Shelley Ackerman

Vocation

Lifestyle

Traits

American professional astrologer. entertainer, a singer, actress and comedienne with a body of live work, some film and TV including credits as Peter Allen’s opening act at Reno Sweeney and in the 20th anniversary production of "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." A contributor to the AstroDatabank collection, Shelley is the astrologer who obtained the candidate Bill Clinton’s exact birth time from his mother, Virginia Kelley in September 1992. She appeared on the Ricki Lake show in November 1996, on Fox's "the O'Reilly Factor" in December 2000 and December 2001, and "The Caroline Rhea Show " in January 2003. From December 1996 through August 1997 she hosted own astrology-comedy-news-talk show on WEVD in NY and in May 1998, her, "Karmic Relief" was included as part of Doug Stephan's national syndicated morning show. In 1998 Shelley wrote two 14 page specials for New Woman Magazine, in 1999 she wrote several columns for "Sports Illustrated for Women" and, in 2003, began writing for Beliefnet.com. Since 2004 (through the present-2009), she has written an annual Real Estate Horoscope for the NY Post, and since August 2006, her weekly column appears in The Westchester Guardian. According to the NY Daily News (Jan 1, 2000): “Ackerman is a wisecracking, vibrant ball of energy who can barely sit still for more than two minutes, Ackerman oozes glamour with her fluffy, platinum blond hair, head-to-toe black ensemble and glittery jewelry, not surprising, considering her multi-talented role as entertainer, singer, comedienne, actress, astrologer and admitted ham. The daughter of an Orthodox rabbi from the lower East Side, Ackerman graduated at age 16 from the High School of Music and Art and started pursuing her showbiz dreams at age 17, when she worked as a singing waitress at the famed Improvisation comedy club in midtown amid Billy Crystal, Jay Leno, Robert Klein, Liz Torres, Rodney Dangerfield, Jimmie Walker, Freddie Prinze, Elayne Boosler, and Andy Kaufman. She was on the job the night Kaufman auditioned at the club in 1973, now immortalized in the film "Man on the Moon." "It was so eerie for me to see this part of my life portrayed on film. ... Andy was sweet and vulnerable," she recalled. "Very complicated. I loved him. But you always got the feeling you didn't know him." Before long, Ackerman was headlining at New York City cabarets and appearing on shows like "Saturday Night Live," "Kate and Allie" and in the soap opera "Guiding Light." She became interested in astrology when she started seeking answers from the stars about her own life and soon found that she could read the chart better than the astrologer. Four years after turning professional, (1992) she started her syndicated radio show, "Karmic Relief," which is on hiatus (2000). She's working on a one-woman show and taught a course in astrology at the New York Theosophical Society (1999-2006). Judging from the brisk business she enjoys, she foresees the astrologer's role in society growing in the future. Her clients are willing to pay a minimum of $200 an hour for her interpretation of their charts, which she gets from a computer-generated program using their birth date and time, and the longitude and latitude of their birthplace. "You would be shocked at who comes in for a reading," Ackerman says. "Shocked with a capital 'S.' Politicians, heads of universities, entertainers." From the charts, she's able to tell a person's psychological makeup, what's possible for the client and when, what's likely and when and to what to aspire. "Good astrologers are good historians, social workers, crisis managers, midwives and family therapists," she says. "One woman told me she got more out of one hour with me than she had in ten sessions with a shrink." Link to Wikipedia biography