Mari Gorman

Mari Gorman is an American actress perhaps best known for her work in television, particularly as a frequent guest star on the 1970s and 1980s sitcom Barney Miller, but she is also known for her theater acting. She has won several acting awards, including two Obie Awards. She is the author of Strokes of Existence: The Connection of All Things, which is about her long-term, formal investigation of acting that realizes Shakespeare's words, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, Act II, Sc 7.)

Mari Gorman
Born
New York City
OccupationActress, teacher, writer, producer/director

Biography

Mari Gorman had her first professional role in Arnold Wesker’s The Kitchen, directed by Jack Gelber, with Rip Torn. She has won Obie Awards for three acting performances: in Walking to Waldheim, by Mayo Simon, directed by George L. Sherman at Lincoln Center; The Memorandum, by Vaclev Havel, directed by Joseph Papp at The Public Theatre; and The Hot L Baltimore, by Lanford Wilson, directed by Marshall W. Mason at The Circle In-the-Square (with Circle Repertory Company), for which she also received the Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award and Clarence Derwent Award. Other highlights include the lead role of The Girl in The Red Convertible, by Enrique Buenaventura, in the premiere production of The Third Stage (Tom Patterson Theatre) at Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario; the role of Pam in the American premiere of Saved by Edward Bond, with the Yale Repertory Theatre; and the role of Kathy in the world premiere of Moonchildren (originally titled Cancer) by Michael Weller at The Royal Court Theatre in London. She has acted in numerous television series and has taught acting on both coasts, in her own studios as well as at Loyola University in Los Angeles, and as a Lecturer-in-Acting as a repertory company member at the Yale Drama School. She has directed several productions in New York and L.A., where she won a Drama-Logue Award for her direction of Vanities, by Jack Heifner. In 1974, after Hot L, she began a formal investigation of acting which has led to discoveries that pertain to numerous disciplines in addition to acting. In 2007 she published Strokes of Existence: The Connection of All Things, about this work, which continues. She has a BA in Theatre, and MA in Liberal Studies (Transformations of Modernity) CUNY Graduate Center, 2017.

Her first major tv role was as murder victim and mob pawn Taffy Simms on the television soap opera The Edge of Night in the 1970s. She also had a regular role in the Barbara Eden sitcom Harper Valley PTA, playing PTA member, Vivian Washburn, and was a frequent guest star on the 1970s and 1980s sitcom Barney Miller, including as an amateur prostitute housewife (in Season 4, Episode 3, "Bugs") and as a police detective with a jealous husband (in Season 4, Episode 18, "Wojo's Problem," and other episodes). She has had numerous recurring or guest starring roles in many other television shows, and her film career has included roles in Goodbye, Columbus (1969), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), 10 (1979), Oh, God! Book II (1980), and made for television movies, Curse of the Black Widow (1977), Choices of the Heart (1983) and Kids Don't Tell (1985).

She has produced and directed theatre in New York and Los Angeles, and teaches acting. Among other productions, in 1981 in Los Angeles and 2003 in New York, she produced and directed Cries for Peace, composed of firsthand accounts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors performed by multi-ethnic casts. In 2010 she founded the New York City theater company, Glass Beads Theatre Ensemble, and produced and directed playwright Michael Locascio's Lily of the Conservative Ladies,[1] at the June Havoc Theatre; and produced, directed and, with Danna Call and Craig Pospisil, co-wrote Browsing, performed as part of the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival.[2]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1969Goodbye, ColumbusLaura Simpson Sockaloe
1974The Taking of Pelham One Two ThreeThe Hooker (Hostage)
1977Curse of the Black WidowSophie
197910Coffee Shop Waitress
1980Oh, God! Book IIMrs. Hudson, Tracy's Teacher
1983Choices of the HeartSister Ita Ford
1985Kids Don't TellMacy

Bibliography

Strokes of Existence: The Connection of All Things (2007)

“Mari Gorman has written an exquisitely crafted book on the art of acting, and equally on the art of life. Drawing on deep insights into the elements of gesture and meaning, she demonstrates how a whole can emerge that is more than the sum of its parts. And yet, all the world is a stage. She casts a wide philosophical net as well, drawing out the analogy between such emergent meaning on stage and in life and the strange, almost human-like behavior of ‘mere’ matter at its most fundamental level.” --Jeffrey Satinover, theoretical physicist, author of The Quantum Brain: The Search for Freedom and the Next Generation of Man

"I was intrigued by this, and found her journey into the process of acting very interesting and clearly described."—Brian Goodwin, theoretical biologist, author of How the Leopard Changed its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity

“Mari Gorman's portrayal as Jackie in The Hot L Baltimore was transcendent and transformative. So is this book. Ms. Gorman is one of a kind. So is this book. Rather than attribute the genius of her performance to mysterious magic, Gorman in Strokes of Existence splits the acting atom and analyzes its particles - in order to create genius anew."—Brenda Currin, Obie winning actor and co-Founder and director of What Girls Know, a nationwide theatre program for adolescent girls.

Awards

Notes
  1. Walking to Waldheim: by Mayo Simon, directed by George L. Sherman at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
  2. The Memorandum: by Václav Havel, directed by Joseph Papp at The Public Theater, New York, NY
  3. The Hot l Baltimore: by Lanford Wilson, directed by Marshall W. Mason at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Circle Repertory Company, New York, NY
  4. Vanities: By Jack Heifner, Pilot II Theater, Los Angeles, California
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References
  1. Violanti, Heather J. (February 3, 2011). "Lily of the Conservative Ladies". (review) NYTheatre.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012.
  2. "Company". Glass Beads Theatre Ensemble. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012.
  3. "Al Pacino, Sam Shepard, Roy Scheider, Estelle Parsons – It's Obies 1968!". Reprint of "23 Win '68 'Obies'". Village Voice. May 30, 1968. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. "Christopher Lloyd! Stacy Keach! Jessica Tandy! It's the 1973 Obies!!". Reprint of Berman, Audrey. "The '73 'Obies': Plays were the thing'". Village Voice. May 24, 1973. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. "Theatre World Award Recipients". Theatre World Awards (official site). Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  6. Google cache of "1972–1973 19th Drama Desk Awards", formerly listed at Drama Desk official site.
  7. "The Clarence Derwent Award 2010". Actors' Equity Association. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  8. "Vanities". GailEdwards.com. n.d. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17.
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