Mary Kay Place Biography

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 album for Columbia Records, one in the Haggers persona, which included the Top Ten country music hit "Baby Boy."

Early life

Place was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Gwendolyn Lucille (ne Johnson) and Bradley Eugene Place. She graduated from Nathan Hale High School and the University of Tulsa, where her father was an art professor; 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." 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). She won an Emmy Award for her work as Loretta, and was later nominated for a Grammy Award for her spin-off musical album Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers. Place wrote two of the songs on Tonite!: "Vitamin L" and "Baby Boy," both of which she sang on the program 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. Aimin' to Please's "Something to Brag About," a duet with Willie Nelson, earned the pair a place on the music charts in 1977.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was one of the biggest cult television programs of all time. The show ended when Louise Lasser left the show in 1977, but the remaining cast stayed on for one more year to tape Forever Fernwood. The series ended with Loretta finding out Charlie was not sterile immediately before giving birth to quintuplets conceived by artificial insemination. While working on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Place also wrote scripts for 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

2000–present

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.

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. 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."

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). Since 2006, she has also had a recurring role in HBO's Big Love, playing Adaleen Grant, the mother of the Chlo Sevigny character, Nicki.

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.

In 2009, she served as the voice of Julie Powell's mother in the film Julie & Julia.

She recently joined the cast of HBO's comedy Bored to Death. In 2013, she appeared as Bryan's mother on The New Normal.

In 2015, she provided the voice of Anne Hathaway's mother in The Intern.

She plays Maria Bamford's mother in the Netflix series Lady Dynamite

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	'	Meg Jones
1983	Terms of Endearment	Doris (voice)
1985	Smooth Talk	Katherine
1988	'	Donna
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	'	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	'	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
2009	It's Complicated	Joanne
2010	Leonie	Albiana Gilmour
2012	Smashed	Rochelle
2013	Bad Milo!	Beatrice
2013	You're in Charge	Penny Guidry
2014	Last Weekend	Jeannie
2015	I'll See You in My Dreams	Rona
2015	'	Joan Baker
2016	'	Pam
2016	Youth in Oregon	Estelle Engersol

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	'	Sally Jo Hotchkiss	"Murray in Love"
1976	'	Margie	TV film
1976-77	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	'	Joyce Harrison	TV film
1986	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	Prissy Thrash	"The Girl Who Spelled Freedom"
1986	'	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
1994-95	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
1998-09	King of the Hill	Various (voice)	3 episodes
2000	'	Nancy Tucker (voice)	"Birthday Quake"
2001	Further Tales of the City	Prue Giroux	TV miniseries
2001	'	Cecilia Piloski	TV film
2001	Citizen Baines	Francesca Dunlop	"The Appraisal"
2001-04	'	Surgeon General Millicent Griffith	"Ellie", "In the Room", "Impact Winter"
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Hope Garrett	"Vulnerable"
2004	'	Naomi Prince	"Acts of Congress"
2005	Jack & Bobby	Rev. Rindhart	"A Child of God"
2006	Numb3rs	Hester Stirling	"Protest"
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Olive Warner	"Superstition"
2006-11	Big Love	Adaleen Grant	Regular role
2007	'	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	'	Dorothy (voice)	"Action Packed Heist/Fall Foliage"
2013	Suburgatory	Gam Gam	"Blowtox and Burlap"
2013	'	Colleen	"The Big Day", "Finding Name-O"
2013	'	Sarah	TV film
2013	Holidaze	Elaine Gerard	TV film
2014	Rake	Judge Cunningham	"Jury Tamperer"
2014-15	Getting On	Dr. Ann Killigrew	Recurring role
2015	Looking	Sarah	"Looking for a Plot"
2015	Ellen More or Less	Virginia	TV film
2015-16	Grace and Frankie	Amanda	"The End", "The Credit Cards", "The Chicken"
2016	Lady Dynamite	Marilyn Bamford	Main role
2017	Black-ish	Doctor Harris	"Good Dre Hunting"

As director or writer

Year	Title	Notes
1973	'	Writer, TV special
1973-74	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	'	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	'	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	"?	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