Mary Kay Place

Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series. Her numerous film appearances include Private Benjamin (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Captain Ron (1992) and Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 drama, The Rainmaker. Place also recorded three studio albums for Columbia Records, one in the Haggers persona, which included the Top Ten country music hit "Baby Boy." For her performance in Diane, Place won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress [1] and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress.

Mary Kay Place
Born	(1947-09-23) September 23, 1947 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, director, screenwriter
Years active	1973–present

Early life

Place was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Gwendolyn Lucille (née Johnson) and Bradley Eugene Place.[2][3] She graduated from Nathan Hale High School and the University of Tulsa, where her father was an art professor;[4] she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and received a speech degree.

Career

Place moved to Hollywood with aspirations of becoming an actress and writer. She was hired for The Tim Conway Comedy Hour in the 1970s as a production assistant to both Conway and producer Norman Lear. Conway gave her her first on-camera break, while Lear saw to it that Place received her first writing credit on his subsequent All in the Family. On the episode, she and actress Patty Weaver sang "If Communism Comes Knocking on Your Door, Don't Answer It."[5] She appeared in the third-season episode of M*A*S*H titled "Springtime", for which she also received writing credits.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and musical career

Lear then cast her in the role of would-be country and western star Loretta Haggers on the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977).[5][6] She won an Emmy Award for her work as Loretta, and was nominated in 1977 for a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female for the associated music album Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers.[7] Place wrote two of the songs on Tonite!: "Vitamin L" and "Baby Boy," both of which she sang on the television series as Loretta.

Both Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers and its follow up Aimin' To Please featured A-list country and pop performers from the 1970s. Dolly Parton, on whom the Loretta character was loosely based, provided backing vocals as well as the song "All I Can Do" (which Parton also wrote). Emmylou Harris, Anne Murray and Nicolette Larson sang backup as well.[5] Aimin' to Please's "Something to Brag About," a duet with Willie Nelson, earned the pair a place on the music charts in 1977.[5]

While working on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Place also wrote scripts for episodes of several TV situation comedies, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis and M*A*S*H, usually in collaboration with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (who would later create Designing Women). She appeared in the M*A*S*H episode "Springtime," which she co-wrote with Bloodworth. She also made an appearance in the sitcom All in the Family in the episode "Archie Goes Too Far" as Betty Sue.[6]

Place hosted Saturday Night Live in 1977 and was one of the few hosts who also appeared as the musical guest (with Willie Nelson on the duet "Something to Brag About").

Late 1970s through 1990s

Place, accompanied on sax by a character played by Robert De Niro, sings Blue Moon in the 1977 musical drama New York, New York, directed by Martin Scorsese.

In the 1979 Burt Reynolds romantic comedy, Starting Over, Place plays the first woman Reynolds dates after a divorce.[6]

In 1983, Place had a key role in the Lawrence Kasdan ensemble piece The Big Chill as Meg, a single corporate attorney who wishes to be impregnated with her first child by one of her past college friends.[5]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the actress appeared in a number of television movies and a starring role in the 1992 Kurt Russell and Martin Short comedy Captain Ron.[6] 1994 saw her return to television in the recurring role of Camille Cherski on My So-Called Life. In 1996, Place comically portrayed an evangelistic pro-life activist in Alexander Payne's debut feature film Citizen Ruth. She had a strong dramatic role as Dot Black, mother of a terminally ill young man, in Francis Ford Coppola's version of John Grisham's The Rainmaker in 1997.[5]

Place was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her work in the 1996 film Manny & Lo. She plays the matronly Elaine, who would love to have a child and works in a maternity shop, but never married and is past her child-bearing years.

She directed episodes of the HBO sitcom Dream On, NBC's Friends and the series Baby Boom. She provided at least two voices for Fox's animated show King of the Hill in an episode in which Peggy Hill competes in the Mrs. Heimlich County Pageant. She voiced both a competitor and the coordinator of the pageant.

Place appeared in Being John Malkovich as the receptionist with a reception problem, Floris, and in Girl, Interrupted.[6] While not in any scenes together, this marked the third time that Mary Kay had done a film with one of her former My So-Called Life co-stars: first with Claire Danes in The Rainmaker, second with Bess Armstrong in Pecker, then with Jared Leto in Interrupted.

