Marcia Gay Harden

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Marcia Gay Harden
Harden at the Frozen film premiere in 2013
Harden at the Frozen premiere in 2013
Born (1959-08-14) August 14, 1959 (age 62)
La Jolla, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BA)
New York University (MFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1979–present
Spouse(s)
Thaddaeus Scheel
(m. 1996; div. 2012)
Children3
Websitetheofficialmarciagayharden.com

Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959)[1] is an American actress. Her film breakthrough was in the 1990 Coen brothers-directed Miller's Crossing. She followed this with roles in films including Used People (1992), The First Wives Club (1996), and Flubber (1997). For her performance as artist Lee Krasner in the 2000 film Pollock, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She earned another Academy Award nomination for her performance as Celeste Boyle in Mystic River (2003). Her other notable film roles include American Gun (2005) and 2007's The Mist and Into the Wild.

Harden made her Broadway debut in 1993, starring in Angels in America, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She returned to Broadway in 2009 as Veronica in God of Carnage. Her performance won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Harden was nominated for her second Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the 2009 television film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Harden's other notable television roles include Dr Leanne Rorish in the CBS medical drama Code Black and attorney Rebecca Halliday in the HBO Aaron Sorkin series The Newsroom.

Early life and education[]

Harden was born in La Jolla, California, the daughter of Texas natives Beverly Harden (née Bushfield), a housewife, and Thad Harold Harden (1932–2002), who was an officer in the United States Navy.[2] She has three sisters and one brother.

Harden's brother is named Thaddeus, as are her father and her former husband. Harden's family frequently moved because of her father's job, living in Japan, Germany, Greece, California, and Maryland.[3]

In 1976, Harden graduated from Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Maryland. In 1980, she received a bachelor of arts in theatre from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1988, Harden received a master of fine arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[4]

Career[]

Marcia Gay Harden with John Heald on the cruise ship Carnival Dream in November 2009

Harden's first film role was in a 1979 student-produced movie at the University of Texas. Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in several television programs, including Simon & Simon, Kojak, and CBS Summer Playhouse. She appeared in The Imagemaker (1986), her first movie screen role, in which she played a stage manager. She appeared in the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990), a 1930s mobster drama in which she first gained wide exposure. Even so, at the time, living in New York City, she had to go back to doing catering jobs "because I didn't have any money".[5]

In 1992, Harden played actress Ava Gardner alongside Philip Casnoff as Frank Sinatra in the made-for-TV miniseries Sinatra. Throughout the 1990s, she continued to appear in films and television. Her notable film roles include the Disney sci-fi comedy Flubber (1997), a popular hit in which she co-starred with Robin Williams; the supernatural drama Meet Joe Black (1998), playing the under-appreciated daughter of a tycoon (Anthony Hopkins, co-starring Brad Pitt); Labor of Love (1998), a Lifetime television movie in which she starred with David Marshall Grant; and Space Cowboys (2000), an all-star adventure-drama about aging astronauts.

Harden was awarded the 2000 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of painter Lee Krasner in Pollock (2000). In 2003, she was again nominated in the same category for Mystic River.

Harden guest-starred as FBI undercover agent Dana Lewis posing as a white supremacist in "Raw", an episode of the popular crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2007, this role earned Harden her first Emmy Award nomination for best guest actress in a drama series. She reprised the role in the series' eighth-season premiere and again in the 12th-season episode "Penetration" as a rape victim (aired November 10, 2010).

In 2007, Harden appeared in several films, including Sean Penn's Into the Wild and Frank Darabont's The Mist (opposite Thomas Jane and Laurie Holden), based on the novella by Stephen King. Also in 2007, she shared top billing with Kevin Bacon in Rails & Ties, the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood. In 2008, Harden appeared in Home playing a woman who has had a mastectomy. (Her character in Rails & Ties also had a mastectomy.) One central scene called for her to bare her breasts, with the missing breast "removed" using computer-generated imagery. In Home, her co-stars include her daughter, Eulala Scheel. Harden starred in the Christmas Cottage, a story of the early artistic beginnings of the Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade.

