# Nancy Marchand

Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. She began her career in theater in 1951. She was most famous for her being Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant – for which she won 4 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 attended Amherst High School, and studied acting at the Studio Theatre School in Buffalo, taking two buses to make the trip. 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.
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.
She appeared in many anthology series in the early days of television, including The Philco Television Playhouse (on which she starred in Marty opposite Rod Steiger), Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. Additional television credits include The Law and Mr. Jones, Spenser: For Hire, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Coach, and Night Court.
Marchand's feature film credits included The Bachelor Party, Ladybug Ladybug, Me, Natalie, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, The Hospital, The Bostonians, From the Hip, Jefferson in Paris, Brain Donors, Reckless, The Naked Gun, Sabrina and Dear God.

## 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.
Marchand suffered from lung cancer, emphysema, and COPD. She died on June 18, 2000, a day before her 72nd birthday, in Stratford, Connecticut. She was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Marchand's death occurred between Seasons 2 and 3 of The Sopranos, before a plot line prominently involving her character was resolved. Her death was written into the plot, and one final scene was created for her using computer-generated imagery, which was a new technology at the time, together with outtakes from previous seasons.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1954 | Three Steps to Start | | Producer, 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 |
| 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" |
| 1999–2000 | The Sopranos | Livia Soprano | 21 episodes |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1951 | The Taming of the Shrew | Hostess / Curtis |
| 1953 | Love's Labour's Lost | Princess of France |
| 1953 | The Merchant of Venice | Nerissa |
| 1956 | The Good Woman of Setzuan | Mrs. Mi Tzu |
| 1957 | Miss Isobel | Miriam Ackroyd |
| 1959 | Much Ado About Nothing | Ursula |
| 1962 | Tchin-Tchin | Pamela Pew Pickett (understudy) |
| 1963 | Strange Interlude | Nina Leeds |
| 1966 | 3 Bags Full | Genevieve |
| 1966 | The Alchemist | Performer |
| 1966 | Yerma | Dolores |
| 1967 | After the Rain | Gertrude Forbes-Cooper |
| 1968 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Roxane's Duenna / Sister Claire |
| 1968 | Forty Carats | Mrs. Latham |
| 1971 | And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little | Ceil Adams |
| 1971 | Mary Stuart | Queen Elizabeth |
| 1972 | Enemies | Tatiana |
| 1973 | The Plough and the Stars | Mrs. 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 Letters | Melissa Gardner (replacement) |
| 1993 | The White Liars & Black Comedy | Miss 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 | Won |
| 1979 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Lou Grant | Nominated |
| 1980 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Lou Grant | Won |
| 1981 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Lou Grant | Won |
| 1982 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Lou Grant | Won |
| 1994 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | The White Liars & Black Comedy | Nominated |
| 1999 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |
| 1999 | Viewers for Quality Televisions | Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |
| 2000 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film | The Sopranos | Won |
| 2000 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |
| 2000 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |
| 2000 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Won |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Sopranos | Nominated |