2000-2019

In 2000, the actress co-directed Don Henley's video for "Taking You Home". She had a small role in her second Lisa Krueger movie, Committed.

She played the United States Surgeon General in a 2001 episode of NBC's The West Wing. The character returned in the 2004 season.[6]

In the original PBS mini-series Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, Place had a self-referential moment as a Maupin character during the Mary Hartman era in which the series is set.[6] Laura Linney's character often watched Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Showtime picked up the Tales franchise, but Place was not in the second installment. She did have a role in the third mini-series, Further Tales of the City (2001), which featured her in the role of "Prue Giroux."[5]

In 2002, Place had a sizable role in the Reese Witherspoon movie Sweet Home Alabama as Witherspoon's character's mother, Pearl Smooter. That same year she was in Human Nature starring Tim Robbins and Patricia Arquette and A Woman's a Helluva Thing with Penelope Ann Miller as well as with Albert Brooks in the dark comedy My First Mister. The story focuses on a developing relationship between an isolated, rebellious 18-year-old (Leelee Sobieski) and an engaging older man (Brooks). Place played Brooks' best friend. The film marked the directorial debut of actress Christine Lahti.

Place played a Mormon mother in the film Latter Days (2003). From 2006 to 2011, she had a recurring role in HBO's Big Love, playing Adaleen Grant, the mother of the Chloë Sevigny character, Nicki.[5][6] She also had a recurring role on the HBO comedy Bored to Death.[8] Lily Tomlin and Place did the pilot and 5 episodes of 12 Miles of Bad Road from Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, who wrote television scripts with Place in the 1970s. HBO chose not to air the series, and producers were seeking other networks to air it.[9]

In 2009, she served as the voice of Julie Powell's mother in the film Julie & Julia. In 2013, she appeared as Bryan's mother on The New Normal.

In 2015, Place guest starred on The Mentalist and Looking.[10]She also starred in the comedy-drama film I'll See You in My Dreams directed by Brett Haley, opposite Blythe Danner,[11] The Breakup Girl directed by Stacy Sherman,[12] She provided the voice of Anne Hathaway's mother in The Intern, directed by Nancy Meyers.[13] Place also had a recurring role on Grace and Frankie opposite Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.[14]

In 2016, Place starred in the comedy film The Hollars directed by John Krasinski.[15] the comedy-drama Youth in Oregon directed by Joel David Moore.[16] Place also portrayed Marla Bamford's mother in the comedy series Lady Dynamite which was cancelled after two seasons.[17]

In 2017, Place guest starred in an episode of the comedy series Black-ish.[18] She also had a cameo voice appearance in Downsizing directed by Alexander Payne.[19] Place also had a recurring role on the comedy series Imposters.[20]

In 2018, Place starred in State Like Sleep directed by Meredith Danluck.[21] and appeared in an episode of the anthology drama The Romanoffs.[22] That same year, she starred starred in the drama film Diane directed by Kent Jones, and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.[23] The film marked Place's first lead role in a film, and was written specifically for her by Jones.[24] The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2018.[25] Place's performance received rave reviews from critics.[26][27] The film was released on March 29, 2019, by IFC Films.[28] Place won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for her performance.[29][30] Place received nominations for Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress and Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.[31][32] Place also had a recurring role on Shameless.[33]