In 2009, she appeared as a regular on the FX series Damages as a shrewd corporate attorney opposite Glenn Close and William Hurt. Harden received a 2009 Emmy nomination for her role in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, a TV film also starring Oscar-winner Anna Paquin. She was a Best Supporting Actress in a TV Movie/Miniseries nominee and lost to Shohreh Aghdashloo. If she had won this Emmy, Harden would have entered the elite group of "triple-crown" actors; those who have won the profession's three highest honors - the Academy Award (film), the Tony Award (stage), and the Emmy Award (television).

In 2009, Harden co-starred with Elliot Page and Drew Barrymore in Whip It, which proved a critical success.[6] Harden also played in the comedy The Maiden Heist (2009) with Christopher Walken and Morgan Freeman.

In 2013, Harden reunited with her former Broadway co-star Jeff Daniels as a new cast member on HBO's series The Newsroom.[5] From 2015 to 2018, she played Christian Grey's mother, Grace Trevelyan Grey, in the Fifty Shades film series. Also in 2015, she began a starring role in the TV series Code Black.

Theater[]

In 1993, Harden debuted on Broadway in the role of Harper Pitt (and others) in Tony Kushner's Angels in America. The role earned her critical acclaim, and she received a Tony Award nomination (Best Featured Actress in a Play). The winner in that category was Debra Monk in Redwood Curtain.

In 2009, Harden returned to Broadway in Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, where she co-starred with James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, and Jeff Daniels.[7] All three actors were nominated for the Tony Award, and at the ceremony on June 8, Harden won Best Actress in a Play.[8]

Personal life[]

Harden married Thaddaeus Scheel, a prop master, with whom she worked on The Spitfire Grill, in 1996.[5] Harden and Scheel have three children: a daughter, Eulala Grace Scheel (born September 1998), and twins Julitta Dee Scheel and Hudson Harden Scheel (born April 22, 2004).[9] In February 2012, Harden filed for divorce from Scheel.[10]

Harden has owned a property in the Catskills and a townhouse in Harlem.[11][12][13] She sold the Harlem townhouse in 2012.[14]

Harden is an avid potter, which she learned in high school, and then took up again while acting in Angels in America.[15][11]

Harden is a practitioner of ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arrangement, which her mother learned while they lived in Japan.[16] She gave a brief demonstration in 2007 on The Martha Stewart Show and presented some works of her family, as well.[17] In May 2018, a memoir called The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers was published. The book details the story and bond of mother and daughter throughout time and how they are dealing with the largest struggle yet, her mother's Alzheimer's disease. Harden created works of ikebana specifically for this book to illustrate the different seasons of her mother's life.[18][15]

Filmography[]

