 2007 when she spoke of her high school years in Cresco. "Great wrestling town," she said. "I know that because I was a cheerleader."
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