Nancy Marchand
Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. Known for her performances on stage and screen, her accolades include four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nomination for a Tony Award. Marchand began her career in theater.
Also recorded as Nancy Lou Marchand
Nancy Marchand
CBS Television · eBay item photo front photo back · Public domain
- Name
- Nancy Marchand
- Birth Name
- Nancy Lou Marchand
- Born
- 19 June 1928
- Birthplace
- Buffalo, New York, U.S.
- Died
- 18 June 2000
- Place of death
- Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.
- Occupation
- Actress
- Education
- Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
- Nationality
- United States.
- Honours
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
- Languages
- English.
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Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. Known for her performances on stage and screen, her accolades include four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nomination for a Tony Award. Marchand began her career in theater.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
She was most famous for portraying Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant – for which she won four Emmy Awards – and Livia Soprano on The Sopranos, for which she won a Golden Globe Award.
Nancy Marchand studied at Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University and Amherst Central High School. The recorded working language is English. Distinctions recorded are Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Photo of Ed Asner as Lou Grant, Nancy Marchand as Mrs. Pynchon and Mason Adams as Charlie Hume from the television program Lou Grant.
CBS Television · eBay item photo front photo back

Photo of (from left) William Shatner, Nancy Marchand and E.G. Marshall from the television program Sunday Showcase. This presentation, "The Indestructable Mr. Gore", aired 13 Decfember 1959.
NBC Television · front back
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nancy Marchand • Birth Name — Nancy Lou Marchand • Born — 19 June 1928 • Birthplace — Buffalo, New York, U.S. • Died — 18 June 2000 • Place of death — Stratford, Connecticut, U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1946–2000 • Children — 3 • Education — Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Early life
Early life
Marchand was born in 1928 in Buffalo, New York, the only child of Dr. Raymond Louis Marchand, a dentist, and his wife, Marjorie Freeman, a piano teacher. Her great-grandfather Louis Marchand, a stone cutter, emigrated from France. She grew up in the adjacent hamlet of Eggertsville, New York. She attended Amherst High School, and studied acting at the Studio Theatre School in Buffalo, taking two buses to make the trip. She graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949 and studied theater at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City.
Career
Career
Marchand made her first professional stage appearance in 1946 in The Late George Apley in Ogunquit, Maine. She made her Broadway debut in The Taming of the Shrew in 1951. She won a Distinguished Performance Obie Award for The Balcony, and she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The White Liars & Black Comedy. She was nominated four times for the Drama Desk Award, winning for Morning's at Seven. She won a second Obie for her performance in A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour. In 1953, she made her television debut starring opposite Rod Steiger on The Philco Television Playhouse in the television play Marty. Marchand originated the roles of Vinnie Phillips on the CBS soap opera Love of Life and Theresa Lamonte on the NBC soap opera Another World. She also starred as matriarch Edith Cushing on Lovers and Friends, a short-lived soap opera. Marchand was renowned for her roles as patrician newspaper publisher Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant, winning four Emmy Awards as Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, and as matriarch Livia Soprano, mother of Tony Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as two Emmy Award nominations. She appeared in many anthology series in the early days of television, including The Philco Television Playhouse (on which she starred in Marty opposite Rod Steiger), Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. Additional television credits include The Law and Mr. Jones, Spenser: For Hire, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Coach, and Night Court. Marchand's feature film credits included The Bachelor Party, Ladybug Ladybug, Me, Natalie, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, The Hospital, The Bostonians, From the Hip, Jefferson in Paris, Brain Donors, Reckless, The Naked Gun, Sabrina, and Dear God. Marchand's death occurred between Seasons 2 and 3 of The Sopranos, before a plot line prominently involving her character was resolved. Her death was written into the plot, and one final scene was created for her using computer-generated imagery, which was a groundbreaking technology at the time, together with outtakes from previous seasons.