Marcia Gay Harden film work
Year Title Role Notes
1990 Miller's Crossing Verna Bernbaum
1991 Late for Dinner[19] Joy Husband
1991 In Broad Daylight Adina Rowan
1992 Crush Lane
1992 Used People Norma
1994 Safe Passage Cynthia
1996 The Spitfire Grill Shelby Goddard
1996 The Daytrippers Libby
1996 The First Wives Club Dr. Leslie Rosen
1996 Spy Hard Miss Cheevus
1996 Far Harbor Arabella
1997 Flubber Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
1998 Desperate Measures Dr. Samantha Hawkins
1998 Meet Joe Black Allison Parrish
1998 Curtain Call Michelle Tippet
2000 Space Cowboys Sara Holland
2000 Pollock Lee Krasner Won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2001 Gaudi Afternoon Frankie Stevens
2003 Mystic River Celeste Boyle Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2003 Casa de los Babys Nan
2003 Mona Lisa Smile Nancy Abbey
2004 Welcome to Mooseport Grace Sutherland
2004 P.S. Missy Goldberg
2005 Bad News Bears Liz Whitewood
2005 Willa Cather: The Road Is All Willa Cather Voice role
2005 American Gun Janet Huttenson
2006 American Dreamz First Lady
2006 The Dead Girl[20] Melora
2006 The Hoax Edith Irving
2006 Canvas Mary Marino
2007 The Invisible Diane Powell
2007 Into the Wild Billie McCandless
2007 Rails & Ties Megan Stark
2007 The Mist Mrs. Carmody
2008 Home Inga
2008 Thomas Kinkade's Home for Christmas Maryanne Kinkade
2009 The Maiden Heist Rose
2009 Whip It Brooke Cavendar
2010 A Cat in Paris Jeanne Voice role
2011 Detachment Principal Carol Dearden
2011 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Marjorie Dunfour
2012 Noah's Ark: The New Beginning Aamah Voice role
2012 If I Were You Madelyn
2013 The Wine of Summer Shelley
2013 Parkland Head Nurse Doris Nelson
2014 Magic in the Moonlight Mrs. Baker
2014 You're Not You Elizabeth
2014 Elsa & Fred Lydia Barcroft
2014 Unity Narrator Documentary
2015 Grandma Judy
2015 Fifty Shades of Grey Grace Trevelyan Grey
2015 Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant President of the FAFAFA
2015 After Words Jane Taylor
2016 Get a Job Katherine Dunn
2017 Fifty Shades Darker Grace Trevelyan Grey
2018 Fifty Shades Freed Grace Trevelyan Grey
2019 Point Blank Regina Lewis
2020 Pink Skies Ahead Pamela
2021 Moxie Principal Marlene Shelly
TBA Confess, Fletch Filming
Marcia Gay Harden television work
Year Title Role Notes
1987 CBS Summer Playhouse Kim Episode: "In the Lion's Den"
1988 Simon & Simon Librarian, Joan Episode: "Ties That Bind"
1989 Gideon Oliver Lila Episode: "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver"
1991 In Broad Daylight Adina Rowan TV movie
1991 Fever Lacy TV movie
1992 Sinatra Ava Gardner TV movie
1995 Fallen Angels Marie Episode: "Good Housekeeping"
1995 Chicago Hope Barbara Tomilson Episode: "Internal Affairs"
1995 Great Performances N/A Episode: "Talking With"
1995 Homicide: Life on the Street Joan Garbarek Episode: "A Doll's Eyes"
1997 Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing Nancy Floyd TV movie
1998 Labor of Love Annie Pines TV movie
1999 Spenser: Small Vices Susan Silverman TV movie
2000 Thin Air Susan Silverman TV movie
2001 Walking Shadow Susan Silverman TV movie
2002 Guilty Hearts Jenny Moran TV movie
2001 The Education of Max Bickford Andrea Haskell 22 episodes
2002 King of Texas Mrs. Susannah Lear Tumlinson TV movie
2004 She's Too Young Trish Vogul TV movie
2005 Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Mrs. Martha Merriman TV movie
2005–13 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit FBI Special Agent Dana Lewis 4 episodes
2006 In from the Night Vicki Miller TV movie
2008 The Tower Zoe Cafritz TV movie
2008 Sex and Lies in Sin City Becky Binion TV movie
2009 Damages Claire Maddox 7 episodes
2009 The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Janina Kyzyzanowska TV movie
2010 Royal Pains Dr. Elizabeth Blair 3 episodes
2011 Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy Edda Mellas TV movie
2011 Innocent Barbara Sabich TV movie
2012 Body of Proof Sheila Temple Episode: "Sympathy for the Devil"
2012 Bent Vanessa Carter Episode: "Mom"
2012–13 Tron: Uprising Keller Voice role, Episodes: "State of Mind", "Welcome Home"
2012 Isabel Frances Lorenz TV movie
2013–14 The Newsroom Rebecca Halliday 10 episodes
2013–14 Trophy Wife Diane 22 episodes
2015, 2017, 2020 How to Get Away with Murder Hannah Keating 5 episodes (inc. 2 voice role appearances)
2015–18 Code Black Dr. Leanne Rorish Main role
2019 Love You to Death Camile TV movie
2019 BoJack Horseman Denise/McCaitlyn 2 episodes (voice role)
2019 The Morning Show Maggie Brener 6 episodes
2020 A Million Little Things Alice Episode: "Guilty"
2020 Barkskins Mathilde Geffard Series regular
Marcia Gay Harden theater work
Year Title Role Writer Venue Location
1989 The Man Who Shot Lincoln Mary Devlin Luigi Creatore Astor Place Theatre New York, US
1992–1993 The Years Isabella Cindy Lou Johnson New York City Center - Stage I
1993–1994 Angels in America: Perestroika Harper Pitt Tony Kushner Walter Kerr Theatre
1993–1994 Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Harper Pitt,
Martin Heller
Tony Kushner Walter Kerr Theatre
1994 Simpatico Cecilia Sam Shepard The Public Theater - Newman Theater
2001 The Seagull Masha Anton Chekhov Delacorte Theater
2002 The Exonerated N/A Jessica Blank,
Erik Jensen
Lynn Redgrave Theater
2009 God of Carnage Veronica Yasmina Reza Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
2017 Sweet Bird of Youth'[21] Alexandra del Lago Tennessee Williams Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester, England

