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Long Island native Maria Pusateri is an actor and acclaimed producer/director specializing in documentary and nonfiction. She discovered her passion for acting while studying at the renowned HB Studio in New York City under actor/director Bill Hickey. In 1982, Maria paused her career and acting ambitions to focus on raising her family. Over the years, she continued honing her skills sporadically, performing in theater, independent films, and new media.
Among Pusateri’s independent film roles are a powerful executive grappling with her shrinking influence at work in Title VII, and a free-spirited young grandmother conflicted with her daughter over raising her grandson in Over Dinner. Known for her quick mastery of accents, she showcased this talent in local theater productions such as Noises Off, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Confiscation, a post-WWII one-act play set in Hungary.
Maria made her documentary filmmaking debut with the award-winning 2006 feature Vito After: A 9/11 Responder Copes in the Aftermath, which follows her NYPD homicide detective brother-in-law as he deals with trauma in the two years following September 11th. She also served as associate producer on Cynthia Wade’s Oscar-nominated documentary short Mondays at Racine (2013), highlighting inspiring stories of women battling breast cancer and the supportive sisters at their salon.
In the early 2000s, Pusateri earned multiple industry awards and a New York Emmy nomination for Programming About the Arts as a field producer for Cablevision’s Metro Channels. She created over 40 episodes of the cultural arts series Unblinking Eye. Notable episodes included the award-winning play reading series Food for Thought, featuring actors like Elaine Stritch, John Shea, Judith Light, and Bob Dishy. Other episodes covered the Irish Film Fleadh with Cillian Murphy promoting his 1999 film Sunburn, Free Arts for Abused Children where she interviewed Harrison Ford, and book events with Ethan Hawke & Uma Thurman, Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara, and Jackie Collins.
In the late 1970s, Maria worked in advertising and promotion for Paramount Television Distribution and later handled theatrical publicity for Paramount Pictures. She contributed to the creation of promotional materials for iconic Paramount TV shows including Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, and Bosom Buddies. While at Paramount Pictures, she managed field publicity campaigns for early 1980s film releases such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gallipoli, Ragtime, Reds, Grease 2, and An Officer and a Gentleman.
In 2025, Maria and her husband Donald relocated from Long Island to the Los Angeles area to be closer to their grandson, daughter, and son-in-law. They are proud parents of Nicole Pusateri, an award-winning documentary producer, and Don Pusateri, Jr., an exceptionally talented rock drummer.