Personal life
Personal life
Marchand was married to actor Paul Sparer. He died in 1999 from cancer. The couple had three children: Katie, David, and Rachel, and seven grandchildren. A long time chain smoker, Marchand suffered from lung cancer, emphysema, and COPD. She died on June 18, 2000 in Stratford, Connecticut, the day before her 72nd birthday. She was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Television
Television
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1950 — Westinghouse Studio One — Jo March — 2 episodes • 1951 — Lux Video Theatre — Joan — Episode: "Forever Walk Free" • 1951–1958 — Kraft Theatre — Abby — 9 episodes • 1953 — Studio One in Hollywood — Miss Marmon — Episode: "The Hospital" • 1953 — The Philco Television Playhouse — Clara — Episode: "Marty" • 1953 — Lux Video Theatre — Phyllis — Episode: "Two for Tea" • 1954 — Pond's Theater — Charlotte — 4 episodes • 1957 — Studio One in Hollywood — Eleanor — Episode: "Rudy" • 1957 — The United States Steel Hour — Gen Arnold — Episode: "Windfall" • 1957 — Shirley Temple's Storybook — Queen — Episode: "The Sleeping Beauty" • 1958 — Playhouse 90 — Sylvia Sands — Episode: "Free Weekend" • 1959 — Armstrong Circle Theatre — Mrs. Howard Jones — Episode: "Miracle at Spring Hill" • 1959 — Playhouse 90 — Mrs. Yarbrough — Episode: "The Hidden Image" • 1959 — NBC Sunday Showcase — Mrs. Clegg — Episode: "The Indestructible Mr. Gore" • 1959 — R.C.M.P. — Gerta Boyd — Episode: "Little Girl Lost" • 1959 — The Bells of St. Mary's — Sister Michael — TV movie • 1960 — Play of the Week — Margaret — 2 episodes • 1960 — The Law and Mr. Jones — Dorothy — Episode: "The Long Echo" • 1961 — The Defenders — Mrs. Crile — Episode: "The Attack" • 1962 — Naked City — Esther Lindall — Episode: "The Multiplicity of Herbert Konish" • 1964 — The Defenders — Rhoda Banter — Episode: "Hollow Triumph" • 1972 — Look Homeward, Angel — Madame Elizabeth — TV movie • 1975 — Beacon Hill — Mary Lassiter — 13 episodes • 1976 — Another World — Theresa Lamonte — Unknown episodes • 1977–1982 — Lou Grant — Margaret Pynchon — 99 episodes • 1977 — Soldier's Home — Mrs. Krebs — TV movie • 1983 — Sparkling Cyanide — Lucilla Drake — TV movie • 1984 — Cheers — Dr. Hester Crane — Episode: "Diane Meets Mom" • 1986 — Spenser: For Hire — Emily Garden — Episode: "In a Safe Place" • 1986 — North and South, Book II — Dorothea Dix — 6 episodes • 1986 — Spearfield's Daughter — Claudine Roux — Miniseries • 1990–1992 — Coach — Marlene Watkins — 2 episodes • 1992 — Law & Order — Mrs. Barbara Ryder — Episode: "Blood Is Thicker" • 1992 — Night Court — Louise Cahill — 2 episodes • 1993 — Crossroads — Aunt Dorothy — Episode: "The Nickel Curve" • 1994 — Homicide: Life on the Street — Lorraine Freeman — Episode: "All Through the House" • 1999–2001 — The Sopranos — Livia Soprano — 21 episodes
Theatre
Theatre
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1951 — The Taming of the Shrew — Hostess / Curtis • 1953 — Love's Labour's Lost — Princess of France • 1953 — The Merchant of Venice — Nerissa • 1956 — The Good Woman of Setzuan — Mrs. Mi Tzu • 1957 — Miss Isobel — Miriam Ackroyd • 1959 — Much Ado About Nothing — Ursula • 1962 — Tchin-Tchin — Pamela Pew Pickett (understudy) • 1963 — Strange Interlude — Nina Leeds • 1966 — 3 Bags Full — Genevieve • 1966 — The Alchemist — Performer • 1966 — Yerma — Dolores • 1967 — After the Rain — Gertrude Forbes-Cooper • 1968 — Cyrano de Bergerac — Roxane's Duenna / Sister Claire • 1968 — Forty Carats — Mrs. Latham • 1971 — And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little — Ceil Adams • 1971 — Mary Stuart — Queen Elizabeth • 1972 — Enemies — Tatiana • 1973 — The Plough and the Stars — Mrs. Gogan • 1973 — Veronica's Room — The Woman (standby) • 1975 — The Glass Menagerie — Amanda Wingfield (standby) • 1980 — Morning's at Seven — Ida Bolton • 1984 — Awake and Sing! — Bessie Berger • 1985 — The Octette Bridge Club — Connie • 1988 — The Cocktail Hour — Ann • 1989 — Love Letters — Melissa Gardner (replacement) • 1993 — The White Liars & Black Comedy — Miss Furnival / Sophie, Baroness Lemberg
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2000
Nancy Marchand died at Stratford.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Buffalo.
