An Unmarried Woman

Dr. Penelope Russianoff, who plays Erica (Jill Clayburgh)'s therapist Tanya, was an actual practicing psychologist. The counseling sessions were filmed in her actual penthouse apartment on West 86th Street in New York, where she saw her patients. She worked for two and a half days and was paid US $2500. She was cast after having been recommended to director Paul Mazursky 'by Girlfriends' (1978) director Claudia Weill. Russianoff said that she improvised most of her dialogue which was based on the type of advice she gave her patients. After the movie was launched, Russianoff became a mini-celebrity, she said the role gave her "instant celebrityhood", being recognized on the streets of New York, where she signed autographs, and got a number of new clients. She wrote several self-help books in the 1980s including 'Why Do I Think I Am Nothing Without a Man?' (1988), a book first published about a decade after this film, but with a title and subject matter that was reflective of this picture.

The boom is clearly visible for several seconds during the art gallery scene.

For Betsy

Featured in Sneak Previews: Special Edition: Grease, Jaws 2, Animal House, Heaven Can Wait & The Best and Worst of 1978 (1979)