Marian Ethel Mercer (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer.Born in Akron, Ohio, she graduated from the University of Michigan, then spent several seasons working in summer stock. She made her Broadway debut in the chorus of the short-lived musical, Greenwillow in 1960. She drew critical notice for her performance in New Faces of 1962, and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and the Theatre World Award for her performance as Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises (1968). Additional theatre credits include Hay Fever and the short-lived 1978 revival of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off with Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1979 she starred as Deirdre in Bosoms and Neglect.Mercer was a regular on The Dom DeLuise Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, The Sandy Duncan Show, A Touch of Grace (starring Tony, Oscar, and Emmy-winning actress Shirley Booth), The Andy Williams Show, and the sitcom It's a Living where she played the restaurant hostess, Nancy Beebe. (Mercer was one of four members of the cast who lasted through the series' network and syndicated runs; the others were Gail Edwards, Paul Kreppel, and Barrie Youngfellow.) She also had recurring roles on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, its sequel, Forever Fernwood, St. Elsewhere, and Empty Nest.She made guest appearances on such shows as Love, American Style; Archie Bunker's Place; Mama's Family; Benson; The Golden Girls; Murder, She Wrote; Touched by an Angel; and Suddenly Susan, among many others. She had a featured role in the 1979 television movie The Cracker Factory, which starred Natalie Wood. Her screen credits include Nine to Five where she played Missy Hart, the sweet-natured wife of misanthropic corporate executive Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman).Marian had been reunited with two former co-stars of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (in which she played Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter) in two separate projects. She was reunited first with Dabney Coleman (he had played Merle Jeeter) in the movie Nine to Five; and then with Louise Lasser (who played Mary) on It's A Living when she played Nancy's employee, waitress Maggie McBurney.Mercer was a resident of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. until shortly before her death on April 27, 2011, from Alzheimer's disease, in Newbury Park, California at the age of 75. She was survived by her second husband, her daughter, Deidre Whitaker, and a sister.
Starred as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Repertory Theatre in St Louis for the 1967-1968 season.
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Starred as "Polly" in "A Place for Polly" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway in 1970.
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Starred as Deirdre in "Bosoms and Neglect" is 1979 on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre.
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Starred as Myra Arundel in "Hay Fever" in 1970 on Broadway at the Helen Hayes theatre.
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She won the Tony award, Drama Desk award and the Theatre World award for her hilarious scene stealing performance as Marge MacDougall in 'Promises, Promises" at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. The show ran for 1,281 performances from 1968 to 1972.
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Starred in "New Faces of 1962" on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre in 1962.
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Starred as Olivia in "Your Own Thing" at the Orphium Theatre off Broadway in 1968 and starred in "The Game is Up" at the Upstairs at the Downstairs theatre in 1964.
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Starred as Mrs Swabb in "Habeas Corpus" at the Matrix theater in Los Angeles in 1994.
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She starred in "Miss Margarida's Way" for the Katselas Theatre Company in Beverly Hills.
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Won Broadway's 1969 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for "Promises, Promises."
Brash blonde musical comedy actress since the late 50s who won the Tony, Drama Desk and Theatre World awards for her performance in "Promises, Promises" in 1968. She's mixed in Shakespeare performances on stage in between the song-stylings.
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Anthony Newley's musical "Stop the World--I Want to Get Off" was revamped for the talents of Sammy Davis Jr. in 1978. Davis had earned a hit record with the song "What Kind of Fool Am I?" from the show back in 1962. Marian co-starred but the show bombed terribly. Despite the bad notices, the show was taped for film, retitled Sammy Stops the World (1978) and quickly released. It did not fare any better.