1. Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
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Blythe Danner Biography (1944?-)

Full name, Blythe Katharine Danner; born February 3, 1944 (some sources cite1943), in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of Harry Earl (a bank executive) and Katharine Danner; married Bruce W. Paltrow (a writer and producer), December 14,1969 (died October 3, 2002); children: Gwyneth Kate (an actress), Jake (a director), Laura. Addresses: Agent: Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA, 90212.

Nationality

American

Gender

Female

Occupation

Actress

Birth Details

February 3, 1944?

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Stage Appearances
• Laura, The Glass Menagerie, Theatre Company of Boston, Boston, MA,1965
• The Service of Joseph Axminster, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965-66
• The Way Out of the Way In, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965-66
• The Knack, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965-66
• Girl, The Infantry (revue), Eighty-First Street Theatre, New YorkCity, 1966
• Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Trinity Square Playhouse, Providence, RI, 1967
• Irina, Three Sisters, Trinity Square Playhouse, 1967
• Michele, Mata Hari (musical), National Theatre, Washington, DC, 1967
• Girl, Summertree, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Forum Theatre(now Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre), New York City, 1968
• Sister Marthe, Cyrano de Bergerac, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1968
• Violet Bean, Up Eden, Jan Hus Theatre, New York City, 1968
• Standby for Mag, "Winners" (double-bill with "Losers"), Lovers, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Music Box Theatre, New York City,both 1968
• Connie Odum, Someone's Comin' Hungry, Pocket Theatre, New York City, 1969
• Elsie, The Miser, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1969
• Jill Tanner, Butterflies Are Free, Booth Theatre, New York City, beginning 1969, later produced elsewhere
• Title role, Major Barbara, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1971
• Viola, Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, Vivian Beaumont Theatre,Lincoln Center, 1972
• Nina, The Seagull, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1974
• Isabel, Ring Around the Moon, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1975
• Cynthia Karslake, The New York Idea, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, 1977
• Lisa, Children of the Sun, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1979
• Emma, Betrayal, Trafalgar Theatre, New York City, 1980
• Tracy Samantha Lord, The Philadelphia Story, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1980-81
• Elvira, Blithe Spirit: An Improbable Farce, Morris Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore, MD, then Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1987
• Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, Circle in the Square, New York City, 1988
• Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1988
• Melissa Gardner, Love Letters, Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1989
• Picnic, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1991
• Arkadina, The Seagull, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1994
• Kate, Sylvia, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, New York City, 1995
• Bel, Moonlight, Roundabout Theatre Company, Laura Pels Theatre, Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, New York City, 1995-96
• Hester Collyer, The Deep Blue Sea, Roundabout Theatre Company, Criterion Center Stage Right Theatre, New York City, 1998
• Jane, Ancestral Voices (staged reading), Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, 1999
• Tonight, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2000
• Phyllis Rogers Stone, Follies (musical), Roundabout Theatre Company, Belasco Theatre, New York City, 2001
• "Little Murders" (staged reading), Voices!, City Center Theatre, New York City, 2001
• Mrs. Mullin, Carousel (concert performance), Carnegie Hall, New York City, 2002
• Karen Richards, All About Eve (benefit reading), Actors' Fund of America, Ahmanson Music Center of Los Angeles County, CA, 2003
• The Chekhov Cycle, Nikos Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2002
