Nancy Marchand | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Marchand inLou Grant (1977) | |
| Born | Nancy Lou Marchand[1] (1928-06-19)June 19, 1928[2] Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 18, 2000(2000-06-18) (aged 71) Stratford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1946–2000 |
| Spouse | [3] |
| Children | 3 |
Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. She began her career in theater. She was most famous for portraying Margaret Pynchon onLou Grant – for which she won 4Emmy Awards – andLivia Soprano onThe Sopranos, for which she won aGolden Globe Award.[4]
Marchand was born in 1928 inBuffalo, New York, the only child of Dr. Raymond Louis Marchand, a dentist, and his wife, Marjorie Freeman, a piano teacher.[5] Her great-grandfather Louis Marchand, a stone cutter, emigrated from France.[6] She grew up in the adjacent hamlet ofEggertsville, New York.[4] She attendedAmherst High School, and studied acting at the Studio Theatre School in Buffalo, taking two buses to make the trip.[7][8] She graduated from theCarnegie Institute of Technology in 1949[9] and studied theater at theHerbert Berghof Studio[10] in New York City.
Marchand made her first professional stage appearance in 1946 inThe Late George Apley in Ogunquit, Maine.[11] She made her Broadway debut inThe Taming of the Shrew in 1951. She won a Distinguished PerformanceObie Award forThe Balcony, and she was nominated for theTony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play forThe White Liars &Black Comedy. She was nominated four times for theDrama Desk Award, winning forMorning's at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance inA. R. Gurney'sThe Cocktail Hour.
In 1953, she made her television debut starring oppositeRod Steiger onThe Philco Television Playhouse in the television playMarty. Marchand originated the roles of Vinnie Phillips on theCBS soap operaLove of Life and Theresa Lamonte on theNBC soap operaAnother World. She also starred as matriarch Edith Cushing onLovers and Friends, a short-lived soap opera.
Marchand was renowned for her roles as patrician newspaper publisher Margaret Pynchon onLou Grant, winning fourEmmy Awards asBest Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, and as matriarchLivia Soprano, mother ofTony Soprano on theHBO seriesThe Sopranos, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and aScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as twoEmmy Award nominations.[4]
She appeared in many anthology series in the early days of television, includingThe Philco Television Playhouse (on which she starred inMarty oppositeRod Steiger),Kraft Television Theatre,Studio One, andPlayhouse 90. Additional television credits includeThe Law and Mr. Jones,Spenser: For Hire,Law & Order,Homicide: Life on the Street,Coach, andNight Court.
Marchand's feature film credits includedThe Bachelor Party,Ladybug Ladybug,Me, Natalie,Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon,The Hospital,The Bostonians,From the Hip,Jefferson in Paris,Brain Donors,Reckless,The Naked Gun,Sabrina andDear God.
Marchand's death occurred between Seasons 2 and 3 ofThe Sopranos, before a plot line prominently involving her character was resolved. Her death was written into the plot, and one final scene was created for her usingcomputer-generated imagery, which was a groundbreaking technology at the time, together with outtakes from previous seasons.[12]
Marchand was married to actorPaul Sparer. He died in 1999 from cancer at age 75. The couple had three children: Katie, David, and Rachel, and seven grandchildren.[13]
A long time chain smoker,[14] Marchand suffered from lung cancer, emphysema, andCOPD. She died on June 18, 2000 inStratford, Connecticut.[15] She was posthumously inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[16]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Three Steps to Start | Producer, Julien Bryan International Film Foundation NYU | |
| 1957 | The Bachelor Party | Mrs. Julie Samson | |
| 1963 | Ladybug Ladybug | Mrs. Andrews | |
| 1969 | Me, Natalie | Edna Miller | |
| 1970 | Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon | Nurse Oxford | |
| 1971 | The Hospital | Mrs. Christie | |
| 1984 | The Bostonians | Mrs. Burrage | |
| 1987 | From the Hip | Roberta Winnaker | |
| 1988 | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Mayor Barkley | |
| 1991 | Regarding Henry | Headmistress | Uncredited |
| 1992 | Brain Donors | Lillian Oglethorpe | |
| 1995 | Jefferson in Paris | Madame Abbesse | |
| 1995 | Reckless | Grandmother | |
| 1995 | Sabrina | Maude Larrabee | |
| 1996 | Dear God | Judge Kits Van Heynigan |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Westinghouse Studio One | Jo March | 2 episodes |
