Nancy Marchand

Nancy Lou Marchand
Marchand with Ed Asner and Mason Adams in Lou Grant in 1977
Born	Nancy Lou Marchand (1928-06-19)June 19, 1928 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	1951–2000
Spouse	Paul Sparer ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 1999)​
Children	3

Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. 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 life

Marchand was born in Buffalo, New York, to Raymond L. Marchand, a physician, and his wife, Marjorie Freeman Marchand, a pianist. She was raised Methodist. She graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1949. She studied theatre at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City.

Career

An accomplished 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 Liars, 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 handily for Morning's at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance in A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour.

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 memorably starred as matriarch Edith Cushing on Lovers and Friends, a short-lived soap opera.

On prime time television, Marchand was renowned for her roles as patrician 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.

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), Brain Donors, Reckless, The Naked Gun, Sabrina, Dear God, and From the Hip (1987).

Death

Marchand suffered from both lung cancer and emphysema and died on June 18, 2000, in Stratford, Connecticut, one day before her 72nd birthday. Her character's death was written into the third season story line of The Sopranos. Her husband of 48 years, actor Paul Sparer, had died the previous year, also from cancer. The couple had three children: Katie, an actress, David (Rosebud), a lawyer, and Rachel Sparer Bersier, an opera singer. Marchand was posthumously inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	The Bachelor Party	Mrs. Julie Samson
1963	Ladybug Ladybug	Mrs. Andrews
1969	Me, Natalie	Mrs. 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

Television

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
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"
1999–2000	The Sopranos	Livia Soprano	21 episodes, (final appearance)

Awards and nominations

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

External links

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