Blythe Danner

Blythe Danner
Danner in 1980
Born	Blythe Katherine Danner (1943-02-03) February 3, 1943 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Alma mater	Bard College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–present
Spouse(s)	Bruce Paltrow (m. 1969–2002; his death)
Children	Gwyneth Paltrow Jake Paltrow

Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress of film, television and stage.

She is known for her role as Marilyn Truman, mother of Will, on the sitcom Will & Grace, and for co-starring opposite Robert De Niro in the three Meet the Parents franchise films. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow. In 1970 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Butterflies Are Free. She won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on Huff.

Her other film work includes roles in 1776 (1972), The Great Santini (1979), Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991), Husbands and Wives (1992), and I'll See You in My Dreams (2015).

Early life

Danner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Katharine (née Kile; 1909–2006) and Harry Earl Danner, a bank executive. She has a brother, opera singer/actor Harry Danner; a sister-in-law, performer-turned-director Dorothy (Dottie) Danner; and a half-brother, violin maker William Moennig. Danner has Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and some English and Irish, ancestry; her maternal grandmother was a German immigrant, and one of her paternal great-grandmothers was born in Barbados (to a family of European descent).

Danner graduated from George School, a Quaker high school located near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1960. She began her Friends School experience in Kindergarten at Media-Providence Friends School, then known as Media Friends in Media, Pennsylvania.

Career

A graduate of Bard College, Danner's first roles included the 1967 musical Mata Hari (closed out of town), and the 1968 off-Broadway production, Summertree. Her early Broadway appearances included roles in Cyrano de Bergerac (1968) and The Miser (1969). She won a Best Supporting Actress Tony playing a free-spirited divorcee in Butterflies Are Free (1969).

In 1972, Danner portrayed Martha Jefferson opposite Ken Howard's Thomas Jefferson in the movie version of 1776. That same year, she played a wife whose husband has been unfaithful opposite Peter Falk and John Cassavetes in the Columbo episode "Etude in Black".

Her earliest starring film role was opposite Alan Alda in To Kill a Clown (1972). Danner appeared in the episode of M*A*S*H entitled "The More I See You", playing the love interest of Alda's character Hawkeye Pierce. She played lawyer Amanda Bonner in television's Adam's Rib, also opposite Ken Howard as Adam Bonner. She played Zelda Fitzgerald in F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974). She was the eponymous heroine in the film Lovin' Molly (1974) (directed by Sidney Lumet). She appeared in Futureworld, playing Tracy Ballard with co-star Peter Fonda (1976). In the 1982 TV movie Inside the Third Reich, she played the wife of Albert Speer. In the film version of Neil Simon's semiautobiographical play Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), she portrayed a middle-aged Jewish mother. She has appeared in two films based on the novels of Pat Conroy, The Great Santini (1979) and The Prince of Tides (1991), as well as two television movies adapted from books by Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe and Back When We Were Grownups, both for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Danner at the Metropolitan Opera opening, September 22, 2008

Danner appeared opposite Robert De Niro in the 2000 comedy hit Meet the Parents, and its sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010).

From 2001 to 2006, she regularly appeared on Will & Grace as Will Truman's mother Marilyn. From 2004 to 2006, she starred in the TV series Huff. In 2005, she was nominated for three Emmy Awards: for her work on Will & Grace, Huff, and Back When We Were Grownups. Emmy host Ellen DeGeneres poked fun at Danner during the awards ceremony, saying that Danner should not be nervous because she was almost certain to win at least one Emmy, which she did, for Huff. In July 2006, she won a second consecutive Emmy award for Huff. For 25 years, she has been a regular performer at the Williamstown Summer Theater Festival, where she also serves on the Board of Directors.

In 2006, Danner was awarded an inaugural Katharine Hepburn Medal by Bryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center.

In 2015, Danner was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Environmental activism

Danner has been involved in environmental issues such as recycling and conservation for over 30 years. She has been active with INFORM, Inc., is on the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York and the Board of Directors of the Environmental Media Association, and won the 2002 EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. In 2011, Danner joined Moms Clean Air Force, to help call on parents to join in the fight against toxic air pollution.

Health care activism

After the death of her husband Bruce Paltrow from oral cancer, she became involved with the Oral Cancer Foundation, a national 501(c)3 nonprofit charity. In 2005, she filmed a public service announcement that played on TV stations around the country about the risks associated with oral cancer, and through that shared the personal pain associated with the loss of her husband publicly to further awareness of the disease and the need for early detection. She continues to donate her time to the foundation, and has appeared on morning talk shows, and has done interviews in high-profile magazines such as People to further public awareness of the disease and its risk factors. Through the Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, administered by the Oral Cancer Foundation, she continues to raise awareness and funding for oral cancer issues, particularly those involving communities in which disparities in health care exist. She appeared in commercials for Prolia, a brand of denosumab for injection.

