Blythe Danner | |
|---|---|
 Danner in 2010 | |
| Born | Blythe Katherine Danner (1943-02-03)February 3, 1943 (age 82) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Bard College |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Relatives | Harry Danner (brother) Katherine Moennig (niece) Apple Martin (granddaughter) |
Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943)[1] is an American actress. Accolades she has received include twoPrimetime Emmy Awards forBest Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt onHuff (2004–2006), and aTony Award forBest Featured Actress for her performance inButterflies Are Free onBroadway (1969–1972). Danner was twice nominated for thePrimetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for portraying Marilyn Truman onWill & Grace (2001–06; 2018–20), and thePrimetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her roles inWe Were the Mulvaneys (2002) andBack When We Were Grownups (2004). For the latter, she also received aGolden Globe Award nomination.
Danner played Dina Byrnes inMeet the Parents (2000) and its sequelsMeet the Fockers (2004),Little Fockers (2010) and anupcoming fourth film[broken anchor] which is set to release in 2026. She has collaborated on several occasions withWoody Allen, appearing in three of his films:Another Woman (1988),Alice (1990), andHusbands and Wives (1992). Her other notable film credits include1776 (1972),Hearts of the West (1975),The Great Santini (1979),Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990),The Prince of Tides (1991),To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995),The Myth of Fingerprints (1997),The X-Files (1998),Forces of Nature (1999),The Love Letter (1999),The Last Kiss (2006),Paul (2011),Hello I Must Be Going (2012),I'll See You in My Dreams (2015), andWhat They Had (2018).
Danner is the sister ofHarry Danner and the widow ofBruce Paltrow.
Danner was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, to Katharine and Harry Earl Danner, a bank executive.[2] She has a brother, opera singer and actorHarry Danner, a sister and a maternal half-brother. Danner hasPennsylvania Dutch, some English and Irish ancestry. Her maternal grandmother was a German immigrant, and one of her paternal great-grandmothers was born inBarbados to a family of European descent.[3][4] Danner graduated fromGeorge School, a Quaker high school located nearNewtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1960.[5]
A graduate ofBard College, Danner's first roles included the 1967 musicalMata Hari and the 1968 Off-Broadway production ofSummertree. Her early Broadway appearances includedCyrano de Bergerac (1968) and herTheatre World Award-winning performance inThe Miser (1969). She won theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying a free-spirited divorcée inButterflies Are Free (1970).
In 1972, Danner portrayedMartha Jefferson in the film version of1776. That same year, she played the unknowing wife of a husband who committed murder, oppositePeter Falk andJohn Cassavetes, in theColumbo episode "Étude in Black".
Her earliest starring film role was oppositeAlan Alda inTo Kill a Clown (1972). Danner appeared in the episode ofM*A*S*H entitled "The More I See You", playing the love interest of Alda's characterHawkeye Pierce. She played lawyer Amanda Bonner in television'sAdam's Rib, oppositeKen Howard as Adam Bonner. She playedZelda Fitzgerald inF. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974). She was the eponymous heroine in the filmLovin' Molly (1974) (directed bySidney Lumet). She appeared inFutureworld, playing Tracy Ballard with co-starPeter Fonda (1976). In the 1982 TV movieInside the Third Reich, she played the wife ofAlbert Speer. In thefilm version ofNeil Simon's semi-autobiographical playBrighton Beach Memoirs (1986), she portrayed a middle-agedJewish mother. She has appeared in two films based on the novels ofPat Conroy,The Great Santini (1979) andThe Prince of Tides (1991), as well as two television movies adapted from books byAnne Tyler,Saint Maybe andBack When We Were Grownups, both for theHallmark Hall of Fame.
Danner appeared oppositeRobert De Niro in the 2000 comedy hitMeet the Parents, and its sequels,Meet the Fockers (2004) andLittle Fockers (2010). On May 30, 2025, it was announced that Danner would return for a fourth film which is scheduled to release on November 25, 2026.[6]
From 2001 to 2006, she regularly appeared on NBC's sitcomWill & Grace asWill Truman's motherMarilyn. From 2004 to 2006, she starred in the main cast of the comedy-drama seriesHuff. In 2005, she was nominated for threePrimetime Emmy Awards for her work onWill & Grace,Huff, and the television filmBack When We Were Grownups, winning for her role inHuff. The following year, she won a second consecutive Emmy Award forHuff. For 25 years, she has been a regular performer at the Williamstown Summer Theater Festival, where she also serves on the board of directors.[7]
In 2006, Danner was awarded an inauguralKatharine Hepburn Medal byBryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center.[8] In 2015, Danner was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[9]
Danner has been involved in environmental issues such asrecycling andconservation for over 30 years.[10] She has been active withINFORM, Inc., is on the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York and the board of directors of theEnvironmental Media Association,[11] and won the 2002EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award.[12] In 2011, Danner joinedMoms Clean Air Force,[13] to help call on parents to join in the fight against toxic air pollution.