Awards and nominations[]

Bibliography[]

  • Harden, Marcia Gay (2018). The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers. New York: Atria Books. ISBN 978-1-5011-3572-9. OCLC 1027733089.

References[]

  1. ^ "The Year I Turned..." People. 72 (23). December 2, 2009.
  2. ^ "Thad Harold Harden". Variety. March 1, 2002. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  3. ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (February 15, 2001). "Strange Attraction". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "NYU Graduate Acting Alumni". 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Goldman, Andrew (July 5, 2013). "What Marcia Gay Harden Knows About Trophy Wives". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Whip It Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  7. ^ Davis, Hope (July 13, 2012). "Marcia Gay Harden Stands Strong". Hamptons.
  8. ^ Hetrick, Adam (January 12, 2011). "Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis to Reunite for God of Carnage in Los Angeles". Playbill. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Armstrong, Mark (April 27, 2004). "Marcia Gay Harden Welcomes Babies". People.
  10. ^ "Marcia Gay Harden Files for Divorce". People. February 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Dweck, Sophie (January 25, 2019). "Marcia Gay Harden: 25 Things You Don't Know About Me ('I Love Camping in National Parks')". Us Weekly.
  12. ^ Capuzzo, Jill P. (September 14, 2007). "Between Film Sets, Life on Gossamer Lake". The New York Times.
  13. ^ Leon, Anya (December 10, 2009). "Marcia Gay Harden Embraces City Life With Her Family". People.
  14. ^ Velsey, Kim (May 28, 2012). "Marcia Gay Harden Sells Harlem Brownstone". The Observer. London.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b King, Larry; Harden, Marcia Gay (May 11, 2018). "Marcia Gay Harden on Alzheimer's, 'Fifty Shades,' & her new book" (Video interview). Larry King Now. Ora TV.
  16. ^ Hoban, Mary Kate (March 28, 2017). "'Code Black' Star Marcia Gay Harden On Alzheimer's Disease". Elite Daily. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2017-06-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ Harden, Marcia Gay (May 1, 2018). The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers. New York: Simon and Shuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-3572-9.
  19. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 20, 1991). "Late For Dinner". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via RogerEbert.com.
  20. ^ Finn, Robin (December 22, 2006). "The Down-to-Earth Act? It's for Real". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Armitstead, Claire (May 22, 2017). "Diamond dame: Marcia Gay Harden on hellish roles, washed-up stars and nipple clamp tweets". The Guardian. London.

External links[]

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