Personal life

Danner is the widow of producer/director Bruce Paltrow, who died from complications of pneumonia while battling oral cancer in 2002, and the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow. Danner first co-starred with her daughter in 1992 in the TV movie Cruel Doubt and then again in the 2003 film Sylvia playing Aurelia Plath, mother to Gwyneth Paltrow's title role as Sylvia Plath.

Regarding meditation practice, Danner said: "I have found transcendental meditation very helpful and comforting. It centers me."

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series
  2005 Huff
  2006 Huff

Tony Awards

• Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
  1970 Butterflies Are Free
• Theatre World Award
  1968The Miser

Other Awards

• Women in Film Lucy Award
  2004

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	To Kill a Clown	Lily Frischer
1972	1776	Martha Jefferson
1974	Lovin' Molly	Molly Taylor
1975	Hearts of the West	Miss Trout
1976	Futureworld	Tracy Ballard	Saturn Award for Best Actress
1979	The Great Santini	Lillian Meechum
1983	Man, Woman and Child	Sheila Beckwith
1986	Brighton Beach Memoirs	Kate
1988	Another Woman	Lydia
1990	Mr. and Mrs. Bridge	Grace Barron
1990	Alice	Dorothy
1991	The Prince of Tides	Sally Wingo
1992	Husbands and Wives	Rain's parent
1995	Napoleon	Mother Dingo
1995	Homage	Katherine Samuel
1995	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	Beatrice
1997	The Myth of Fingerprints	Lena
1997	Mad City	Mrs. Banks
1998	The Farmhouse aka Eye of the Storm	Irma Miller
1998	The Proposition	Syril Danning
1998	No Looking Back	Claudia's mom
1998	The X-Files	Jana Cassidy
1999	Forces of Nature	Virginia Cahill
1999	The Love Letter	Lillian MacFarquhar
1999	Things I Forgot to Remember	Mrs. Bradford
2000	Meet the Parents	Dina Byrnes	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress in a Comedy
2003	The Quality of Light	Mary
2003	Three Days of Rain	Woman in Cab
2003	Sylvia	Aurelia Plath
2004	Howl's Moving Castle	Madam Sulliman
2004	Meet the Fockers	Dina Byrnes
2006	Stolen	Isabella Stewart Gardner
2006	The Last Kiss	Anna	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2008	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	Greta
2008	Side by Each	Daisy
2009	Waiting for Forever	Miranda Twist
2009	The Lightkeepers	Mrs. Bascom
2010	Little Fockers	Dina Byrnes
2011	Paul	Tara Walton
2011	What's Your Number?	Ava Darling
2011	Detachment	Mrs. Perkins
2012	The Lucky One	Ellie
2012	Hello I Must Be Going	Ruth
2014	Murder of a Cat	Edie
2015	I'll See You in My Dreams	Carol Petersen	Nominated – Gotham Award for Best Actress Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture
2015	Tumbledown	Ellen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	George M!	Agnes Nolan Cohan	Television movie
1971	Dr. Cook's Garden	Janey Rausch	Television movie
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 movie
1974	Sidekicks	Prudy Jenkins	Television movie
1975	Great Performances	Nina	Episode: "The Seagull"
1976	M*A*S*H	Carlye Breslin Walton	Episode: "The More I See You"
1976	A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story	Eleanor Gehrig	Television movie
1976	Great Performances	Alma Winemiller	Episode: "Eccentricites of a Nightingale"
1977	The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer	Mrs. Custer	Television movie
1978	Are You in the House Alone?	Anne Osbourne	Television movie
1979	Too Far to Go	Joan Barlow Maple	Television movie
1979	You Can't Take It with You	Alice Sycamore	Television movie
1982	Inside the Third Reich	Margarete Speer	Television movie
1983	In Defense of Kids	Ellen Wilcox	Television movie
1984	Guilty Conscience	Louise Jamison	Television movie
1984	Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues	Anne Sullivan	Television movie
1988–1989	Tattingers	Hillary Tattinger	13 episodes
1989	Money, Power, Murder	Jeannie	Television movie
1990	Judgment	Emmeline Guitry	Television movie
1992	Getting Up and Going Home	Lily	Television movie
1992	Cruel Doubt	Bonnie Van Stein	Television movie
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Margaret	Episode: "Maniac at Large"
1992	Lincoln	Elizabeth Todd Edwards	Television movie
1993	Tracey Ullman Takes On New York	Eleanor Levine	Television movie
1993	Great Performances	Narrator	Episode: "The Maestros of Philladelphia"
1994	Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All	Bianca Honicut	Television movie
1994	Leave of Absence	Elisa	Television movie
1997	Thomas Jefferson	Martha Jefferson	Television movie
1997	A Call to Remember	Paula Tobias	Television movie
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	Narrator	Episode: "Le voyage dans la dune"
1998	Saint Maybe	Bee Bedloe	Television movie
1998	Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery	Mrs. Murphy	Television movie
2001–2006	Will & Grace	Marilyn Truman	11 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (2005–06)
2002	We Were the Mulvaneys	Corinne Mulvaney	Television movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2002	Presidio Med	Dr. Harriet Lanning	3 episodes
2003	Two and a Half Men	Evelyn Harper	Episode: "Most Chicks Won't Eat Veal"
2004	Back When We Were Grownups	Rebecca Holmes Davitch	Television movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2004–2006	Huff	Isabelle Huffstodt	25 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2005–06)
2009	Medium	Louise Leming	Episode: "A Taste of Her Own Medicine"
2009	Nurse Jackie	Maureen Cooper	Episode: "Tiny Bubbles"
2011–2012	Up All Night	Dr. Angie Chafin	3 episodes
2015	The Slap	Virginia	Episode: "Anouk"
2016	Madoff	Ruth Madoff	TV miniseries