2020-present

In 2020, Place guest starred on the comedy-drama series AJ and the Queen,[34] and on Fox's 9-1-1: Lone Star as the mother to Liv Tyler's character.[35] She will next star in the musical drama Music directed by Sia,[36] and in the musical The Prom based on the Broadway musical of the same name directed by Ryan Murphy, for Netflix.[37]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Bound for Glory	Sue Ann
1977	New York, New York	Bernice Bennett
1979	More American Graffiti	Teensa
1979	Starting Over	Marie
1980	Private Benjamin	Pvt. Mary Lou Glass
1981	Modern Problems	Lorraine
1982	Waltz Across Texas	Kit Peabody
1983	The Big Chill	Meg Jones
1983	Terms of Endearment	Doris (voice)
1985	Smooth Talk	Katherine
1988	A New Life	Donna
1988	Portrait of a White Marriage	Joyce Harrison
1990	Bright Angel	Judy
1991	Samantha	Marilyn
1992	Captain Ron	Katherine Harvey
1994	Teresa's Tattoo	Nora
1996	Citizen Ruth	Gail Stoney
1996	Manny & Lo	Elaine
1997	Eye of God	Claire Spencer
1997	The Rainmaker	Dot Black
1998	Naturally Native	Madame Celeste
1998	How to Make the Cruelest Month	Mary Bryant
1998	Pecker	Joyce
1999	Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story	Jan Martinez
1999	Being John Malkovich	Floris
1999	Girl, Interrupted	Barbara Gilcrest
2001	My First Mister	Patty
2001	Nailed	Fern Romano
2001	The Safety of Objects	Helen Christianson
2002	Sweet Home Alabama	Pearl Smooter
2003	Latter Days	Sister Gladys Davis
2004	Evergreen	Susan
2004	Killer Diller	Dr. Gwen Bradley
2004	Silver City	Grace Seymour
2005	Lonesome Jim	Sally
2005	Nine Lives	Dr. Alma Wyatt
2007	War Eagle, Arkansas	Jessie
2007	Mama's Boy	Barbara
2008	City of Ember	Mrs. Murdo
2009	It's Complicated	Joanne
2010	Leonie	Albiana Gilmour
2012	Smashed	Rochelle
2013	Bad Milo!	Beatrice
2013	You're in Charge	Penny Guidry
2014	Miss Meadows	Mrs. Davenport
2014	Last Weekend	Jeannie
2015	I'll See You in My Dreams	Rona
2015	The Breakup Girl	Joan Baker
2016	The Hollars	Pam
2016	Youth in Oregon	Estelle Engersol
2017	Downsizing	Land's End Customer
2018	State Like Sleep	Elaine
2018	Diane	Diane	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated–Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated–Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
2020	Music	Millie	Post-production
2020	The Prom		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	All in the Family	Betty Sue	"Archie Goes Too Far"
1974	M*A*S*H	Lt. Louise Simmons	"Springtime"
1975	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Sally Jo Hotchkiss	"Murray in Love"
1976	The Cheerleaders	Margie	TV film
1976–1977	Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman	Loretta Haggers	Main role
1977	Forever Fernwood	Loretta Haggers	TV series
1980	Act of Love	Becky Wiggins	TV film
1984	ABC Afterschool Special	Ellie Skinner	"Mom's on Strike"
1984	For Love or Money	K.K	TV film
1985	The History of White People in America	Joyce Harrison	TV film
1986	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	Prissy Thrash	"The Girl Who Spelled Freedom"
1986	The History of White People in America: Volume II	Joyce Harrison	TV film
1988	Portrait of a White Marriage	Joyce Harrison
1989	Out on the Edge	Sondra Evetts	TV film
1990	Thirtysomething	Patsy Klein	"Happy New Year"
1990	Traitor in My House	Elizabeth Van Lew	TV film
1991	Crazy from the Heart	Merrilee Playton	TV film
1992	Bed of Lies	Jean Daniel Murph	TV film
1992	Just My Imagination	Shilda Hawk	TV film
1993	Telling Secrets	Shelley Jefferson Carp	TV film
1993	Tales of the City	Prue Giroux	TV miniseries
1994	In the Line of Duty: The Price of Vengeance	Norma Williams	TV film
1994–1995	My So-Called Life	Camille Cherski	Recurring role
1995	Chicago Hope	Joanna Kenneally	"Freeze Outs"
1996	My Very Best Friend	Molly Butler	TV film
1996	For My Daughter's Honor	Betty Ann Dustin	TV film
1997	Love in Another Town	Sam	TV film
1998	Point Last Seen	Coreen Davis	TV film
1998–2009	King of the Hill	Various (voice)	3 episodes
2000	The Wild Thornberrys	Nancy Tucker (voice)	"Birthday Quake"
2001	Further Tales of the City	Prue Giroux	TV miniseries
2001	A Woman's a Helluva Thing	Cecilia Piloski	TV film
2001	Citizen Baines	Francesca Dunlop	"The Appraisal"
2001–2004	The West Wing	Surgeon General Millicent Griffith	"Ellie", "In the Room", "Impact Winter"
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Hope Garrett	"Vulnerable"
2004	The Handler	Naomi Prince	"Acts of Congress"
2005	Jack & Bobby	Rev. Rindhart	"A Child of God"
2006	Numb3rs	Hester Stirling	"Protest"
2006–2018	Grey's Anatomy	Olive Warner	3 episodes
2006–2011	Big Love	Adaleen Grant	Regular role
2007	The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman	Jeanette	"We're Number Two!", "The Carolina Moonshiners"
2008	12 Miles of Bad Road	C.Z. Shakespeare	Main role
2008	Saving Grace	Dorothy Edwina Talbert	"It's Better When I Can See You"
2008	Pushing Daisies	Annabelle Vandersloop	"The Legend of Merle McQuoddy"
2010	Bored to Death	Kathryn Joiner	Recurring role
2012	The Life & Times of Tim	Dorothy (voice)	"Action Packed Heist/Fall Foliage"
2013	Suburgatory	Gam Gam	"Blowtox and Burlap"
2013	The New Normal	Colleen	"The Big Day", "Finding Name-O"
2013	A Country Christmas Story	Sarah	TV film
2013	Holidaze	Elaine Gerard	TV film
2014	Rake	Judge Cunningham	"Jury Tamperer"
2014–2015	Getting On	Dr. Ann Killigrew	Recurring role
2015	Looking	Sarah	"Looking for a Plot"
2015	Ellen More or Less	Virginia	TV film
2015–2016	Grace and Frankie	Amanda	"The End", "The Credit Cards", "The Chicken"
2016–2017	Lady Dynamite	Marilyn Bamford	Main role
2017	Black-ish	Doctor Harris	"Good Dre Hunting"
2017–2018	Imposters	Marsha Bloom	6 episodes
2018	The Romanoffs	Marilyn Hopkins	Episode: "Expectation"
2020	AJ and the Queen	Hospital Administrator	Episode: "Baton Rouge"
2020	9-1-1: Lone Star	Theresa Blake	Recurring role

