- Marcia Gay Harden
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Marcia Gay Harden 
Harden at the 2007 Toronto International Film FestivalBorn August 14, 1959
La Jolla, California, U.S.Occupation Actress Years active 1979–present Spouse Thaddaeus Scheel (1996–present) Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing (1990) and then The First Wives Club (1996) which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber (1997) and Meet Joe Black (1998). She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lee Krasner in Pollock (2000). She has starred in a string of successful mainstream and independent movies, such as Space Cowboys (2000), Into the Wild (2007) and The Mist (2007). Harden’s recent credits include Lasse Hallstrom’s film, The Hoax, opposite Richard Gere, and The Walt Disney Company’s The Invisible, directed by David S Goyer. She was also recently seen in Lakeshore Entertainment’s The Dead Girl, directed by Karen Moncrief and starring Toni Colette, Kerry Washington, Mary Steenburgen and Brittany Murphy. In 2009, Harden received a Tony Award for the Broadway play God of Carnage. She has been nominated for an Emmy Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award two times. [1]
Contents
Early life
Harden, one of five children, was born in La Jolla, California (near San Diego), the daughter of Texas natives Beverly (née Bushfield), a housewife, and Thad Harold Harden, who was an officer in the United States Navy.[2] One of Harden's siblings is named Thaddeus, as is her spouse. Harden's family frequently moved because of her father's job, living in Japan, Germany, Greece, California, and Maryland.[3] She graduated from Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Maryland in 1976, the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in theatre, and the graduate theatre program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts.
Career
Marcia Gay Harden with John Heald on Carnival Dream in November 2009
Harden's first film role was in a 1979 student-produced movie at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in several television programs, including Simon & Simon, Kojak, and CBS Summer Playhouse. She appeared in the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990), a 1930s mobster drama in which she first gained wide exposure. In 1992, she 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 Imagemaker (1986), her first screen role, in which she played a stage manager; 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); 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 of aging astronauts.
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.
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 Nov. 10, 2010).
In 2007, Harden appeared in several films, including Sean Penn's critically acclaimed Into the Wild, and Frank Darabont's The Mist, based on the novella by Stephen King. Also in 2007 she shared joint top billing with Kevin Bacon in Rails & Ties, the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood.
In 2008, she appeared in Home playing a woman who has 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 (2008), a story of the early artistic beginnings of the Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade. In 2009, she appeared as a regular on the critically acclaimed FX series Damages as a shrewd corporate attorney, opposite Glenn Close and William Hurt. Harden also played in the comedy The Maiden Heist (2009) with Christopher Walken and Morgan Freeman. Harden received a 2009 Emmy Award 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, Marcia Gay Harden would have entered the elite group of 'triple-crown' actors; actors who have won the three acting awards of the highest honor: the Academy Award (film), the Tony Award (stage) and the Emmy Award (television). She has yet to win an Emmy.
In 2009, Harden co-starred with Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore in Whip It. The film was a critical success.[4] It was also in this year that Harden returned to Broadway in Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage. She starred with James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels. Each lead actor was nominated for the Tony Award and on June 8, Harden won Best Actress in a Play.[5]
Together, Harden's films have grossed $724,487,920 domestically and $1,128,784,661 worldwide.[6]
She currently has three films in development, Noah's Ark: The New Beginning (2010), The No Game (2010) and If I Were You (2011).
She joined the cast of Royal Pains in a multi-episode arc for season 2 starting June 3, 2010. She played Dr. Elizabeth Blair, a surgeon and a board member of Hamptons Heritage Hospital who is a "mentor-turned-adversary to Jill".[7]
Personal life
Harden is married to Thaddaeus Scheel, with whom she worked on The Spitfire Grill (1996), and the couple have three children: a daughter, Eulala Grace Scheel (September 1998), and twins Julitta Dee Scheel and Hudson Scheel Harden (22 April 2004) [8]. The family lives in Harlem, New York.
