Tyne Daly
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
In February 1991, Daly pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge in a Los Angeles courtroom. She was fined $916 and ordered to attend a 90-day adult education program. She had been arrested on January 14. After the incident, Daly said, "I made a dumb mistake."
During the run of "Cagney & Lacey", Daly's then-husband Georg Sanford Brown directed numerous episodes of the series, winning an Emmy Award for one such effort.
Biography
After more than two decades as a journeyman player on stage and screen, Tyne Daly found television stardom as the no-nonsense, commonsensical Mary Beth Lacey, partner of Chris Cagney, on the police series "Cagney & Lacey" (CBS 1982-88). The daughter of actors James Daly and Hope Newell, Ellen Tyne Daly was the second of four children. Raised in Westchester County, New York, she began her acting career appearing in summer stock productions with her family and earned her Equity card at age 15 after being cast in the title role of "Jenny Kissed Me." Fate dealt her a blow, however, when a prominent agent dismissed her performance in favor of one of his proteges, relegating Daly to a supporting role. Daly went on to train at Manhattan's American Musical and Dramatic Academy, finding a mentor in teacher Philip Burton. In 1966, she debuted on Broadway in a revival of "The Butter and Egg Man" and went on to land small roles in films and TV. By the mid-1970s, Daly's career was on the upswing. She earned great notices for her supporting turns as Jack Lemmon's daughter in the Americanized remake of "The Entertainer" (NBC, 1976) and picked up her first Emmy nomination for the marital abuse drama "Intimate Strangers" (ABC, 1977). Daly landed the pivotal role of the first female partner to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan in "The Enforcer" (1976), but television proved to be where she made her mark. "Cagney and Lacey" had a long gestation period. Conceived in the mid-70s, it was produced as a TV-movie in 1981 with Loretta Swit as Cagney and Daly as Lacey. CBS decided to pick up the series option for the following year. With Swit tied to "M*A*S*H" (CBS 1972-83), Meg Foster stepped into the role of Cagney. CBS dumped Foster from the role after the first season, citing her similar coloring to Daly, as well as the perception of some that the two women were too tough and hard-edged. Sharon Gless joined Daly as the new Cagney in 1982 and the two gelled instantly, their screen chemistry softening the relationship. Over the course of the series' run, Daly won four Emmy Awards, an unprecedented achievement for a dramatic actress. When "Cagney & Lacey" faded in 1988, Daly chose to risk her reputation by headlining a stage revival of "Gypsy," the musical that starred Ethel Merman on Broadway and Rosalind Russell on the screen. In November 1988, she premiered on Broadway and won that season's Tony Award as Lead Actress in a Musical. Not satisfied with her offers for starring roles in series, Daly chose to divide her attentions between the stage and screen. When Daly finally opted to return to weekly series work, she accepted the supporting role of Alice Henderson, a strong-willed Quaker running a mission school, on "Christy" (CBS, 1994-95), a part that brought her a fifth Emmy Award, making her the most honored primetime dramatic actress in the history of the award. She also agreed to reunite with Sharon Gless on several "Cagney & Lacey" TV-movies in which Mary Beth, now retired, is brought back into police service by her former partner. The first of what would become three such revivals decidedly won its Sunday night time period in November 1994. Having lost the chance to do "Gypsy" on TV (to Bette Midler), she displayed her musical talents as Mrs. Peterson in the 1995 ABC remake of "Bye Bye Birdie." She continued to lend her considerable talents to telefilms like "The Perfect Mother" (CBS, 1997), make guest appearances on sitcoms and accept the occasional feature role. Once again, Daly confounded conventional wisdom by letting her hair turn gray, allowing herself an age-appropriate figure and accepting the role of the title character's social worker mother in the hit drama "Judging Amy" (CBS 1999-2005). As Maxine, the plain-speaking actress portrayed a forthright, sometimes overbearing woman with strong opinions and a deep concern for her family. During the series' first four seasons, Daly earned four Emmy nominations as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her work (bringing her career tally to 14 nominations) and she took home the trophy in 2003 (her sixth overall). After the series came to a close, Daly co-starred in the TV movie "Georgia O'Keeffe" (HBO 2009) and made occasional guest appearances on TV series, but mostly concentrated on her stage work, including starring roles in two Terrence McNally plays, "Master Class" and "Mothers and Sons," and a supporting role in the musical "It Shoulda Been You." On the big screen, Daly appeared in Michael Showalter's indie comedy-drama "Hello, My Name Is Doris" (2015) opposite Sally Field and had a supporting role in superhero blockbuster "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1962
Made her TV debut in an episode of "The Virginian" (NBC)
1966
Made her Broadway debut in revival of "The Butter and Egg Man"
1967
Acted on stage in Frank Gilroy's play "That Summer, That Fall"
1969
Made feature film debut in "John and Mary"
1969
Had a recurring role on CBS' "Medical Center" as Jenny Lochner, daughter of Dr. Paul Lochner (portrayed by her real-life father, James Daly)
1971
Acted in the ABC movie, "In Search of America"
1973
Had title role in the little-seen feature, "The Adulteress"
1974
Appeared opposite then-husband Georg Sanford Brown in an episode of "The Rookies" (ABC)
1976
Had distinction of playing the first onscreen female cop, partnered with Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan in "The Enforcer"
1976
Garnered attention for her supporting turn in the NBC remake of "The Entertainer," starring Jack Lemmon
