Nancy Marchand

Nancy Marchand
Born	(1928-06-19)June 19, 1928 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	June 18, 2000(2000-06-18) (aged 71) Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–2000
Spouse(s)	Paul Sparer (1951–1999); 3 children

Nancy Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. Standing almost 6 feet tall, she began her career in theatre in 1951. She was perhaps most famous for her television portrayals of Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant and Livia Soprano on The Sopranos.

Early years

Marchand was born in Buffalo, New York, to Raymond L. Marchand, a physician, and his wife, Marjorie Freeman, a pianist. She was raised Methodist.

Career

A member of The Actors Studio, Marchand made her Broadway debut in The Taming of the Shrew in 1951. Additional theatre credits include The Merchant of Venice, Love's Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Forty Carats, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, The Plough and the Stars, The Glass Menagerie, Morning's at Seven, Awake and Sing!, The Octette Bridge Club, Love Letters, Man and Superman, The Importance of Being Earnest, The School for Scandal, The Balcony, for which she won a Distinguished Performance Obie Award, and Black Comedy/White Lies, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. She was nominated four times for the Drama Desk Award, winning for Morning's at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance in A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour.

Television

On daytime television, Marchand created the roles of Vinnie Phillips on the CBS soap opera, Love of Life and Theresa Lamonte on the NBC soap, Another World. She also starred as matriarch, Edith Cushing, on Lovers and Friends, a short-lived soap opera.

On prime time television, Marchand was known for her roles of autocratic newspaper publisher Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant—winning four Emmy Awards as Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series for her performance —and matriarch Livia Soprano, mother of Tony Soprano, on the HBO series The Sopranos, which earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She appeared in many anthology series in the early days of television, including The Philco Television Playhouse (on which she starred in Marty opposite Rod Steiger), Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. Additional television credits include The Law and Mr. Jones, Spenser: For Hire, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Coach, and Night Court. She played Hester Crane, mother of Frasier Crane, on an episode of Cheers.

Films

Marchand's feature film credits include Ladybug Ladybug, Me, Natalie, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, The Hospital, The Bostonians, Jefferson in Paris, The Bachelor Party(1957 film), Brain Donors, Reckless, The Naked Gun, Sabrina, Dear God, and From the Hip (1986 film).

Later life and death

At 70, after more than 50 years of acting, she discovered a new popularity, and it was for playing a wildly unsympathetic character. Livia Soprano was a role that she compared to that of Caligula's great-grandmother in I, Claudius, a woman who also happened to be named Livia. Nancy died from lung cancer and emphysema on 18 June 2000, the day before what would have been her 72nd birthday in Stratford, Connecticut. As a result, her character's death was written into the third season story line of The Sopranos. Her husband of 48 years, actor Paul Sparer (1923–1999), had died the previous year, also from cancer. The couple had three children, Katie, an actress who lives in Stratford; David (Rosebud) a lawyer, of Madison, Wis.; and Rachel Sparer Bersier, an opera singer of Manhattan.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Studio One in Hollywood	Jo March	2 episodes
1951	Lux Video Theater	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 Theater	Phyllis	Episode: "Two for Tea"
1954	Ponds Theater	Charlotte	4 episodes
1957	Studio One in Hollywood	Eleanor	Episode: "Rudy"
1957	The Bachelor Party	Mrs. Julie Samson
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	The Bells of St. Mary's	Sister Michael	Television movie
1959	Playhouse 90	Mrs. Yarbrough	Episode: "The Hidden Image"
1959	Sunday Showcase	Mrs. Clegg	Episode: "The Indestructible Mr. Gore"
1959	R.C.M.P.	Gerta Boyd	Episode: "Little Girl Lost"
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"
1963	Ladybug Ladybug	Mrs. Andrews
1964	The Defenders	Rhoda Banter	Episode: "Hollow Triumph"
1969	Me, Natalie	Mrs. Miller
1971	The Hospital	Mrs. Christie
1972	Look Homeward, Angel	Madame Elizabeth	Television movie
1977–1982	Lou Grant	Margaret Pynchon	114 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1978, 1980–1982) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
1983	Sparkling Cyanide	Lucilla Drake	Television movie
1984	The Bostonians	Mrs. Burrage
1984	Cheers	Dr. Hester Crane	Episode: "Diane Meets Mom"
1986	Spencer: For Hire	Emily Garden	Episode: "In a Safe Place"
1986	North and South, Book II	Dorothea Dix	6 episodes
1987	From the Hip	Roberta Winnaker
1988	From the Files of Police Squad!	Mayor
1990–1992	Coach	Marlene Watkins	2 episodes
1991	Regarding Henry	Headmistress	Uncredited
1992	Law & Order	Mrs. Barbara Ryder	Episode: "Blood Is Thicker"
1992	Night Court	Louise Cahill	2 episodes
1992	Brain Donors	Lillian Oglethorpe
1993	Crossroads	Aunt Dorothy	Episode: "The Nickel Curve"
1994	Homicide: Life on the Street	Lorraine Freeman	Episode: "All Through the House"
1995	Jefferson in Paris	Madame Abbesse
1995	Reckless	Grandmother
1995	Sabrina	Maude Larrabee
1999–2000	The Sopranos	Livia Soprano	26 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1999–2000) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

External links

• Nancy Marchand at Find a Grave
• Nancy Marchand at the Internet Broadway Database
• Nancy Marchand at the Internet Movie Database
• Nancy Marchand at the Internet Off-Broadway Database