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Frances Conroy (born November 13, 1953) is an American actress. She is most widely known for playing the matriarch Ruth O'Connor Fisher Sibley on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe in 2004.

Early life

Conroy was born in Monroe, Georgia to a business executive father and a mother who also worked in business. She studied drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Juilliard School in New York City. She was a student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania during the school year 1971-1972 where she was a member of the Mermaid Players and appeared in college theatrical productions.

Career

During the 1970s, she performed regularly with regional and touring theatrical companies (most notably The Acting Company), and appeared as Desdemona at the Delacorte Theatre in a production of Othello with Richard Dreyfuss and Raul Julia. One of her first film appearances was as a Shakespearean actress in Woody Allen's 1979 classic, Manhattan. In 1980, she made a very well-received Broadway debut in Edward Albee's The Lady From Dubuque. She focused primarily on her stage career for the next two decades, appearing in such productions as Our Town, The Little Foxes, and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, receiving one Tony and four Drama Desk Award nominations (including a Drama Desk win for The Secret Rapture). Conroy had a small role in the 1984 movie Falling in Love, the role of a waitress in a swanky restaurant.

In 1992, Conroy became friends with playwright Arthur Miller, which led to her involvement in many of his productions on both stage and screen. During this period, she also appeared on television shows, miniseries, and made-for-TV movies, and met and married fellow actor Jan Munroe.

In 2008, she landed a recurring role in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Virginia Hildebrand, a rich woman who tries to buy the Solis family's love. But Eva Longoria Parker's character, Gabrielle Solis, declines Virginia's motives, despite being open to receiving her entire fortune.

In 2010, Conroy played Madylyn, the wife of Robert De Niro's character Jack Mabrey, in the John Curran thriller Stone.

Conroy is best known for her critically acclaimed work on HBO's original drama series Six Feet Under playing family matriarch Ruth Fisher. For her work on the series, Conroy was nominated for four Emmy Awards (one for every year she was eligible) and won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Filmography

• Falling in Love (1984)
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
• Another Woman (1988)
• Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
• Billy Bathgate (1991)
• Scent of a Woman (1992)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
• Developing (1995)
• The Neon Bible (1995)
• The Crucible (1996)
• Six Feet Under (2001–2005)
• Maid in Manhattan (2002)
• Die Mommie Die! (2003)
• Catwoman (2004)
• The Aviator (2004)
• Shopgirl (2005)
• Broken Flowers (2005)
• Ira and Abby (2006)
• The Wicker Man (2006)
• The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007)
• Humboldt County (2008)
• The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
• Desperate Housewives (2008)
• Last Chance Harvey (2008)
• How I Met Your Mother (2009 and 2010)
• Love Happens (2009)
• Waking Madison (2009)
• New in Town (2009)
• Stay Cool (2009)
• Shelter (2009)
• Nip/Tuck (2010)
• Happy Town (2010)
• Stone (2010)
• Grey's Anatomy (2010)
• The United States of Tara (2011)

References

1. Frances Conroy Biography (1953-). filmreference.com

External links

• Frances Conroy at the Internet Broadway Database
• Frances Conroy at IMDb
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Template:Persondata

• 1953 births
• American film actors
• American stage actors
• American television actors
• Actors from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Juilliard School alumni
• Living people
• Ward Melville High School alumni
• People from Walton County, Georgia
• Drama Desk Award winners
• Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners