Feldshuh was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the daughter of Lillian (née Kaplan) and Sidney Feldshuh, who was a lawyer. Her brother David Feldshuh is the Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright of Miss Evers\' Boys.\n', '

She was raised in Scarsdale, New York, in Westchester County, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. In her high school years she was a student at the National Music Camp (later named the Interlochen Arts Camp) as a star in their drama division. \n', 'She started her career under British director Michael Langham at the Guthrie Theater where she was awarded the McKnight Fellowship in Acting.\n', '

Feldshuh appeared on the stage under the name "Terri Fairchild" before deciding to incorporate her Hebrew name and her original surname as her professional name, Tovah Feldshuh. She said of her name changes: "I fell in love with a Christian boy, Michael Fairchild, who didn\'t want to kiss a Terri Sue. He said: \'Terri Sue doesn\'t fit you at all. What\'s that other name of yours? Tovah? Now that\'s a name!" In 1994, she joked that she could have changed her name to "Goody Two-Shoes," since "Tovah" is Hebrew for "good," while "Feldshuh" translates from German as "field shoe."\n', '

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