Mary McDonnell

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Mary McDonnell

Mary at Comicon 2007. Photo by Ken Conley
Born Mary McDonnell
April 28, 1952 (1952-04-28) (age 56)
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States
Spouse(s) Randle Mell (?-present)

Mary McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated American film, stage, and television actress. She is famous for her Oscar-nominated role as Stands With a Fist in Dances with Wolves, and for starring as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica.

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[edit] Personal life

McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and raised in Ithaca, New York After graduating from the State University of New York at Fredonia, she attended drama school and joined the East Coast's prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company, with whom she worked for over 20 years. McDonnell is married to Randle Mell, who is also an actor. They have two children.

[edit] Career

[edit] Stage and film

She won an Obie in 1980 for her work in the play Still Life. On Broadway, she has performed in productions of Execution of Justice, The Heidi Chronicles, and Summer and Smoke.

After more than 21 years of theater and television work, McDonnell made her film breakthrough in 1990 as Stands With A Fist, a European American raised by Sioux Indians, in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves. Despite portraying the adopted daughter of Graham Greene's character Kicking Bird, Mary McDonnell, then 37, was actually two months older than Greene, and less than two years younger than Tantoo Cardinal, the actress playing her adoptive mother. In addition, McDonnell was extremely nervous about shooting her sex scene with Kevin Costner, requesting it to be toned down from what was scripted. [1]

She received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. McDonnell's role in Passion Fish (1992) brought her another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Her other notable films include Grand Canyon (1991), Sneakers (1992), Independence Day (1996), and Donnie Darko (2001).

On television, McDonnell had her first regular role in 1980 on the soap opera As the World Turns. She starred in 1984 on the short-lived medical sitcom E/R, alongside Elliott Gould and George Clooney. Coincidentally, she guest-starred in 2001 on the NBC medical series of the same name, ER, which also featured Clooney. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role on the show as Eleanor Carter, the mother of Dr. John Carter played by Noah Wyle, who also had a role in Donnie Darko.

McDonnell also starred with Patrick Swayze in the 1988 movie, Tiger Warsaw.

[edit] Battlestar Galactica

Main article: Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining)

In 2003 McDonnell starred in the mini-series Battlestar Galactica as Laura Roslin. The mini-series led to the subsequent weekly series, with McDonnell reprising her role as the President of the Colonies.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1984 Garbo Talks Lady Capulet
1987 Matewan Elma Radnor
1990 Dances with Wolves Stands With A Fist Best Supporting Actress Nominee
1991 Grand Canyon Claire
1992 Passion Fish May-Alice Culhane Best Actress Nominee
Sneakers Liz
1994 Blue Chips Jenny Bell
1996 Independence Day First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
1999 Mumford Althea Brockett
2001 Donnie Darko Rose Darko
2003 Nola Margaret Langworthy

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
  1. ^ "Dances with Wolves". IMDB. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME McDonnell, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McDonnell, Mary
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1952-4-28
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH