Nancy Marchand

Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. Known for her performances on stage and screen, her accolades include four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nomination for a Tony Award.

Marchand began her career in theater. She was most famous for portraying Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant – for which she won four Emmy Awards – and Livia Soprano on The Sopranos, for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

Early life Marchand was born in 1928 in Buffalo, New York, the only child of Dr. Raymond Louis Marchand, a dentist, and his wife, Marjorie Freeman, a piano teacher. Her great-grandfather Louis Marchand, a stone cutter, emigrated from France. She grew up in the adjacent hamlet of Eggertsville, New York. She graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949 and 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 & Black Comedy. She was nominated four times for the Drama Desk Award, winning for Morning's at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance in A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour.

In 1953, she made her television debut starring opposite Rod Steiger on The Philco Television Playhouse in the television play Marty. 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 two Emmy Award nominations.

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, and seven grandchildren.

A long time chain smoker, Marchand suffered from lung cancer, emphysema, and COPD. She died on June 18, 2000 in Stratford, Connecticut, the day before her 72nd birthday. She was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1954Three Steps to StartProducer, Julien Bryan International Film Foundation NYU 1957 The Bachelor Party Mrs. Julie Samson 1963 Ladybug Ladybug Mrs. Andrews 1969 Me, Natalie Edna Miller 1970 Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon Nurse Oxford 1971 The Hospital Mrs. Christie 1984 The Bostonians Mrs. Burrage 1987 From the Hip Roberta Winnaker 1988 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! Mayor Barkley 1991 Regarding Henry Headmistress Uncredited 1992 Brain Donors Lillian Oglethorpe 1995 Jefferson in Paris Madame Abbesse 1995 Reckless Grandmother 1995 Sabrina Maude Larrabee 1996 Dear God Judge Kits Van Heynigan

Television Year Title Role Notes 1950 Westinghouse Studio One Jo March 2 episodes 1951 Lux Video Theatre Joan Episode: "Forever Walk Free" 1951–1958 Kraft Theatre Abby 9 episodes 1953 Studio One in Hollywood Miss Marmon Episode: "The Hospital" 1953 The Philco Television Playhouse Clara Episode: "Marty" 1953 Lux Video Theatre Phyllis Episode: "Two for Tea" 1954 Pond's Theater Charlotte 4 episodes 1957 Studio One in Hollywood Eleanor Episode: "Rudy" 1957 The United States Steel Hour Gen Arnold Episode: "Windfall" 1957 Shirley Temple's Storybook Queen Episode: "The Sleeping Beauty" 1958 Playhouse 90 Sylvia Sands Episode: "Free Weekend" 1959 Armstrong Circle Theatre Mrs. Howard Jones Episode: "Miracle at Spring Hill" 1959 Playhouse 90 Mrs. Yarbrough Episode: "The Hidden Image" 1959 NBC Sunday Showcase Mrs. Clegg Episode: "The Indestructible Mr. Gore" 1959 R.C.M.P. Gerta Boyd Episode: "Little Girl Lost" 1959 The Bells of St. Mary's Sister Michael TV movie 1960 Play of the Week Margaret 2 episodes 1960 The Law and Mr. Jones Dorothy Episode: "The Long Echo" 1961 The Defenders Mrs. Crile Episode: "The Attack" 1962 Naked City Esther Lindall Episode: "The Multiplicity of Herbert Konish" 1964 The Defenders Rhoda Banter Episode: "Hollow Triumph" 1972 Look Homeward, Angel Madame Elizabeth TV movie 1975 Beacon Hill Mary Lassiter 13 episodes 1976 Another World Theresa Lamonte Unknown episodes 1977–1982 Lou Grant Margaret Pynchon 99 episodes 1977 Soldier's Home Mrs. Krebs TV movie 1983 Sparkling Cyanide Lucilla Drake TV movie 1984 Cheers Dr. Hester Crane Episode: "Diane Meets Mom" 1986 Spenser: For Hire Emily Garden Episode: "In a Safe Place" 1986 North and South, Book II Dorothea Dix 6 episodes 1986 Spearfield's Daughter Claudine Roux Miniseries 1990–1992 Coach Marlene Watkins 2 episodes 1992 Law & Order Mrs. Barbara Ryder Episode: "Blood Is Thicker" 1992 Night Court Louise Cahill 2 episodes 1993 Crossroads Aunt Dorothy Episode: "The Nickel Curve" 1994 Homicide: Life on the Street Lorraine Freeman Episode: "All Through the House" 1999–2001 The Sopranos Livia Soprano 21 episodes

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1951 The Taming of the Shrew Hostess / Curtis 1953 Love's Labour's LostPrincess of France 1953 The Merchant of VeniceNerissa 1956 The Good Woman of SetzuanMrs. Mi Tzu 1957 Miss Isobel Miriam Ackroyd 1959 Much Ado About Nothing Ursula 1962 Tchin-Tchin Pamela Pew Pickett (understudy) 1963 Strange InterludeNina Leeds 1966 3 Bags Full Genevieve 1966 The AlchemistPerformer 1966 YermaDolores 1967 After the Rain Gertrude Forbes-Cooper 1968 Cyrano de BergeracRoxane's Duenna / Sister Claire 1968 Forty Carats Mrs. Latham 1971 And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little Ceil Adams 1971 Mary StuartQueen Elizabeth 1972 EnemiesTatiana 1973 The Plough and the StarsMrs. Gogan 1973 Veronica's Room The Woman (standby) 1975 The Glass Menagerie Amanda Wingfield (standby) 1980 Morning's at Seven Ida Bolton 1984 Awake and Sing!Bessie Berger 1985 The Octette Bridge Club Connie 1988 The Cocktail Hour Ann 1989 Love LettersMelissa Gardner (replacement) 1993 The White Liars & Black ComedyMiss Furnival / Sophie, Baroness Lemberg

Awards and nominations Year Organization Category Series Result 1978 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Lou Grant 1979 1980 1981 1982 1994 Tony Awards Best Actress in a Play The White Liars & Black Comedy 1999 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series The Sopranos 1999 Viewers for Quality Television Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series 2000 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Actor Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2001