On December 14, 2003, her young nephew Sander Waring Harden and niece Audrey Gay Harden died with her former sister-in-law Rebecca Harden as a result of a tragic fire in their Queens, New York, apartment. Rebecca Harden was divorced from the children's father, Thaddeus Harden, who is Marcia Gay Harden's brother.[citation needed] On May 22, 2010, Harden delivered the 127th Spring Commencement Address at the University of Texas at Austin.[9]
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes 1979 Not Only Strangers 1986 The Imagemaker Stage Manager 1990 Miller's Crossing Verna Bernbaum 1991 Fever Lacy TV film Late for Dinner Joy Husband 1992 Crush Lane Entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival Sinatra Ava Gardner TV film Used People Norma 1993 Geoffrey Beene 30 Woman 1994 Safe Passage Cynthia 1996 The Spitfire Grill Shelby Goddard The Daytrippers Libby The First Wives Club Dr. Leslie Rosen National Board of Review for Best Cast Far Harbor Arabella Spy Hard Miss Cheevus 1997 Flubber Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds 1998 Desperate Measures Dr. Samantha Hawkins Meet Joe Black Allison Parrish Labor of Love Annie Pines TV film 1999 Curtain Call Michelle Tippet 2000 Space Cowboys Sara Holland Pollock Lee Krasner Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female2001 Gaudi Afternoon Frankie Stevens 2003 Mystic River Celeste Boyle Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Seattle Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureJust Like Mona Casa de los Babys Nan Mona Lisa Smile Nancy Abbey 2004 Welcome to Mooseport Grace Sutherland P.S. Missy Goldberg She's Too Young Trish Vogul Lifetime movie 2005 Bad News Bears Liz Whitewood American Gun Janet Huttenson Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Mrs. Martha Merriman 2006 American Dreamz First Lady The Dead Girl Melora The Hoax Edith Irving Canvas Mary Marino In From the Night Melora TV film 2007 The Invisible Diane Powell The Mist Mrs. Carmody Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Into the Wild Billie McCandless Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Rails & Ties Megan Stark 2008 Home Inga Thomas Kinkade's Home for Christmas Maryanne Kinkade 2009 The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Janina Sendler Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie The Maiden Heist Rose Limited release Whip It Brooke Cavendar 2010 Noah's Ark: The New Beginning Aamah (Voice) Post-production 2011 If I Were You Madelyn Post-production Detachment Principal Carol Dearden Filming Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Marjorie Dunfour Filming Television
Year Show Role Notes 2001 The Education of Max Bickford Andrea Haskell "I Never Schlunged My Father" (1x13) 2002 King of Texas Susannah Lear Western Heritage Award
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film2005 Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Mrs. Martha Merriman Her daughter, Eulala Scheel acted as Nan Merriman, one of her daughters in this TV film 2005-10 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit FBI Special Agent Dana Lewis 3 Episodes – "Raw" (7x06), "Informed" (8x01), "Penetration" (12x08) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
2006 Drift Cheryl 2009 Damages Claire Maddox 7 Episodes – "Burn It, Shred It, I Don't Care" (2x02), "I Knew Your Pig" (2x03), "Hey! Mr. Pibb!" (2x04), "A Pretty Girl in a Leotard" (2x06), "New York Sucks" (2x07), "Uh Oh, Out Come the Skeletons" (2x10), "London, Of Course" (2x11); credited in "I Lied, Too." (2x01); "I Agree, It Wasn't Funny" (2x05), "They Had to Tweeze That Out of My Kidney" (2x08), "You Got Your Prom Date Pregnant" (2x09), "Look What He Dug Up This Time" (2x10), "Trust Me" (2x13) 2010 Royal Pains Dr. Elizabeth Blair 3 Episodes – "Spacticity" (2x01), "Frenemies" (2x09), "Big Whoop" (2x11); credited in "Lovesick" (2x02) 2011 Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy Amanda's Mother Awards and nominations
Film/Television
Year Award Category Nominated Work Result 1996 National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Best Acting by an Ensemble The First Wives Club Won 2000 New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress Pollock Won 2001 Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Won Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Female Nominated 2003 Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Ensemble Cast Mystic River Won Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television King of Texas Nominated Seattle Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress Mystic River Won Western Heritage Award Television Feature Film King of Texas Won 2004 Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Mystic River Nominated Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress Nominated Central Ohio Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress Won Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress Nominated Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated 2007 Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Female American Gun Nominated 2008 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Best Supporting Actress The Mist Won Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Into the Wild Nominated 2009 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Nominated (Source: IMDb.com) Theatre
Year Award Category Nominated Work Result 1993 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Nominated Theatre World Award Distinguished Performance Won Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play Nominated 1994 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play Angels in America: Perestroika Nominated 2009 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Play God of Carnage Nominated Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Won References
- ^ http://celebritywonder.ugo.com/html/marciagayharden_bio1.html
- ^ "Thad Harold Harden". Variety. March 1, 2002. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117861675.html?categoryid=25&cs=1.
