Mary-Louise Parker

Mary-Louise Parker
Name	Mary-Louise Parker
Caption	Parker in 2013
Birth date	2 August 1964
Birth place	Fort Jackson, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater	University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Occupation	Actress, author
Years active	1988–present
Partner	Billy Crudup (1996–2003), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (2006–2008)

Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress and author renowned for her versatile performances across stage, television, and film. She gained widespread recognition for her role as Nancy Botwin on the acclaimed Showtime series Weeds, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Parker is also a celebrated stage actress, having won a Tony Award for her performance in Proof and receiving critical acclaim for her work in productions like Prelude to a Kiss and The Snow Geese.

Early life and education

Born on a military base at Fort Jackson, she is the daughter of a United States Army officer and spent her childhood in various locations including Thailand and Germany. She developed an interest in acting during her high school years in Jacksonville. Parker pursued formal training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Shortly after, she moved to New York City to begin her professional career in the theater.

Career

Her early career was defined by stage work, with a breakthrough coming in the Off-Broadway production of Prelude to a Kiss, a role she later reprised on Broadway, earning a Tony Award nomination. Major film roles followed in the 1990s, including in Alan J. Pakula's The Pelican Brief alongside Denzel Washington, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Boys on the Side. Her television career ascended with her portrayal of Harper Pitt in the HBO miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, winning her an Emmy Award. She achieved her greatest popular success starring in the long-running series Weeds. Subsequent notable television roles include The West Wing, Mr. Mercedes, and When We Rise.

Personal life

She has been in long-term relationships with actors Billy Crudup and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. She has a son with Crudup and adopted a daughter from Ethiopia as a single parent. An avid writer, she published a collection of essays titled Dear Mr. You in 2015. Parker is also known for her philanthropic work, supporting organizations such as the UNICEF and the Food Bank For New York City.

Filmography

A selective list of her film work includes *Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), *The Client (1994), *Boys on the Side (1995), *The Portrait of a Lady (1996), *The Five Senses (1999), *Red Dragon (2002), *Saved! (2004), *The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), *Red (2010) and its sequel Red 2 (2013), and *R.I.P.D. (2013). Her television movies include The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999) and The Robber Bride (2007).

Stage work

Her notable theatre credits include her Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss (1990), for which she received a Theatre World Award and a Tony Award nomination. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in David Auburn's Proof (2001). Other Broadway appearances include Reckless (2004), The Snow Geese (2013), and The Sound Inside (2019), the latter earning her another Tony nomination. Her Off-Broadway work includes productions at Playwrights Horizons and the Vineyard Theatre.

Awards and nominations

Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades. She won a Tony Award for Proof and a Primetime Emmy Award for Angels in America. For Weeds, she received a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and several Satellite Awards. She has also been nominated for multiple Critics' Choice Television Awards and People's Choice Awards. Her performance in The Sound Inside earned her a Drama League Award and a Tony Award nomination.

Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:Tony Award winners