• Also appeared in Collision Course; performed annually at Williamstown Theatre Festival for many years.
• Film Appearances
• Lily Frischer, To Kill a Clown, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972
• Martha Wales Skelton Jefferson, 1776, Columbia, 1972
• Molly Taylor, Lovin' Molly, Columbia, 1974
• Miss Trout, Hearts of the West (also known as Hollywood Cowboy), United Artists, 1975
• Tracy Ballard, Futureworld, American International Pictures, 1976
• Lillian Meechum, The Great Santini (also known as The Ace and The Gift of Fury), Warner Bros., 1980
• Sheila Beckwith, Man, Woman, and Child, Paramount, 1983
• Interviewee, Starring ... the Actors, American Film Institute, 1984
• Kate, Brighton Beach Memoirs (also known as Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs"), Universal, 1986
• Narrator, One Art, 1987
• Lydia, Another Woman, Orion, 1988
• Grace Barron, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Miramax, 1990
• Dorothy, Alice, Orion, 1990
• Sallie Wingo, The Prince of Tides, Columbia, 1991
• Rain's mother, Husbands and Wives, TriStar, 1992
• Beatrice, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, Universal, 1995
• Katherine Samuel, Homage, Arrow Releasing, 1996
• Lena, The Myth of Fingerprints, Sony Pictures Classics, 1997
• Mrs. Banks, Mad City, Warner Bros., 1997
• Voice of Mother Dingo, Napoleon, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1997
• Syril Danning, The Proposition (also known as Shakespeare's Sister and Tempting Fate), PolyGram, 1998
• Claudia's mother, No Looking Back (also known as Long Time, Nothing New), Gramercy, 1998
• Jana Cassidy, The X Files (also known as Blackwood, Fight the Future, X-Files: Blackwood, The X Files: Fight the Future, X-Files: The Movie, and Aux frontieres du reel), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998
• Virginia, Force of Nature, DreamWorks, 1999
• Mrs. Bradford, Cosas que olvide recordar (also known as ThingsI Forgot to Remember), Sogepaq Distribucion/Warner Sogefilms, 1999
• Lillian MacFarquhuar, The Love Letter, DreamWorks, 1999
• Dina Byrnes, Meet the Parents, Universal, 2000
• Gail O'Connor, Invisible Circus, Fine Line, 2000
• Beverly, 3 Days of Rain, Maximone Pictures, 2002
• Mary, The Quality of Light (also known as To What Sweet End), Karalex Pictures, 2003
• Aurelia Plath, Sylvia, Focus Features, 2003
• Dina Byrnes, Meet the Fockers, Universal, 2004
• Voice of Madam Suliman for English version, Hauro no ugoku shiro (animated; also known as Howl's Moving Castle), Buena Vista, 2005
• Isabella Stewart Gardner, Stolen (documentary), Precision Films, 2005
• Grandma, Walk Two Moons, 2005
• Television Appearances
• Series
• Amanda Bonner, Adam's Rib, ABC, 1973
• Hillary Tattinger, Tattinger's (also known as Nick & Hillary), NBC, 1988-89
• Marilyn Truman, a recurring role, Will & Grace, NBC, beginning2001
• Dr. Harriet Lanning, Presidio Med, CBS, 2002
• Isabelle "Izzy" Huffstodt, Huff, Showtime, 2004
• Movies
• Jane "Janey" Rausch, Dr. Cook's Garden, ABC, 1971
• Janice Benedict, Columbo: Etude in Black, NBC, 1972
• Zelda Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Last of the Belles," ABC, 1974
• Eleanor Gehrig, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, NBC, 1978
• Anne Osborne, Are You in the House Alone?, CBS, 1978
• Joan Barlow Maple, "Too Far to Go," NBC Theatre, NBC, 1979
• Eileen Wilcox, In Defense of Kids, CBS, 1983
• Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues, syndicated, 1984
• Louise Jamison, Guilty Conscience, CBS, 1985
• Jeannie, Money, Power, Murder (also known as Dead Air), CBS, 1989
• Emmeline Guitry, Judgment (also known as Sacraments and Vermillion Parish), HBO, 1990
• Jane Mermelstein, Never Forget (also known as The Promise),TNT, 1991
• Lily Montgomery, Getting Up and Going Home (also known as Unfaithful), Lifetime, 1992
• Eliza Mercer, Leave of Absence, NBC, 1994
• Paula Tobias, A Call to Remember, Encore and Starz!, 1997
• Bee Bedloe, "Saint Maybe" (also known as "Anne Tyler's `Saint Maybe'"), Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS, 1998
• Voice of Mrs. Murphy, Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (also known as Murder, She Purred), ABC, 1998
• Irma Miller, The Farmhouse (also known as Eye of the Storm), Sundance Channel, 1999
• Corinne, We Were the Mulvaneys, Lifetime, 2002
