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A versatile and pretty theater veteran with a distinctive voice and delicate features, Mary-Louise Parker was a well-traveled “army brat” who began her stage career in New York City during the mid-1980s. She earned a 1990 Tony nomination for her performance as a young bride who accidentally swaps souls with an old man in Craig Lucas’ “Prelude to a Kiss” and later picked up an OBIE for her riveting portrayal of a victim of child abuse in Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive” (1997). In between, she essayed roles as diverse as a woman driven to madness by the birth of a deformed child in “Babylon Gardens” (1991), a schemingly ambitious actress in the black comedy “Four Dogs and a Bone” (1993) and the vocally-challenged saloon singer Cherie in a 1996 revival of “Bus Stop”, opposite Billy Crudup. In 1998, Parker won critical kudos as a Cockney dominatrix who overhears a dying man’s confession and attempts to save his victims by traveling back in time in Alan Ayckbourn’s razor-sharp comedy “Communicating Doors”. The actress’ next stage appearance saw her offer an acclaimed turn (which netted her a Tony Award) as a mathematician coping with the legacy of her father in the Pulitzer-winning “Proof.”

Parker made her film debut as an abused girlfriend in “Signs of Life” (1989) and was the best friend of a gay man dealing with the AIDS crisis in “Longtime Companion” (1989), scripted by Lucas and directed by Norman Rene. She had a nice turn as a lonely secretary infatuated with her employer (Kevin Kline) in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Grand Canyon”, but it was her breakthrough part as an abused wife empowered by her friendship with a female cafe owner (Mary Stuart Masterson) in the sleeper “Fried Green Tomatoes” (both 1991) that really opened eyes to her facility for complex characterizations.

Parker continued to build her resume with starring roles in the coming-of-age flick “Naked in New York,” (1994) and opposite Matt Dillon in the gritty romantic comedy “Mr. Wonderful” (1993). After portraying the struggling mother of the adolescent title character in the thriller “The Client” and appearing as John Cusack’s girlfriend in Woody Allen’s popular comedy “Bullets Over Broadway” (1994), Parker was a series of sad and delightful revelations in “Boys on the Side” (1995). Her emotionally compelling turn as a young woman with AIDS recalled her work in “Fried Green Tomatoes” and was easily the best thing about the movie which also starred Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Barrymore.

Reuniting with Norman Rene and Craig Lucas, Parker had a showy supporting part as Scott Glenn’s paraplegic, deaf mute wife in their dark comedy “Reckless” (1995). She next appeared as Nicole Kidman’s compatriot in Jane Campion’s film version of the Henry James novel “The Portrait of a Lady” (1996). After Parker’s awkward but attractive secretary romanced Don Johnson in Roland Jaffe’s comic thriller “Goodbye Lover” (1998), she registered as the wonderfully high strung cake maker with no sense of taste in the 1999 Canadian-made “The Five Senses.”

Besides an early stint on the ABC soap “Ryan’s Hope”, Parker had appeared in only one TV-movie, the WWII drama “Too Young the Hero” (CBS, 1988), prior to her 1994 portrayal of a sullen, chain-smoking, AIDS-stricken mother who after a year’s absence returns to legally reclaim her daughter from the pediatrics nurse-turned-foster parent played by Sissy Spacek in “A Place for Annie” (ABC). Since then, she has turned up frequently on the small screen, beginning with a deft performance as singer Phyllis McGuire in the HBO biopic “Sugartime” (1995). She has seduction on her mind in TNT’s “Legalese” (1998), but her very direct legal assistant developed emotionally as the relationship with a young lawyer in the firm became more than just sex. In top form as a flaky, tragic divorcee in the stylish, yet quirky “Anne Tyler’s ‘Saint Maybe’” (CBS, 1998), she landed in another top-notch TV movie, “The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn” (CBS, 1999), portraying a compassionate psychiatrist whose association with the charming, innocent Sidney Poitier makes her re-evaluate her own priorities. The following year she was an unhappy young woman who finds renewed purpose after falling in love with Peter Gallagher in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production “Cupid & Cate” (CBS, 2000).

Also in 2000, Parker began acting in the award-winning play “Proof” starring as Catherine, the enigmatic troubled young woman embroiled in a mathematical mystery. Her performance garnered her a Tony Award for Best Actress in 2001 and in 2002, the role was handed down to Anne Heche. Meanwhile, Parker stayed busy working in television where her role on “The West Wing” as Amy Gardner has been applauded by critics and earned the actress an Emmy nomination in 2002. Also in 2002, Parker filmed the “Red Dragon” with Anthony Hopkins and Ed Norton, the prequel to “Silence of the Lambs” (1991) and “Pipe Dream,” a straight-to-video romantic comedy about a hapless plumber who poses as a director in order to meet women. Then in 2003, she joined the A-list ensemble cast of HBO’s acclaimed TV adaptation of the Tony award-winning “Angels In America,” for which she earned an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Parker next starred in the Lifetime movie, “Miracle Run” (2004), a true story about a mother who struggles to raise two autistic sons. After starring in the Showtime drama, “The Best Thief in the World” (2004), she returned to features with a supporting role in “Saved!” (2004), a timid black comedy set at a fictional Christian high school where a young girl (Jena Malone), seeking acceptance into a popular clique, goes on a mission to save her boyfriend (Chad Faust) who thinks he might be gay. Meanwhile, Parker landed the lead role on “Weeds” (Showtime, 2005- ), a stoner comedy about a widowed suburban mom who maintains her lifestyle after her husband’s sudden death by flooding her idyllic community with high-grade pot. Parker won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

