Marian Seldes

This daughter of noted critic and author Gilbert Seldes and niece of pioneering journalist George Seldes began her career as a dancer with the American Ballet. By her late teens, however, the tall, lithe brunette had decided to switch to acting, making her stage debut in a bit role supporting Judith Anderson in "Medea" in 1947. After apprenticing with Katharine Cornell (and supporting that legendary leading lady in NYC stage venues), Marian Seldes made her feature film debut in "The Lonely Night" (1952). By her own admission, her tony upbringing had instilled in her the notion that ambition was not necessarily a good thing, so consequently, her film career proved sporadic. After a flurry of roles, most of which wasted her unique presence, in films like "The True Story of Jesse James" (1957) and "The Light in the Forest" (1958), the actress returned to the East Coast and resumed her stage work.

The 1960s saw her flourish in original roles in plays by some of the acknowledged masters of the American theater. Seldes originated the role of Blackie in Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" (1964) and had the title role of "Tiny Alice" (1965) in Edward Albee's play. In 1966, she achieved one of the pinnacles of her career as Julia, the much married daughter of a bitter couple, in Albee's blistering "A Delicate Balance", a performance that earned her a well-deserved Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play. Five years, Seldes was elevated to the leading category for her strong turn in the one-night flop "Father's Day". (She lost to Maureen Stapleton.) By this time, she had a secondary career as a teacher at the drama division of The Juilliard School, a post she held from 1968 to 1990.

The 70s saw Seldes establish her reputation for consistency. Between 1974 and 1976, she racked up more than 900 performances in "Equus", first as the magistrate and later as the mother of the troubled boy at the heart of the play. For her more than 1,000 performance run in "Deathtrap" (as the playwright's murdered wife), Seldes landed a spot in "The Guinness Book of World Records" and to honor her, the producers elevated her name to above the title. As the 80s dawned, she was cast in more patrician roles like the WASP mother in "Painting Churches" (1983-84), Woman B in Albee's Pulitzer-winning "Three Tall Women" (1992-96), the imperious mother to Teri Garr in the short-lived ABC sitcom "Good and Evil" (1991) and Aunt Brook in a 1992 episode of "Murphy Brown". She lent the same mixture of superiority and snobbery to such roles as the Widow Douglas in "Tom and Huck" (1995) and the neighbor who inadvertently passes a stolen computer chip to her pint-sized neighbor in "Home Alone 3" (1997). The actress displayed a warmer side as the town historian in "Affliction" and as Kevin Bacon's terminally ill mother in "Digging to China" (both 1998). While filming what she has termed her homage to Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers in "The Haunting" (1999), Seldes was tapped by former student Gerald Guitterez to replace the ailing Irene Worth in the 1999 Broadway revival of Jean Anouilh's "Ring Round the Moon". The pivotal role of the wheelchair-bound Madame Desmemortes allowed her to display her talents and Seldes earned a Best Actress Tony nomination for her efforts.

• Born:
  August 23, 1928 in New York City, New York, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Acting teacher, Author, Director

Family

• Aunt: Helen Seldes. wife of George
• Brother: Timothy Seldes.
• Daughter: Katharine Claman. named for Katharine Cornell; named son Guthrie after Tyrone Guthrie
• Father: Gilbert Seldes. son of Russian Jewish emigres
• Mother: Alice Seldes. from a prominent WASP family
• Uncle: George Seldes. born in 1890; died on July 2, 1995; subject of the 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press , in which Marian appears as an interviewee

Education

• The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, New York, New York, 1947

Milestones

• 1942 Debut as a dancer with the American Ballet in Petrouchka
• 1945 Stage acting debut with Cambridge Summer Theater
• 1947 Broadway debut as a servant in Medea
• 1949 Early TV appearance in a production of Macbeth
• 1952 Feature acting debut, The Lonely Night
• 1955 Acted in The Chalk Garden on Broadway
• 1960 Returned East to appear in The Wall on Broadway
• 1964 Performed in Tennessee Williams The Milk Train Doesn t Stop Here Anymore
• 1965 Appeared as Herodias in The Greatest Story Ever Told ; last feature for over a decade
• 1965 Initial stage collaboration with Edward Albee, Tiny Alice
• 1967 Played Julia, the much married daughter of a warring couple (played by Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn), in Albee s A Delicate Balance ; received Tony Award for her performance
• 1968 Was a member of faculty of the Juilliard School of Drama; among her students were Kevin Kline, Gerald Guiterrez and Frances Conroy
• 1971 Earned a Best Actress in a Play Tony Award nomination for Oliver Hailey s Father s Day ; show opened and closed on the same night
• 1977 Made one-shot return to features as Harvey Kietel s mentally unbalanced mother in Fingers
• 1977 Portrayed the titular dancer in Isadora Duncan Sleeps with the Russian Navy
• 1978 Published her memoirs The Bright Lights
• 1986 Resumed film career portraying Alice B Toklas to Jan Miner s Gertrude Stein in Gertrude Stein and a Companion
• 1991 TV series debut as regular on the short-lived ABC sitcom Good & Evil
• 1992 First acted in Edward Albee s award-winning Three Tall Women ; later appeared in the Off-Broadway production (1994) as Woman B and on tour (1995-1996) as Woman A
• 1992 Had featured role in the screen comedy The Gun in Betty Lou s Handbag
• 1992 Offered a memorable turn as Aunt Brook on a holiday episode of Murphy Brown (CBS)
• 1995 Appeared as the Widow Douglas in Tom and Huck
• 1995 Portrayed former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the HBO biopic Truman
• 1996 Was interviewed for the Oscar-nominated documentary Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press
• 1997 Acted alongside former student Kevin Kline in Ivanov , directed by Gerald Guitterez, another former student
• 1997 Cast as the grumpy woman who inadvertently passes a stolen computer chip to her next-door neighbor (Alex D Linz) in Home Alone 3
• 1998 Played the terminally ill mother of the mentally-challenged Kevin Bacon in Digging to China , helmed by Timothy Hutton
• 1999 Had supporting role as a mysterious housekeeper in The Haunting
• 1999 Returned to Broadway, replacing an ailing Irene Worth in the revival of Ring Round the Moon , directed by Guitterez; earned Best Actress Tony Award nomination as the wheelchair-bound Madame Desmermortes
• 2000 Acted on stage as a theatrical grande dame in The Drama Dept. production The Torch-Bearers
• 2000 Starred in Edward Albee s The Play About the Baby , staged at the Alley Theater in Houston; reprised role in Off-Broadway production in 2001
• 2001 Appeared in Town & Country
• 2001 Had featured role in the Neil Simon Broadway comedy 45 Seconds from Broadway
• Appeared with Katharine Cornell in That Lady (1949) and The Tower Beyond Tragedy (1950)
• Co-starred as the murdered wife of playwright Sydney Bruhl in the long-running Deathtrap ; acted in over 1,000 consecutive performances, landing her in the Guinness Book of World Records and having her name elevated above the title
• Co-starred in the ill-fated (and ill-conceived) musical sequel Annie 2: Miss Hanigan s Revenge at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and its revised version at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut
• Moved to Southern California; acted on stage in in occasional films
• Played ALice B Toklas in Gertrude Stein and a Companion
• Played over 900 performances as the magistrate and later as Alan s mother in Equus
• Played the starchy matron in the hit Off-Broadway play Painting Churches
• Raised in NYC