Marian Mercer
{{short description|American actress}}
{{More footnotes|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marian Mercer
| image = Marian Mercer 1972 (cropped).JPG
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birthname = Marian Ethel Mercer
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|11|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Akron, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|04|27|1935|11|26}}
| death_place = Newbury Park, California, U.S.
| spouse = Martin Cassidy (divorced)
Patrick Hogan (19??–2011; her death)
| children = 1
| yearsactive = 1955-2000
| alma_mater = University of Michigan
}}
File:Sandy Duncan Show cast 1972.JPG (1972). Front, L-R: Pam Zarit, Sandy Duncan, Tom Bosley. Back: M. Emmet Walsh, Marian Mercer ]]
Marian Ethel Mercer{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer.
Career
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2017}}
Born in Akron, Ohio, Mercer was the daughter of Samuel and Nellie Mercer. She graduated from the University of Michigan, then spent several seasons working in summer stock. She made her Broadway debut in the chorus of the short-lived musical, Greenwillow in 1960.https://playbill.com/article/marian-mercer-tony-winner-for-promises-promises-dies-at-75-com-178891
She drew critical notice for her performance in New Faces of 1962, and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and the Theatre World Award for her performance as Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises (1968). Additional theatre credits include Hay Fever and the short-lived 1978 revival of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off with Sammy Davis Jr. In 1979, she starred as Deirdre in Bosoms and Neglect.
Mercer was a regular on television, appearing in The Dom DeLuise Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, The Sandy Duncan Show, A Touch of Grace (starring Shirley Booth), The Andy Williams Show, and the sitcom It's a Living,{{cite web|url=http://tv.nytimes.com/show/156763/It-s-a-Living/overview|title=It's a Living|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715013433/http://tv.nytimes.com/show/156763/It-s-a-Living/overview |archive-date=July 15, 2012|date=2012}} in which she played piquant restaurant hostess Nancy Beebe Miller. (Mercer was one of four members of the cast who lasted through the series' network and syndicated runs; the others were Gail Edwards, Paul Kreppel, and Barrie Youngfellow). She had recurring roles on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; its sequel, Forever Fernwood; St. Elsewhere; and Empty Nest.
She made guest appearances on such shows as Love, American Style; Archie Bunker's Place; Mama's Family; Benson; The Golden Girls; Murder, She Wrote; Touched by an Angel; and Suddenly Susan, among many others. She had featured roles in the television films The Cracker Factory (1979), which starred Natalie Wood, and Murder in Three Acts (1986), starring Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis. Her big screen credits include John and Mary (1969); Oh, God! Book II (1980); and 9 to 5 (1980), where she played Missy Hart.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/19/archives/nine-to-five-office-comedy.html|title='NINE TO FIVE,' OFFICE COMEDY|authorlink=Vincent Canby|author=Canby, Vincent|date=December 19, 1980}}
Mercer had been reunited with two former co-stars of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (in which she played Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter) in two separate projects. She was reunited first with Dabney Coleman (he had played Merle Jeeter) in the film 9 to 5; and then with Louise Lasser (who played Mary Hartman) on It's a Living.
Death
Mercer was a resident of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California{{cite web|title=Actors' hospital to close|author1=Girion, Lisa|author2=Verrier, Richard|date=January 15, 2009|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-moviehome15-2009jan15,0,2131643.story?page=1|work=Los Angeles Times}} where she resided until her death on April 27, 2011, from Alzheimer's disease in Newbury Park, California at the age of 75.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/theater/marian-mercer-actress-with-zany-streak-dies-at-75.html|title=Marian Mercer, Actress With Zany Streak, Is Dead at 75|last=Hevesi|first=Dennis|date=May 4, 2011|work=The New York Times}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
| 1969
|Mags Elliot | |
| 1978
|Sammy Stops the World |Evie | |
| 1980
|Harriet Manley | |
| 1980
|Missy Hart | |
| 1992
|Ann Campbell Van Der Haven | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
| 1972
|{{sortname|The|Sandy Duncan Show}} |Kay Fox |Main role |
| 1973
|{{sortname|A|Touch of Grace}} |Myra Bradley |Main role |
| 1974
|Lucy |Segment: "Love and the Itchy Condition" |
| 1974
|Jo Enders |Episode: "Fish" |
| 1975
|Masha |Episode: "The Seagull" |
| 1975
|{{sortname|The|Bob Crane Show}} |Miss Chandler |Episode: "The Lyle Principle" |
| 1976
|Sister Margaret |Episode: "The Traitor in Our Midst" |
| 1976–77
|Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter |Supporting role |
| 1977
|Wanda Jeeter |Supporting role |
| 1978
|King of the Road |Mildred |TV film |
| 1978
|{{sortname|The|Harvey Korman Show}} |Grace |Episode: "The One Where Harvey Gets a Job as an Escort" |
| 1979
|{{sortname|The|Cracker Factory}} |Eleanor |TV film |
| 1979
|Miss Bradshaw |Episode: "Bosom Partners" |
| 1980
|Miss Crandal |Episode: "Mikhy's Visitor" |
| 1980–1989
|Nancy Beebe Miller |Regular role (120 episodes) |
| 1981, 1984
|Trudi, Ursula Van Dyne |Episodes: "Rivals", "Made in Hong Kong: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1982
|Frances |Episode: "The Loverwear Party" |
| 1982
|Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice |Rita |TV film |
| 1983
|Ace Crawford... Private Eye |Maureen |Episode: "The Gentleman Bandit" |
| 1983
|Foot in the Door |Mrs. Griffin |TV series |
| 1983, 1986
|Eve Leighton |Recurring role (season 2), guest (season 5) |
| 1984
|{{sortname|The|Love Boat}} |Mrs. Rhodes |1 episode |
| 1984
|Felicia |Episode: "Mama for Mayor: Part 2" |
| 1984
|Mrs. Ruffner |TV film |
| 1986
|Sister Regina |Episode: "Are You My Mother?" |
| 1986
|Dr. Woods |Episode: "Henry and Matt Get Sick" |
| 1986
|Daisy Eastman |TV film |
| 1989
|Oh, Henry! |Mildred |TV film |
| 1990
|{{sortname|The|Golden Girls}} |Magda |Episode: "Sisters and Other Strangers" |
| 1991
|Martha Benedict |Main role |
| 1991
|{{sortname|The|Julie Show|nolink=1}} |June Robbins |TV film |
| 1992
|Penelope Hope Daniels |Episode: "The Witch's Curse" |
| 1992
|Monica |Episode: "Born Again" |
| 1992–1994
|Ursula Dietz |Episode: "The Unimportance of Being Charley", "My Mother, My Self", "Love a la Mode" |
| 1993
|Grace Bailey |Main role |
| 1996
|Bunny |Episode: "In the Matter Of: John's 15 Minutes" |
| 1998
|Mrs. Richards |Episode: "The Closer" |
| 1998
|Flo |Episode: "Lady of the Lake" |
| 1998
|Mrs. Richmond |Episode: "The Thanksgiving Episode" |
| 2000
| |Episode: "Paradise Inn" |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0580285}}
- {{iobdb name|26580}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActress 1947-1975}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Marian}}
Category:Actresses from Akron, Ohio
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:Musicians from Akron, Ohio
Category:Theatre World Award winners
Category:University of Michigan alumni
Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California
Category:Deaths from dementia in California
Category:People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles