Celebrating women in television: Marsha Warfield

Comedian Marsha Warfield skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s with her role as tough-talking bailiff Roz Russell on the NBC sitcom Night Court. The series, set during the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, garnered multiple Emmy nods during its eight-year run, winning seven awards.

“Everybody talks about Night Court, even people who were too young to see it. They tell me that I'm their mother's favorite comedian,” Warfield tells START TV. “It's nice to hear that something you did stayed with people and made an impression.” 

Warfield went on to appear in numerous TV shows over the years, before coming out of retirement to return to her roots in standup comedy in 2019, calling herself “the world’s oldest rookie.” “If I was just starting out, I’d give myself the same advice I did then, which was don’t quit,” Warfield told StartTV. “If you quit, you never know what might have happened. But if you stick with it, you’ll find all kinds of different things you don’t expect.”