Cameo
Creative Roles
Ivy Levinson-Purdy channels intense creative energy into bringing fun, funky couture to her shops.
By Andrea M. Galabinski.
Ivy Levinson-Purdy believes fashion is drama. You can tell she loves what she does, picking the perfect fabrics, designs and lines for her customers. She opened another Puddy ’N Pearl Boutique last fall at The Collection at Vanderbilt in Naples. The original has been open for several years in Fort Myers.
However, “acting is my first love,” she says.
She’s done a lot of theater in New York and Southwest Florida, preferring wacky, physical comedy roles to the straight-laced and serious. Her favorite role was portraying a racy German sex therapist in which she did some pratfalls, including a tumble over a couch. “I was and always will be an over-the-top comedic character actress,” she says. “It’s what I love to do.”
Another favorite was playing a “crazy cousin” for a production with a theater group in Fort Myers. “I got reviewed as a cross between Dolly Parton and Barbie—I had a big blond wig, big jewels on my fingers. It was a great role with lots of physical comedy.”
Originally from the Bronx, Levinson-Purdy lived in Manhattan most of her life and worked in SoHo. She went to Queens College to study acting and spent a year abroad studying acting in England. She and her husband/business partner, Chester Purdy, moved to Southwest Florida six years ago.
She also did a lot of commercial print work in New York. “I was the high blood pressure girl,” she says with a laugh. “Pharmaceutical companies love me; for one print ad they interviewed about 200 people and I got the work.”
Levinson-Purdy began working in fashion to support herself. Although she was acting a lot, she was being paid little for it. She also sold a cosmetic line for many years, which took her to a flea market in SoHo. “It wasn’t like a regular flea market. It was really fancy, across from Chanel.”
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