- ^ Pfefferman, Naomi. "Strange Attraction". JewishJournal.com. http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=6474. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ "Whip It Movie Reviews, Pictures". rottentomatoes.com. http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/whip_it/. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ Gandolfini Stars on Broadway in God of Carnage The Associated Press, January 12, 2009
- ^ "Marcia Gay Harden - Box Office Data". The-numbers.com. http://www.the-numbers.com/people/MGHAR.php. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 26, 2010). "Exclusive:'Royal Pains' adds Oscar champ Marcia Gay Harden". The Ausiello Files (Entertainment Weekly). http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/04/26/royal-pains-marcia-gay-harden/. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ http://pregnancystories.blogspot.com/2007/12/marcia-gay-harden-had-twins-at-44.html
- ^ "Spring Commencement". Utexas.edu. 2010-05-22. http://www.utexas.edu/commencement/2010/address.html. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
External links
- Marcia Gay Harden at the Internet Movie Database
- Marcia Gay Harden at the Internet Broadway Database
- Marcia Gay Harden at Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Marcia Gay Harden 2006 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
Awards for Marcia Gay Harden Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (1981–2000) Maureen Stapleton (1981) · Jessica Lange (1982) · Linda Hunt (1983) · Peggy Ashcroft (1984) · Anjelica Huston (1985) · Dianne Wiest (1986) · Olympia Dukakis (1987) · Geena Davis (1988) · Brenda Fricker (1989) · Whoopi Goldberg (1990) · Mercedes Ruehl (1991) · Marisa Tomei (1992) · Anna Paquin (1993) · Dianne Wiest (1994) · Mira Sorvino (1995) · Juliette Binoche (1996) · Kim Basinger (1997) · Judi Dench (1998) · Angelina Jolie (1999) · Marcia Gay Harden (2000)
Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–2020) Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Ida Lupino (1974/75) · Bette Davis (1976) · Susan Tyrrell (1977) · Dyan Cannon (1978) · Veronica Cartwright (1979) · Eve Brent (1980) · Frances Sternhagen (1981) · Zelda Rubinstein (1982) · Candy Clark (1983) · Polly Holliday (1984) · Anne Ramsey (1985) · Jenette Goldstein (1986) · Anne Ramsey (1987) · Sylvia Sidney (1988) · Whoopi Goldberg (1989/90) · Mercedes Ruehl (1991) · Isabella Rossellini (1992) · Amanda Plummer (1993) · Mia Sara (1994) · Bonnie Hunt (1995) · Alice Krige (1996) · Gloria Stuart (1997) · Joan Allen (1998) · Patricia Clarkson (1999) · Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (2000) · Fionnula Flanagan (2001) · Samantha Morton (2002) · Ellen DeGeneres (2003) · Daryl Hannah (2004) · Summer Glau (2005) · Famke Janssen (2006) · Marcia Gay Harden (2007) · Tilda Swinton (2008) · Sigourney Weaver (2009) · Mila Kunis (2010)
Note: The years are listed as per convention, usually the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the next year.Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (2001–2025) Mary-Louise Parker (2001) · Lindsay Duncan (2002) · Vanessa Redgrave (2003) · Phylicia Rashād (2004) · Cherry Jones (2005) · Cynthia Nixon (2006) · Julie White (2007) · Deanna Dunagan (2008) · Marcia Gay Harden (2009) · Viola Davis (2010) · Frances McDormand (2011)
Complete list · (1947–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025) Categories:- 1959 births
- Actors from California
- American expatriates in Germany
- American expatriates in Greece
- American expatriates in Japan
- American film actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners
- Living people
- Military brats
- Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- People from San Diego, California
- Saturn Award winners
- Tony Award winners
- University of Texas at Austin alumni
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