Amanda Bearse

Amanda Bearse
Born	August 9, 1958 (1958-08-09) Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, director, comedienne
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Carrie Schenken (2010-present)

Amanda Bearse (born August 9, 1958) is an American actress, director and comedienne best known for her role as wacky neighbor Marcy D'Arcy (formerly Marcy Rhoades) on Married... with Children, a sitcom that ran in the United States between 1987 and 1997, and for her performance in the 1985 horror film Fright Night opposite William Ragsdale.

Career

Bearse studied acting at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse under instructor Sanford Meisner. Her initial success came with the role of Amanda Cousins on the soap opera All My Children between 1981 and 1984. During and after that time she appeared in a string of independent and B-movies, including Protocol (1984), Fright Night and Fraternity Vacation (both 1985). Her big star break came in 1987, when she was cast as Marcy Rhoades (later Marcy D'Arcy) on the hit Fox TV sitcom Married... with Children. She played the role until the show's end in 1997, and became known to television audiences all over the world. In the mid-1990s, Bearse also appeared in the films The Doom Generation and Here Come the Munsters.

Bearse took up the challenge of television and film directing while appearing on Married... with Children. Between 1991 and 1997, she helmed over 30 episodes of the show. She also directed episodes of Reba, Mad TV, Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, Malcolm & Eddie, Pauly, The Tom Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, Dharma & Greg, Veronica's Closet, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Jesse (starring her former Married... with Children co-star Christina Applegate), and Ladies Man. In 2005, she directed The Sperm Donor, a pilot for NBC starring Maggie Wheeler and In 2006, Bearse teamed with Rosie O'Donnell to direct The Big Gay Sketch Show, that debuted on Logo on April 24, 2007.

Personal life

Bearse was born in Winter Park, Florida, and was also raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Birmingham Southern College. She has been publicly out as a lesbian since 1993 (though it was only alluded to on Married...With Children in an episode where Marcy's cousin, Mandy [played by Bearse in a dual role], comes to visit and reveals to friend Al Bundy that she's a lesbian). It was additionally referenced to in another episode of Married...With Children titled "Breaking Up is Easy to Do (Part 2)" where Al and Peggy were separated and in the process of a divorce. In this episode the first instance occurs when Marcy bursts into the house after the initial separation and starts to sing about Al leaving, ending her song in "I've never felt so gay." The second reference came soon after as she sat next to Peg who was suffering from being alone. Peg looks to Marcy and comments about how much she likes her boyish haircut with a sly smile.

Filmography

• All My Children as Amanda Cousins (TV, 2 seasons, 1982–1984)
• First Affair (1983) (TV) as Karen
• Protocol (1984) as Soap Opera Actor
• Fraternity Vacation (1985) as Nicole Ferret
• Fright Night (1985) as Amy Peterson
• Hotel as Jean Haywood (TV, 1 episode, 1986)
• Goddess of Love (1988) (TV) as Cathy
• Likely Suspects (TV, 1 episode, 1992)
• Out There 2 (1994) (TV) as Host
• The Doom Generation (1995) as Barmaid
• Here Come the Munsters (1995) (TV) as Mrs. Pearl
• Married with Children as Marcy Rhoades (1987–1990), Marcy D'Arcy (1990–1997) Cousin Mandy (1997)
• Nikki as Marcy Rhoades (1 episode, 2001)
• Give or Take an Inch (2003) as Charlotte
• Here! Family (2005) TV series (unknown episodes)
• Totally Baked (2007) as Mrs. President

External links

• Amanda Bearse at the Internet Movie Database
• Amanda Bearse at AllRovi