As director or writer

Year	Title	Notes
1973	The Shape of Things	Writer, TV special
1973–1974	M*A*S*H	Writer, "Hot Lips and Empty Arms", "Springtime", "Mad Dogs and Servicemen"
1974	Paper Moon	Writer, "Gimme That Old Time Relation"
1974	Friends and Lovers	Writer, "The Groupie"
1975	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Writer, "Mary's Delinquent"
1975	Phyllis	Writer, "So Lonely I Could Cry"
1988	Baby Boom	Director, "Stress"
1994	Dream On	Director, "Where There's Smoke, You're Fired", "Those Who Can't, Edit"
1995	Friends	Director, "The One with the List"
1996	Dream On	Director, "Tenants, Anyone?"
1996	Arliss	Director, "The Company You Keep"
2007	The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman	Director, "Straight up Your Heart", "Good Times and Great Oldies"

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US Country	Label
1976	Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers	6	Columbia
1977	Aimin' to Please	40	Columbia
2011	Almost Grown	—	Wounded Bird/Sony

Note: Both of Place's albums just missed charting on the general pop Billboard Hot 200 chart, her 1976 bubbled under in the ten runnerup slots at #202 and the 1977 at #203.

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions			Album
		US Country	US	CAN Country
1976	"Baby Boy"	3	60	6	Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers (credited to "Mary Kay Place as Loretta Haggers")
1977	"Vitamin L"	72	—	—
	"Something to Brag About" (with Willie Nelson)	9	—	15	Aimin' to Please