Theater work

• The Glass Menagerie (1965) (Boston)
• The Service of Joseph Axminster (1965–1966) (Boston)
• The Way Out of the Way In (1965–1966) (Boston)
• The Knack (1965–1966) (Boston)
• The Infantry (1966) (Off-Broadway)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1967) (Providence, Rhode Island)
• Three Sisters (1967) (Providence)
• Mata Hari (1967) (Washington DC, closed out of town before Broadway opening)
• Summertree (1968) (Off-Broadway)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (April 25 – June 8, 1968) (Broadway)
• Up Eden (1968) (Off-Broadway)
• Lovers (July 25 – November 30, 1968) (Broadway) (standby for Fionnula Flanagan)
• Someone's Comin' Hungry (1969) (Off-Broadway)
• The Miser (May 8 – June 21, 1969) (Broadway)
• Butterflies Are Free (October 21, 1969 – July 2, 1972) (Broadway)
• Major Barbara (1971) (Los Angeles)
• Twelfth Night (March 2 – April 8, 1972) (Broadway)
• The Seagull (1974) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• Ring Round the Moon (1975) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• The New York Idea (1977) (Brooklyn Academy of Music)
• Children of the Sun (1979) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• Betrayal (January 5 – May 31, 1980) (Broadway)
• The Philadelphia Story (November 14, 1980 – January 4, 1981) (Broadway)
• Blithe Spirit (March 31 – June 28, 1987) (Broadway)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (March 20 – May 22, 1988) (Broadway)
• Much Ado About Nothing (1988) (New York Shakespeare Festival)
• Love Letters (1989) (Off-Broadway)
• Picnic (1991) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• The Seagull (1994) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• Sylvia (1995) (Off-Broadway)
• Moonlight (1995–1996) (Off-Broadway)
• The Deep Blue Sea (March 26 – May 10, 1998) (Broadway)
• Ancestral Voices (1999) (staged reading) (Off-Broadway)
• Tonight (2000) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• Follies (April 5 – July 14, 2001) (Broadway)
• Little Murders (2001) (staged reading) (Off-Broadway)
• Carousel (2002) (concert performance) (Carnegie Hall)
• The Chekhov Cycle (2002) (Williamstown Theatre Festival)
• All About Eve (2003) (staged reading) (Los Angeles)
• Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012-2013) (Broadway)
• The Country House (2014) (Broadway)

External links

• Blythe Danner at the Internet Broadway Database
• Danner at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Blythe Danner at IMDb
• Stage biography from Playbill website
• 2003 article from the Environmental Media Association

Interviews

• Blythe Danner interview: Leading Ladies Working in the Theatre video from American Theatre Wing, December 2006
• Working in the Theatre: Performance video seminar at American Theatre Wing, April 1998
• Working in the Theatre: Performance video seminar at American Theatre Wing, April 1988