Suzanne Shepherd, an influential New York acting teacher who found success in midlife as a character actress, including memorable turns as the mothers of Edie Falco’s character on “The Sopranos” and Lorraine Bracco’s character in “Goodfellas,” died on Nov. 17 at her home in Manhattan. She was 89.

After establishing herself as a stage actress and director, Ms. Shepherd became well known as an acting instructor — her students included Gregory Hines, Bebe Neuwirth and Christopher Meloni — before she began acting in film and on television when she was in her mido-50s.

In her final film, “The Performance,” Ms. Shepherd played the mother of Jeremy Piven’s character, a Jewish American tap dancer whose troupe is scouted to perform for Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Recently, her friend Carl Capotorio said that Ms. Shepherd had told him, “There are plenty more mothers to play. I want to play them all.”