• Born:
  on 08/02/1964 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Cashier, Shoe salesman, Telemarketer, Waitress

Family

• Son: William Atticus Parker. born January 7, 2004; father is Billy Crudup

Significant Others

• Companion: Adam Duritz. lead singer of band Counting Crows; dated briefly in 1995-96
• Companion: Billy Crudup. met while appearing in a 1996 stage production of “Bus Stop”
• Companion: Pat Mannochia. together c. 1992-95; was former professional hockey player
• Companion: Timothy Hutton. co-starred together on Broadway in “Prelude to a Kiss” (1990) and later Off-Broadway in “Babylon Gardens”; no longer together

Education

• North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, acting

Milestones

• 1986 Off-off-Broadway debut, “The Girl in Pink” at the Quaigh Theatre
• 1988 TV-movie debut, “Too Young the Hero” (CBS)
• 1989 Film debut, “Signs of Life”
• 1989 Off-Broadway debut, “The Art of Success”
• 1990 Broadway debut, Lucas’ “Prelude to a Kiss” (originated the role at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and appeared in off-Broadway production at the Circle Rep), directed by Rene; earned a Tony nomination as Actress in a Play
• 1990 Played a neighbor helping her gay friend through the early years of the AIDS crisis in Norman Rene’s “Longtime Companion”, scripted by Craig Lucas
• 1991 First starring role, “Fried Green Tomatoes”
• 1991 Portrayed Dee, a secretary and part-time lover of Kevin Kline, in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Grand Canyon”
• 1993 Acted Off-Broadway in John Patrick Shanley’s Hollywood satire “Four Dogs and a Bone”
• 1994 First appearance in a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production, “A Place for Annie” (ABC), playing a surly AIDS patient who tries to get back the baby she abandoned
• 1994 Played John Cusack’s girlfriend in Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway”
• 1995 Delivered a poignant portrayal of a woman dying from AIDS in “Boys on the Side”
• 1995 Reteamed with Rene to play a parapalegic deaf mute in the feature “Reckless”, based on the play by Lucas
• 1995 Starred opposite John Turturro as singer Phyllis McGuire in HBO’s “Sugartime”
• 1996 Acted the part of Henrietta Stackpole in Jane Campion’s “The Portrait of a Lady”, based on the novel by Henry James
• 1997 Earned an OBIE Award and critical acclaim for her performance of a young girl molested by a relative in the Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive”; played character at various ages from teens to adulthood
• 1998 Appeared in small but pivotal role as the free-spirited (and later suicidal) Lucy in “Anne Tyler’s ‘Saint Maybe’” (CBS), a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation
• 1998 Returned to the NYC stage in Off-Broadway production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Communicating Doors”, playing a Cockney dominatrix who inadvertantly hears a dying man’s confession of how he murdered two wives and then travels through time to try to save the women
• 1999 Co-starred in the Slamdance-screened “Let the Devil Wear Black”, a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet written and directed by Stacey Title
• 1999 Portrayed a cake maker who problematically lacks a sense of taste in the Canadian-made “The Five Senses” (released in the USA in 2000)
• 2000 Garnered rave reviews for performance in the Off-Broadway play “Proof”; production moved to Broadway in the fall; received Tony Award
• 2000 Played an unhappy young woman who finds purpose in a new romance in “Cupid & Cate” (CBS), a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation
• 2002 Had recurring role on the NBC series “The West Wing”
• 2002 Portrayed Molly Graham in the thriller feature “Red Dragon,” the prequel to “Silence of the Lambs”
• 2003 Cast as Harper Pitt in the HBO adaptation of “Angels in America”; received a SAG nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries (2004)
• 2004 Starred in the dark comedy “Saved!” with Jena Malone and Mandy Moore
• 2004 Starred on Broadway in the revival of Craig Lucas’s “Reckless”; received a Tony nomination for her role
• 2005 Starred in the Showtime series “Weeds,” as a suburban mom who beings dealing Marijuana, after her husband’s unexpected death; earned a SAG (2006) nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy series
• 2005 Cast in John Turturro’s big-screen musical “Romance and Cigarettes”
• 2006 Will reprise her role as women’s-rights advocate Amy Gardner for the final episodes of NBC’s White House drama “The West Wing”
• Appeared in regional theater productions of “The Miser”, “Hay Fever”, “The Night of the Iguana” and “The Little Foxes”
• Grew up in Arizona, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Germany and France where her father served in the US Army
• Played a recurring role in the ABC daytime drama “Ryan’s Hope”