---
name: "Penelope Russianoff"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/penelope-russianoff"
roles: []
born: "3 November 1917"
died: "28 August 2000"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T06:13:25.599423+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Penelope Russianoff

Actor. Born 3 November 1917 in Baltimore. Died 28 August 2000.

## Details

- **Born:** 3 November 1917, Baltimore
- **Died:** 28 August 2000
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116976652, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751539/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1185646

## Biography

Penelope Russianoff (1917–2000) was an American psychologist, author and occasional actor. Born in Baltimore, she studied psychology at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University and maintained a clinical practice in New York, where she was on the faculty of the New School for Social Research.

She appeared as the therapist Tanya in the 1978 film *An Unmarried Woman*, directed by Paul Mazursky. Recommended for the role by Claudia Weill, Russianoff filmed her scenes in her own Manhattan penthouse office and contributed to the dialogue based on her therapeutic work. The performance brought her wider recognition.

Russianoff later wrote several self-help books, including the 1982 bestseller *Why Do I Think I Am Nothing Without a Man?* and *When Am I Going to Be Happy?* (1989). She also appeared on television, notably on *The Bob Braun Show* in 1983.

*Sources: imdb.com, nytimes.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *An Unmarried Woman* (1978), Fi1m 82, as Dr. Tanya Berkel — [page](https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman.md)

## Complete filmography (1)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *An Unmarried Woman* (1978), as Dr. Tanya Berkel — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/an-unmarried-woman.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/penelope-russianoff