Marian Seldes
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Seldes was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996
"I thought ambition was an unattractive quality. I couldn't see the positive side of it. And I think it held me back, and I wish I'd been more ambitious." --Marian Seldes quoted in "The Lively Artist: 'Ring Round the Moon' Brings Actress Marian Seldes Unexpected Rewards" by Edward Karam in Playbill, May 12, 1999.
Biography
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. Following the death of her second husband Garson Kanin in 1999, Seldes slowed but did not cease her theater and screen appearances, which included roles in Mike Newell's "Mona Lisa Smile" (2003) and George Clooney's period comedy "Leatherheads" (2008). She also appeared in the 2003 revival of the Broadway classic "Dinner At Eight." Marian Seldes died at home in Manhattan at the age of 86 on October 6, 2014.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1942
Debuted as a dancer with the American Ballet in "Petrouchka"
1945
Made stage acting debut with the Cambridge Summer Theater
1948
Made her Broadway theatre debut in a production of "Medea"
1949
Made an early TV appearance in a production of "Macbeth"
1952
Feature acting debut, "The Lonely Night"
1955
Acted in the Broadway production of "The Chalk Garden"
1960
Returned to Broadway to appear in "The Wall"
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"
1967
Was a faculty member of the Juilliard School of Drama; among her students were Kevin Kline, Gerald Guiterrez and Frances Conroy
1971
Earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in Oliver Hailey's "Father's Day"; show opened and closed on the same night
1974
Played over 900 performances as the magistrate and later as Alan's mother in "Equus"
1977
Portrayed the titular dancer in "Isadora Duncan Sleeps with the Russian Navy"
1977
Made one-shot return to features as Harvey Kietel's mentally unbalanced mother in "Fingers"
1978
Co-starred as the murdered wife of playwright Sydney Bruhl in the long-running "Deathtrap"; earned a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Play
1978
Published her memoirs <i>The Bright Lights</i>
1983
Played the starchy matron in the hit off-Broadway play "Painting Churches"
1990
Co-starred in the ill-fated (and ill-conceived) musical sequel "Annie 2: Miss Hanigan's Revenge" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
1991
Resumed film career portraying Alice B. Toklas to Jan Miner's Gertrude Stein in "Gertrude Stein and a Companion"
1991
Debuted as a series 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 in 1994
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
Portrayed former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the HBO biopic "Truman"
1995
Appeared as the Widow Douglas in "Tom and Huck"
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 in "Home Alone 3"
1998
Played the terminally ill mother of the mentally-challenged Kevin Bacon in "Digging to China"
1998
Played Mr. Big's (Chris Noth) mother in an episode of HBO's "Sex and the City"
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"; earned a Best Actress Tony Award nomination as the wheelchair-bound Madame Desmermortes
2000
Starred in Edward Albee's "The Play About the Baby" at the Alley Theater in Houston; reprised role in the off-Broadway production in 2001
2000
Acted on stage as a theatrical grande dame in The Drama Dept. production of "The Torch-Bearers"
2001
Had featured role in Neil Simon's Broadway comedy "45 Seconds from Broadway"
2001
Played Andie MacDowell's mother in "Town & Country"
2002
Began teaching at Fordham University in New York City
2003
Earned a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Play for her role in "Dinner at Eight"
2003
Portrayed the president of a woman's college in the 1950s in "Mona Lisa Smile"
2007
Had a supporting role in the independent film "The Visitor"
2007
Played well-bred Midge Barker, opposite Angela Lansbury's blue collar Leona Mullen, in the Broadway production of "Deuce"
2008
Had a small role in the George Clooney directed "Leatherheads"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Seldes was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996
"I thought ambition was an unattractive quality. I couldn't see the positive side of it. And I think it held me back, and I wish I'd been more ambitious." --Marian Seldes quoted in "The Lively Artist: 'Ring Round the Moon' Brings Actress Marian Seldes Unexpected Rewards" by Edward Karam in Playbill, May 12, 1999.
