Marcia Rodd

Marcia Rodd (July 8, 1938 – December 27, 2025) was an American actress, singer and director. After studying theatre at Northwestern University, she moved to New York City and began a successful career as a stage actress.

Rodd was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1973 for her performance in the musical Shelter. In 1964, she starred as Dorothy Gale in a televised production of The Wizard of Oz. She made her film debut in Alan Arkin's 1971 film Little Murders, and received acclaim for her role as Portland Angel in Jonathan Demme's Handle with Care (1977). In 1969, she originated the role of Bobbi in Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers.

Early years Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, on July 8, 1938. Her father was an oil company executive. She has a brother, Stephen Rodd, a lawyer, and a sister, Barbara. For most of her youth, Rodd and her family lived in Tulsa. They moved to Wichita in time for her to attend East High School for her senior year. She also worked part-time at a store.

Career Rodd spent the 1960s and 1970s appearing on and off Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in late 1964 as a replacement in the musical Oh, What a Lovely War, assuming the roles played by Linda Loftis. In 1966, she appeared as a replacement in the off-Broadway musical The Mad Show, and replaced Marian Mercer as Olivia in Your Own Thing, a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, one week after it opened off-Broadway in January 1968. She appeared in Norman Krasna's short-lived Broadway comedy Love in E Flat in 1967. From December 1969 to March 1971, Rodd performed in Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers on Broadway opposite Linda Lavin, Doris Roberts, and James Coco. Her portrayal of Maud in the Broadway musical Shelter garnered her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in 1973. She lost to Glynis Johns for A Little Night Music.

In 1971, she appeared in the film T.R. Baskin with Candice Bergen, and the black comedy Little Murders opposite Elliott Gould. Her other film credits included Handle with Care (1977) and Last Embrace (1979).

During the 1970s, she appeared in several made-for-television productions, and continued making appearances on television shows through the next three decades. One of these appearances was in the episode of All in the Family that served as the pilot for the series Maude in the role of Maude's daughter Carol Traynor, who was eventually played by Adrienne Barbeau in the series.

She returned to Broadway in the mid-1980s, as a replacement for the role of Clara in Herb Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport. In 1989 and 1994, she starred in two separate national tours of Fiddler on the Roof, as Golde opposite both Theodore Bikel and Topol as Tevye, respectively.

She also appeared in a 2003 episode of the television series Without a Trace, the 2012 short film Parallax, and the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless.

Death Rodd died on December 27, 2025, at the age of 87.

Filmography

Film

Television