Marcia Gay Harden

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). Other notable film roles include American Gun (2005), and 2007's The Mist and Into the Wild.

Marcia Gay Harden
Harden at the Frozen premiere in 2013
Born	(1959-08-14) August 14, 1959 La Jolla, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	University of Texas, Austin (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Thaddaeus Scheel ​ ( m. 1996; div. 2012)
Children	3
Website	theofficialmarciagayharden.com

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 is one of five children, having 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 BA 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. 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 twelfth-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 Ellen 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
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
2010	True Grit	Mattie Ross	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
2020	Moxie	Principal Wilson	Post-production

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

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Marcia Gay Harden

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. 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. 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. 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. http://www.marthastewart.com/268653/ikebana%5B%5D
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

• Official website
• Marcia Gay Harden on IMDb
• Marcia Gay Harden at the Internet Broadway Database
• Marcia Gay Harden at Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Marcia Gay Harden on Twitter
• Marcia Gay Harden 2006 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment