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Nancy Marchand
Marchand in Lou Grant (1977)
Born	Nancy Lou Marchand (1928-06-19)June 19, 1928
Died	June 18, 2000(2000-06-18) (aged 71) Stratford, Connecticut
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 theater in 1951. She was 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, on June 19, 1928, and grew up in the adjacent suburb of Amherst, New York. She attended Amherst High School, and studied acting at the Studio Theatre School in Buffalo, taking two busses to make the trip. She graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949. She studied theater at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City.

Career

Marchand made her first professional stage appearance in 1946 in “The Late George Apley” in Ogunquit, Maine. She made her Broadway debut in The Taming of the Shrew in 1951. She won a Distinguished Performance Obie Award for The Balcony, and she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The White Liars. She was nominated four times for the Drama Desk Award, winning for Mornings at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance in A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour.

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

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, and as matriarch Livia Soprano, mother of Tony Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as an Emmy Award nomination.

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.

Marchand's feature film credits include The Bachelor Party (1957), Ladybug Ladybug, Me, Natalie, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, The Hospital, The Bostonians, Jefferson in Paris, Brain Donors, Reckless, The Naked Gun, Sabrina, Dear God, and From the Hip (1987).

Marchand’s Broadway appearances included:

• White Liars & Black Comedy (Sep 01, 1993 - Oct 03, 1993), as Miss Furnival and Sophie: Baroness Lemberg;
• Love Letters (Dec 05, 1989 - Dec 10, 1989) as a replacement in the role of Melissa Gardner;
• The Octette Bridge Club (Mar 05, 1985 - Mar 23, 1985) as Connie;
• Awake and Sing! (Mar 08, 1984 - Apr 29, 1984) as Bessie Berger;
• Morning's at Seven (Apr 10, 1980 - Aug 16, 1981) as Ida Bolton;
• The Plough and the Stars (Jan 04, 1973 - Feb 10, 1973) as Mrs. Gogan;
• Enemies (Nov 09, 1972 - Dec 16, 1972) as Tatiana
• Mary Stuart (Nov 12, 1971 - Dec 18, 1971) as Queen Elizabeth
• And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (Feb 25, 1971 - May 29, 1971) as Ceil Adams
• Forty Carats (Dec 26, 1968 - Nov 07, 1970) as Mrs. Latham
• Cyrano de Bergerac (Apr 25, 1968 - Jun 08, 1968) as Roxane’s Duenna, Sister Claire
• After the Rain (Oct 09, 1967 - Dec 02, 1967) as Gertrude Forbes-Cooper
• Yerma (Dec 08, 1966 - Jan 28, 1967) as Dolores
• The Alchemist (Oct 13, 1966 - Nov 26, 1966)
• 3 Bags Full (Mar 06, 1966 - Apr 02, 1966) as Genevieve
• Strange Interlude (Mar 11, 1963 - Jun 29, 1963) as Nina Leeds
• Much Ado About Nothing (Sep 17, 1959 - Nov 07, 1959) as Ursula
• Miss Isobel (Dec 26, 1957 - Feb 08, 1958) as Miriam Ackroyd
• The Good Woman of Setzuan (Dec 18, 1956 - Jan 06, 1957) as Mrs. Mi Tzu
• The Merchant of Venice (Mar 04, 1953 - Mar 15, 1953) as Nerissa
• Love's Labour's Lost (Feb 04, 1953 - Feb 15, 1953) as Princess of France
• The Taming of the Shrew (Apr 25, 1951 - May 06, 1951) as Hostess, Curtis

In addition, Marchand was the Broadway standby for Maureen Stapleton as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie (Dec 18, 1975 - Feb 22, 1976) and for Eileen Heckart, as The Woman in Veronica's Room (Oct 25, 1973 - Dec 29, 1973) She was an understudy for Margaret Leighton in the role of Pamela Pew Pickett in Tchin-Tchin (Oct 25, 1962 - May 18, 1963).

Personal life

Marchand was married to actor Paul Sparer. He died in 1999 from cancer at age 75. The couple had three children: Katie, David, and Rachel.

Marchand suffered from lung cancer, emphysema, and COPD. She died on June 18, 2000, a day before her 72nd birthday, in Stratford, Connecticut. She was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Marchand's death occurred between Seasons 2 and 3 of The Sopranos, before a plot line prominently involving her character was resolved. Her death was written into the plot, and one final scene was created for her using computer-generated imagery, which was a new technology at the time, together with outtakes from previous seasons.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

1. "This Day in History". The Boston Globe. June 19, 1986. p. 64. ProQuest 1952941846. Today is Thursday, June 19, the 170th day of 1986 with 195 to follow. Those born on this day are under the sign of Gemini. They include Blaise Pascal, in 1693; the Duchess of Windsor, born Bessie Wallis Warfield, in 1896; bandleader Guy Lombardo in 1902; actress Nancy Marchand in 1928; actress Gena Rowlands in 1936; and actor Malcolm McDowell in 1943.
2. "Standing By Studio Arena, Nancy Marchand Credits Her Success to Her Hometown Theater". Buffalo News. June 2, 1997.
3. Chase, Anthony (April 30, 1991). "Nancy Marchand's Stage of Life". Buffalo News.
4. "Carnegie Mellon's Notable Alumni" (PDF). Carnegie Mellon University. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2013.
5. "Alumni". HB Studio.
6. "Standing By Studio Arena". Buffalo News. June 2, 1997.
7. ^ "Nancy Marchand". Broadway Internet Database. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
8. Kaplan, Don (June 20, 2000). "'Sopranos' mom loses her fight for life". New York Post. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
9. Gussow, Mel. (The New York Times). "Obituaries: Nancy Marchand, Actress Known for 'Lou Grant,' 'Sopranos'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 2, 2000. p. B7. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
10. Rawson, Christopher (February 1, 2001). "Theater family comes together to celebrate Hall of Fame honorees". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
11. Johnson, Allan (March 4, 2001). "How Livia Was Able to Return This Season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2023.