| 1951 | Lux Video Theatre | Joan | Episode: "Forever Walk Free" |
| 1951–1958 | Kraft Theatre | Abby | 9 episodes |
| 1953 | Studio One in Hollywood | Miss Marmon | Episode: "The Hospital" |
| 1953 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Clara | Episode: "Marty" |
| 1953 | Lux Video Theatre | Phyllis | Episode: "Two for Tea" |
| 1954 | Pond's Theater | Charlotte | 4 episodes |
| 1957 | Studio One in Hollywood | Eleanor | Episode: "Rudy" |
| 1957 | The United States Steel Hour | Gen Arnold | Episode: "Windfall" |
| 1957 | Shirley Temple's Storybook | Queen | Episode: "The Sleeping Beauty" |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Sylvia Sands | Episode: "Free Weekend" |
| 1959 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Mrs. Howard Jones | Episode: "Miracle at Spring Hill" |
| 1959 | Playhouse 90 | Mrs. Yarbrough | Episode: "The Hidden Image" |
| 1959 | NBC Sunday Showcase | Mrs. Clegg | Episode: "The Indestructible Mr. Gore" |
| 1959 | R.C.M.P. | Gerta Boyd | Episode: "Little Girl Lost" |
| 1959 | The Bells of St. Mary's | Sister Michael | TV movie |
| 1960 | Play of the Week | Margaret | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | The Law and Mr. Jones | Dorothy | Episode: "The Long Echo" |
| 1961 | The Defenders | Mrs. Crile | Episode: "The Attack" |
| 1962 | Naked City | Esther Lindall | Episode: "The Multiplicity of Herbert Konish" |
| 1964 | The Defenders | Rhoda Banter | Episode: "Hollow Triumph" |
| 1972 | Look Homeward, Angel | Madame Elizabeth | TV movie |
| 1975 | Beacon Hill | Mary Lassiter | 13 episodes |
| 1976 | Another World | Theresa Lamonte | Unknown episodes |
| 1977–1982 | Lou Grant | Margaret Pynchon | 99 episodes |
| 1977 | Soldier's Home | Mrs. Krebs | TV movie |
| 1983 | Sparkling Cyanide | Lucilla Drake | TV movie |
| 1984 | Cheers | Dr. Hester Crane | Episode: "Diane Meets Mom" |
| 1986 | Spenser: For Hire | Emily Garden | Episode: "In a Safe Place" |
| 1986 | North and South, Book II | Dorothea Dix | 6 episodes |
| 1986 | Spearfield's Daughter | Claudine Roux | Miniseries |
| 1990–1992 | Coach | Marlene Watkins | 2 episodes |
| 1992 | Law & Order | Mrs. Barbara Ryder | Episode: "Blood Is Thicker" |
| 1992 | Night Court | Louise Cahill | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Crossroads | Aunt Dorothy | Episode: "The Nickel Curve" |
| 1994 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Lorraine Freeman | Episode: "All Through the House" |
| 1999–2001 | The Sopranos | Livia Soprano | 21 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | The Taming of the Shrew[17] | Hostess / Curtis | |
| 1953 | Love's Labour's Lost | Princess of France | |
| 1953 | The Merchant of Venice | Nerissa | |
| 1956 | The Good Woman of Setzuan | Mrs. Mi Tzu | |
| 1957 | Miss Isobel | Miriam Ackroyd | |
| 1959 | Much Ado About Nothing | Ursula | |
| 1962 | Tchin-Tchin | Pamela Pew Pickett (understudy) | |
| 1963 | Strange Interlude | Nina Leeds | |
| 1966 | 3 Bags Full | Genevieve | |
| 1966 | The Alchemist | Performer | |
| 1966 | Yerma | Dolores | |
| 1967 | After the Rain | Gertrude Forbes-Cooper | |
| 1968 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Roxane's Duenna / Sister Claire | |
| 1968 | Forty Carats | Mrs. Latham | |
| 1971 | And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little | Ceil Adams | |
| 1971 | Mary Stuart | Queen Elizabeth | |
| 1972 | Enemies | Tatiana | |
| 1973 | The Plough and the Stars | Mrs. Gogan | |
| 1973 | Veronica's Room | The Woman (standby) | |
| 1975 | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield (standby) | |
| 1980 | Morning's at Seven | Ida Bolton | |
| 1984 | Awake and Sing! | Bessie Berger | |
| 1985 | The Octette Bridge Club | Connie | |
| 1988 | The Cocktail Hour | Ann | |
| 1989 | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner (replacement) | |
| 1993 | The White Liars &Black Comedy | Miss Furnival / Sophie, Baroness Lemberg |
| Year | Organization | Category | Series | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Lou Grant | Won |
| 1979 | Nominated | |||
| 1980 | Won | |||
| 1981 | Won | |||
| 1982 | Won | |||
| 1994 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | The White Liars &Black Comedy | Nominated |
| 1999 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |
| 1999 | Viewers for Quality Televisions | Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series | Nominated | |
| 2000 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film | Won | |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Won | |||
| 2001 | Nominated |
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