Birth place
Stratford.
Death place
Film
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1954 — Three Steps to Start — Producer, Julien Bryan International Film Foundation NYU • 1957 — The Bachelor Party — Mrs. Julie Samson • 1963 — Ladybug Ladybug — Mrs. Andrews • 1969 — Me, Natalie — Edna Miller • 1970 — Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon — Nurse Oxford • 1971 — The Hospital — Mrs. Christie • 1984 — The Bostonians — Mrs. Burrage • 1987 — From the Hip — Roberta Winnaker • 1988 — The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! — Mayor Barkley • 1991 — Regarding Henry — Headmistress — Uncredited • 1992 — Brain Donors — Lillian Oglethorpe • 1995 — Jefferson in Paris — Madame Abbesse • 1995 — Reckless — Grandmother • 1995 — Sabrina — Maude Larrabee • 1996 — Dear God — Judge Kits Van Heynigan
Awards and nominations
• Year — Organization — Category — Series — Result • 1978 — Primetime Emmy Awards — Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Lou Grant • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1994 — Tony Awards — Best Actress in a Play — The White Liars & Black Comedy • 1999 — Primetime Emmy Awards — Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — The Sopranos • 1999 — Viewers for Quality Television — Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series • 2000 — Golden Globe Awards — Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film • Primetime Emmy Awards — Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series • Actor Awards — Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series • Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series • 2001
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.WNY Girl in Play At Carnegie Tech. The Buffalo News. 16. April 12, 1947.
- 2.Bergan, Ronald. Nancy Marchand. The Guardian. June 21, 2000.
- 3.Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901–1955 and 1966–1970
- 4.Actress Nancy Marchand, Buffalo Natives, Dies. The Buffalo News. 7. June 20, 2000.
- 5.Dr. Marchand. The Buffalo News. 24. March 28, 1981.
- 6.1870 United States census, 1920 United States census
- 7.Buffalo News. Standing By Studio Arena, Nancy Marchand Credits Her Success to Her Hometown Theater. June 2, 1997.
- 8.Chase, Anthony. Nancy Marchand's Stage of Life. Buffalo News. April 30, 1991.
- 9.Carnegie Mellon's Notable Alumni. Carnegie Mellon University.
- 10.Alumni. HB Studio.
- 11.Buffalo News. Standing By Studio Arena. June 2, 1997.
- 12.Johnson, Allan. How Livia Was Able to Return This Season. Chicago Tribune. March 4, 2001.
- 13.Kaplan, Don. 'Sopranos' mom loses her fight for life. New York Post. June 20, 2000.
- 14.Nancy Narchand and the Stuff of Daydreams. The Washington Post.
- 15.Gussow, Mel. (The New York Times). "Obituaries: Nancy Marchand, Actress Known for 'Lou Grant,' 'Sopranos'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 2, 2000. p. B7. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- 16.Rawson, Christopher. Theater family comes together to celebrate Hall of Fame honorees. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 1, 2001.
- 17.Nancy Marchand. Broadway Internet Database.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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