• Rebecca Holmes Davitch, "Back When We Were Grownups," Hallmark Hall ofFame, CBS, 2004
• Miniseries
• Margarete Speer, Inside the Third Reich, ABC, 1982
• Bonnie Von Stein, Cruel Doubt, NBC, 1992
• Voice of Elizabeth Todd Edwards, Lincoln, ABC, 1992
• Bianca Honicut, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, CBS, 1994
• The West, PBS, 1996-97
• Narrator, "Galileo Was Right," From the Earth to the Moon, HBO, 1998
• Specials
• Agnes Nolan Cohan, George M!, NBC, 1970
• Alma Winemiller, "Eccentricities of a Nightingale," N.E.T. Playhouse, PBS, 1970
• "To Confuse an Angel," Prudential's On Stage, CBS, 1970
• "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," N.E.T. Playhouse, PBS, 1972
• "Invitation to a March," Hollywood Television Theatre, PBS, 1972
• Rachel, "The Scarecrow," Hollywood Television Theatre, PBS, 1972
• Nina, "The Sea Gull" (also known as "The Seagull"), Theatre in America, PBS, 1975
• Cohost, That Was the Year that Was, NBC, 1976
• Elisabeth Custer, "The Court-Martial of General George Armstrong Custer,"Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1977
• Alice Sycamore, You Can't Take It with You, CBS, 1979
• Anna Christie, "Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts," American Masters, PBS, 1985
• "Clara Hale," An American Portrait, CBS, 1986
• Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1988
• Jane, "Kiss-Kiss Dahlings!," Great Performances' Twentieth AnniversarySpecial, PBS, 1992
• Narrator, Barenboim Conducts Strauss, 1993
• Ellen Levine, "The Rosenthal Affair," Tracy Ullman Takes on New York, HBO, 1993
• Voice of Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Century of Women (also known as A Family of Women), TBS, 1994
• Narrator, Linda Leisure and H.O.M.E., 1994
• Voice of Martha Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson, PBS, 1997
• Host, Sophisticated Ladies: Charleston and Savannah with Blythe Danner, PBS, 1998
• Narrator, Intimate Portrait: Mia Farrow, Lifetime, 1999
• Host, Population: Six Billion, PBS, 1999
• Narrator, Healthcare Crisis: Who's at Risk?, PBS, 2000
• Voice, Mark Twain, PBS, 2001
• Voice, Echoes from the White House, PBS, 2001
• Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Cynthia Nixon, Lifetime, 2002
• AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Robert De Niro, USA Network, 2003
• Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Dana Delany, Lifetime, 2003
• "Huff:" Around the Edges, Showtime, 2004
• Appeared as Agnes Nolan in a presentation of The Bell Telephone Hour.
• Episodic
• "Day Tripper," N.Y.P.D., ABC, 1968
• Carly Breslin Walton, "The More I See You," M*A*S*H, CBS, 1976
• Star, "You're a Poet and Don't Know It! ... The Poetry Power Hour," The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People, CBS, 1976
• Guest host, Saturday Night Live (also known as NBC's "SaturdayNight," Saturday Night, and SNL), NBC, 1982
• Paige Gerradeaux, "The Women," St. Elsewhere, NBC, 1984
• Margaret, "Maniac at Large," Tales from the Crypt, HBO, 1992
• Mad TV, Fox, 2000
• Guest, Coming Attractions, 2004
• Guest, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, CBS, 2005
• Pilots
• Prudy Jenkins, Sidekicks, CBS, 1974
• Evelyn Harper, Two and a Half Men, 2003
• Izzy, !Huff, Showtime, 2004
• Awards Presentations
• Presenter, The 53rd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1981
• The 71st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1999
• 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 2000
• The First Ten Awards: Tony 2001, PBS, 2001
• The 56th Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 2002
• Presenter, The 29th Annual People's Choice Awards, CBS, 2003
• The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2005
• RECORDINGS
• Taped Readings
• Reader, Baby, 1994
• Reader, The Robber Bride, 1995
• Reader (with others), Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, HarperAudio, 2001

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals

• American Film, June, 1991, p. 24
• Booklist, May 15, 1994, p. 1701; January 15, 1995, p. 946
• Entertainment Weekly, August 2, 1996, p. 12
• Life, May 1, 1999, p. 60
• Nation, December 11, 1995, pp. 762-763
• New York Times, May 15, 1981
• New York Times, August 3, 1994
• Premiere, December, 1991, p. 53
• TV Guide, August 24, 2002, p. 6; October 25, 2003, p. 12