After the death of her husbandBruce Paltrow fromoral cancer, she became involved with the nonprofitOral Cancer Foundation.[14] In 2005, she filmed apublic service announcement to raise public awareness of the disease and the need for early detection. She has since appeared onmorning talk shows and given interviews in such magazines asPeople. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, administered by the Oral Cancer Foundation, raises funding for oral cancer research and treatment, with a particular focus on those communities in which healthcare disparities exist.[15]
She has also appeared in commercials for Prolia, a brand ofdenosumab used in the treatment ofosteoporosis.[16][17]
Danner was married to producer and directorBruce Paltrow, who died of oral cancer in 2002.[18] She and Paltrow had two children together, actressGwyneth Paltrow and directorJake Paltrow.[19]
Danner's niece is the actressKatherine Moennig, the daughter of her maternal half-brother William.
Danner co-starred with her daughter in the 1992 television filmCruel Doubt[20] and again in the 2003 filmSylvia, in which she portrayedAurelia Plath, mother to Gwyneth's title role ofSylvia Plath.[21]
Danner is a practitioner oftranscendental meditation, which she has described as "very helpful and comforting".[22]
| † | Denotes productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | George M! | Agnes Nolan Cohan | Television film |
| 1971 | Dr. Cook's Garden | Janey Rausch | |
| 1972 | Columbo | Janice Benedict | Episode: "Etude in Black" |
| 1973 | Adam's Rib | Amanda Bonner | 13 episodes |
| 1974 | F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' | Zelda Fitzgerald | Television film |
| Sidekicks | Prudy Jenkins | ||
| 1975 | Great Performances | Nina Zarechnaya | Episode: "The Seagull" |
| 1976 | M*A*S*H | Carlye Breslin Walton | Episode: "The More I See You" |
| A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story | Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig | Television film | |
| Great Performances | Alma Winemiller | Episode: "Eccentricites of a Nightingale" | |
| 1977 | The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer | Mrs. Custer | Television film |
| 1978 | Are You in the House Alone? | Anne Osbourne | |
| 1979 | Too Far to Go | Joan Barlow Maple | |
| You Can't Take It with You | Alice Sycamore | ||
| 1982 | Inside the Third Reich | Margarete Speer | |
| Saturday Night Live | Guest host | Episode: "Blythe Danner / Rickie Lee Jones" | |
| 1983 | In Defense of Kids | Ellen Wilcox | Television film |
| 1984 | Guilty Conscience | Louise Jamison | |
| Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues | Anne Sullivan | ||
| 1988–1989 | Tattingers | Hillary Tattinger | 13 episodes |
| 1989 | Money, Power, Murder | Jeannie | Television film |
| 1990 | Judgment | Emmeline Guitry | |
| 1992 | Getting Up and Going Home | Lily | |
| Cruel Doubt | Bonnie Van Stein | ||
| Tales from the Crypt | Margaret | Episode: "Maniac at Large" | |
| Lincoln | Elizabeth Todd Edwards | Television film | |
| 1993 | Tracey Ullman Takes on New York | Eleanor Levine | |
| Great Performances | Narrator | Episode: "The Maestros of Philadelphia" | |
| 1994 | Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Bianca Honicut | Television film |
| Leave of Absence | Elisa | ||
| 1997 | Thomas Jefferson | Martha Jefferson | |
| A Call to Remember | Paula Tobias | ||
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Narrator | Episode: "Le voyage dans la lune" |
| Saint Maybe | Bee Bedloe | Television film | |
| Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery | Mrs. Murphy | ||
| 2001–2006, 2018–2020 | Will & Grace | Marilyn Truman | Recurring role |
| 2002 | We Were the Mulvaneys | Corinne Mulvaney | Television film |
| Presidio Med | Dr. Harriet Lanning | 3 episodes | |
| 2003 | Two and a Half Men | Evelyn Harper | Episode: "Most Chicks Won't Eat Veal" (unaired pilot) |
| 2004 | Back When We Were Grownups | Rebecca Holmes Davitch | Television film |
| 2004–2006 | Huff | Isabelle Huffstodt | Main role |
| 2009 | Medium | Louise Leaming | Episode: "A Taste of Her Own Medicine" |
| Nurse Jackie | Maureen Cooper | Episode: "Tiny Bubbles" | |
| 2011–2012 | Up All Night | Dr. Angie Chafin | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | The Slap | Virginia Latham | Episode: "Anouk" |
| 2016 | Madoff | Ruth Madoff | 4 episodes |
| Odd Mom Out | Jill's Mom | Episode: "Fasting and Furious" | |
| 2017 | Gypsy | Nancy | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Patrick Melrose | Nancy Valance | Miniseries |
| 2021 | American Gods | Demeter | 2 episodes |
| 2021–2023 | Ridley Jones | Sylvia Jones (voice) | Recurring role |
I have found transcendental meditation very helpful and comforting. It centers me.
| Singles | |
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| Family |
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