Possibly Bovasso's most significant contribution to American performance art was her introduction of the work of Genet, Ionesco and others to the New York theatre scene. Although she made occasional TV appearances (including a role in the 1950s soap opera, "From These Roots"), she did not make her film debut until Otto Preminger's "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" (1970). In her infrequent film roles, she specialized in ethnic matriarchs, especially Italian-American women, from John Travolta's mother in "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and "Staying Alive" (1983) to Cher's aunt in "Moonstruck" (1987). Bovasso also served as dialogue coach for "Prizzi's Honor" (1985) and "Moonstruck".