page_title: Marlo Thomas
section_title: That Girl
hierarchical_section_title: Marlo Thomas / Career / That Girl
caption_attribution_description: Publicity photo of Marlo Thomas, Ted Bessell and Jennifer Douglas from the television program That Girl.
context_page_description: Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist best known for starring on the sitcom That Girl and her award-winning children's franchise Free to Be... You and Me. She has received four Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody Award for her work in television, and she has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. She has also received a Grammy Award for her children’s album Marlo Thomas and Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long. In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  Thomas serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which was founded by her father Danny Thomas in 1962. She created the Thanks & Giving campaign in 2004 to support the hospital.
context_section_description: Thomas starred in an ABC pilot called Two's Company in 1965. Although it did not sell, it caught the attention of an ABC programming executive. He met with Thomas, and expressed interest in casting her in her own series. With their encouragement, Thomas came up with her own idea for a show about a young woman who leaves home, moves to New York City, and struggles to become an actress. The network was initially hesitant, fearing audiences would find a series centering on a single female uninteresting or unrealistic.
  The concept eventually evolved into the sitcom entitled That Girl, in which Thomas played Ann Marie, a beautiful, up-and-coming actress with a writer boyfriend, played by Ted Bessell. The series told the daily struggles of Ann holding different temporary jobs while pursuing her dream of a career on Broadway. That Girl was one of the first television shows to focus on a working, single woman who did not live with her parents, and it paved the way for many shows to come. Thomas was only the second woman to produce her own series, following Lucille Ball. That Girl aired from 1966 to 1971, producing 136 episodes, and was a solid performer in the Nielsen ratings.
  In 1971, Thomas chose to end the series after five years. Both ABC and the show's sponsor, Clairol, wanted the series finale to be a wedding between the two central characters, but Thomas rebuffed them, saying that she felt it was the wrong message to send to her female audience, because it would give the impression that the only happy ending is marriage. That Girl has since become popular in syndication.
caption: Thomas (center) with co-star Ted Bessell (left) and guest star Mary Frann (right), in a 1968 photo from That Girl
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