1977
Earned first Emmy nomination as Kate Renshaw in the ABC movie, "Intimate Strangers"
1979
Portrayed the head of a retirement home in the NBC movie, "Better Late Than Never"; first collaboration with director Richard Crenna
1981
Portrayed Mary Beth Lacey in the CBS movie, "Cagney & Lacey"; Loretta Swit played the role of Christine Cagney
1982
"Cagney & Lacey" premiered on CBS with six episodes as a midseason replacement with Meg Foster replacing Loretta Swit in the role of Chris Cagney
1982
"Cagney & Lacey" returned for the fall regular season with Foster being replaced by Sharon Gless as Chris Cagney
1987
Re-teamed with Crenna to play the parents of a child with Down's Syndrome in the CBS movie, "Kids Like These"
1987
Starred in a Los Angeles stage production of "Come Back Little Sheba"
1988
Formed Nexus Productions with then-husband Georg Sanford Brown; produced TV-movie "Stuck With Each Other" for NBC, in which she starred and co-executive produced
1989
Commenced national tour as Mama Rose in a revival of the musical "Gypsy"; eventually played role on Broadway
1991
Performed for the first time with brother Timothy as a guest star on his NBC sitcom, "Wings"; receieved an Emmy nomination
1992
Had a well reviewed guest appearance as the blowsy alcoholic wife of a sports magnate in "Columbo: A Bird in the Hand" (ABC), first collaboration with Peter Falk
1994
Re-teamed with Richard Crenna for the CBS movie, "The Forget-Me-Not Murders"
1994
Joined the cast of the CBS series, "Christy"
1994
Re-teamed with Sharon Gless to star in first of three "Cagney & Lacey" movies for CBS
1995
Cast as Mrs. Peterson in the ABC remake of the Broadway musical, "Bye Bye Birdie"
1995
Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1997
Portrayed an overbearing mother-in-law in the CBS movie, "A Perfect Mother"
1998
Cast as Peter Falk's wife in "VIG"; aired on Cinemax in lieu of a theatrical release
1999
Played a fatally ill Boston bus driver seeking to reunite with her son in "The Autumn Heart"
1999
Re-teamed with brother Timothy (who executive produced and co-starred) for the Showtime original drama, "Execution of Justice"
1999
Played the title character's social worker mother in the CBS series, "Judging Amy"; Crenna made several guest appearances as a potential love interest for her character; received Emmy nominations in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005
2001
Acted alongside daughter Kathryne Dora Brown in the CBS movie, "The Wedding Dress"
2006
Cast in the Broadway production of "Rabbit Hole"; earned a Tony nomination
2009
Portrayed Mabel Didge Stern, a wealthy American patron of the arts, in the Lifetime movie, "Georgia O'Keeffe"
2011
Starred as Maria Callas in the Broadway revival of Terrence McNally's "Master Class"
2015
Appeared as Sally Fields' best friend Roz in indie drama "Hello, My Name Is Doris"
2017
Appeared in India-set romantic comedy "Basmati Blues"
2017
Appeared as Damage Control, Inc. director Anne Marie Hoag in Marvel's "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
2018
Co-starred with Janeane Garofalo and James Marsters in Patrick Wang's "A Bread Factory"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
In February 1991, Daly pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge in a Los Angeles courtroom. She was fined $916 and ordered to attend a 90-day adult education program. She had been arrested on January 14. After the incident, Daly said, "I made a dumb mistake."
During the run of "Cagney & Lacey", Daly's then-husband Georg Sanford Brown directed numerous episodes of the series, winning an Emmy Award for one such effort.
In 1996, Daly won a fifth Emmy making her the most honored dramatic actress in the award's history.
"I've always wanted to be old. I'm interested in playing old ladies because I am becoming one. And I want to become a very good one! To display my actual face, my actual belly, my real legs, my real hair on television is doing some kind of service in a world where women are constantly being told there's something wrong with us." --Tyne Daly quoted in TV Guide, May 20, 2000.
"I don't like the celebrity part of being an actor. I'm not good at it and I've learned that the hard way, so there is stuff I no longer talk about." --Daly refusing to comment on her romantic life in TV Guide, May 20, 2000.
On her return to series work, Daly told USA Today (February 7, 2000): "I'm loving it. But it's the same old [TV} thing. There's never enough time, never enough money and all that, but the payoff is that you get to see what you did once a week. You get to find out whether what you did is a solid piece of furniture or a three-legged table."
"Every actor has a method. I work nervous and worried, and there's nothing wrong with that." --Daly quoted in InTheater, March 27, 1998.
"I'm quite practical. I went into the family business knowing you have to earn your living, and I never thought starving was glamorous.Part of doing "Gypsy" was me wanting to get that 'TV' out from in front of my 'actress'. 'TV actress' is loaded with impressions, and I just wanted to be an actress." --Tyne Daly quoted in InTheater, March 27, 1998.
"The thing I like best about acting is doing acting. Interviews, prizes, parties and shaking hands with presidents is very swell. But the thing I like best is when I'm actually doing it." --Daly quoted in USA Today, December 22, 1997.
"My husband divorced me and I had to learn to live alone. I hadn't lived alone ever. I moved directly from my parents' house to my husband's house. And so I have done the opposite. I bought a house on my own. I go to the theater by myself. I love to do that. My two oldest kids are up and grown and starting families of their own. I'm on a time-share with my other little girl, so that I have half of the time with her when she's not with her dad. And that is a different way of raising a kid. I had a big adjustment to that. The divorce process is a killer, and I had to pull myself out of a financial hole." --Tyne Daly quoted in TV Guide, November 5, 1994.