References

1. Ryan Lattanzio (December 8, 2019). "LA Film Critics Crown 'Parasite,' Bong Joon Ho, Mary Kay Place, and Antonio Banderas". IndieWire. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
2. "Mary Kay Place Biography". filmreference. 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
3. http://marykayplacefan.yolasite.com/mkp-book-contributions.php
4. Michael Smith, Tulsa actress can't quit working, Tulsa World, October 13, 2008.
5. "Mary Kay Place". TCM.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
6. "Mary Kay Place". TVGuide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
7. "Artist: Mary Kay Place". The Recording Academy. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
8. {cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/11/bored-to-death-passive-characters-finally-fight-back/66503/%7Ctitle='Bored to Death': Passive Characters Finally Fight Back|website=The Atlantic|first=Scott|last=Meslow|date=November 15, 2010|accessdate=July 2, 2020}}
9. Schenider, Michael; Littleton, Cynthia (March 17, 2008). "HBO passes on Tomlin's 'Bad Road'". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
10. Mack, Diana (January 23, 2015). "The Mentalist - The Whites of His Eyes Review". Spoiler TV. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
11. Jagernauth, Kevin (April 7, 2015). "Watch: First Trailer For Sundance Buzz Movie 'I'll See You In My Dreams' Starring Blythe Danner & Martin Starr". IndieWire. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
12. Saito, Stephen (July 9, 2015). "Interview: Stacy Sherman on Growing Up with "The Breakup Girl"". Moveable Fest. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
13. Stockman, Tom (September 24, 2015). "THE INTERN – The Review". We Are Movie Geeks. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
14. Lowry, Brian (April 27, 2015). "TV Review: Netflix's 'Grace and Frankie'". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
15. Romano, Nick (July 13, 2016). "'The Hollars' Trailer: John Krasinski's Second Directorial Effort Takes on a Dysfunctional Family". Collider. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
16. Coffin, Lesley (May 13, 2016). "Tribeca Interview: Youth in Oregon's Joel David Moore and Mary Kay Place". The Mary Sue. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
17. Andreeva, Nellie (January 13, 2018). "'Lady Dynamite' Not Returning For Season 3 On Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
18. M. Adams, Thelma (April 2, 2019). "Mary Kay Place Lands Her First Lead Role". AARP. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
19. Crawford, Julie (December 22, 2017). "Downsizing shrinks as political satire loses its focus". North Shore News. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
20. Newsome, Brad (February 24, 2017). "The best shows to stream: Imposters on Stan is dark, funny and unexpectedly interesting". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
21. Tran-Bui, Haoi (November 29, 2018). "'State Like Sleep' Trailer: Katherine Waterston is Haunted by Her Husband's Death". Slash Film. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
22. Dry, Jude (September 12, 2018). "'The Romanoffs' Official Trailer: See Isabelle Huppert and Diane Lane in Matthew Weiner's Epic Anthology Series". IndieWire. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
23. Ehrlich, David (March 28, 2019). "'Diane' Director Kent Jones on How He Pulled Off the Perilous Transition from Film Critic to Filmmaker". IndieWire. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
24. Phillips, Keith (April 1, 2019). "Mary Kay Place Waited Decades to Take Her First Movie Star Role. Diane Is Worth the Wait". New York. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
25. "Diane". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
26. Verniere, James (April 5, 2019). "Mary Kay Place makes 'Diane' award-worthy". The Boston Hearld. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
27. Gleiberman, Owen (April 25, 2018). "Film Review: 'Diane'". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
28. Pederson, Erik (February 14, 2019). "'Diane' Trailer: Selfless But Tortured Mary Kay Place Seeks Redemption In Martin Scorsese-Produced Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
29. White, Nicholas (January 12, 2020). "Jennifer Lopez, Mary Kay Place, Bong Joon Ho Accept Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
30. Bennett, Anita (January 4, 2020). "'Parasite' Wins Top Honor From National Society Of Film Critics". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
31. Hipes, Patrick (October 24, 2019). "Gotham Awards Nominations: A24's 'The Farewell', 'Uncut Gems', Netflix's 'Marriage Story' Lead Way". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
32. D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 21, 2019). "Spirit Award Nominations: A24 Leads For 4th Straight Year With 18 Noms As 'Uncut Gems' & 'The Lighthouse' Come Up Big". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
33. Hipes, Patrick (October 1, 2019). "'Shameless': Mary Kay Place, Elizabeth Rodriguez Join Season 10 Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
34. Rawles, Timothy (January 14, 2020). ""AJ and the Queen" gets better as it rolls along". San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender News. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
35. Misasi, Mary (February 1, 2020). "Preview — 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 1 Episode 4: Act of God". Tell Tale TV. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
36. "Mary Kay Place Talks 'Diane' At 2019 IFP Gotham Awards". TheKnockturnal.com. December 6, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
37. "ACTOR KEVIN CHAMBERLIN CHATS ABOUT BROADWAY, PLAYING BERTRAM ON JESSE ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL AND FILMING THE UPCOMING NETFLIX RYAN MURPHY FILM THE PROM". I Love My Wife Podcast. June 25, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.

External links

• Themarykayplace.webstarts.com
• Mary Kay Place on IMDb
• Mary Kay Place at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

Preceded by Buck Henry	Saturday Night Live Host December 10, 1977	Succeeded by Miskel Spillman