Mary-Louise Parker was born on August, 2th 1964 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She’s the yougest of 4 brothers and sisters. Mary-Louise’s father was a military officer, so the family travelled a lot between Arizona, Tennessee, Texas and even Thailand, Germany and France when she was a child. Mary-Louise was very shy, except when she was on stage, like for dancing recital.

She decided to go to the North Carolina School of the Arts and majored in acting. She played a small part in the soap opera Ryan’s hope. To be more successful, she moved to New York when she was only 17, but she didn’t find roles, so she had to work, for example for the shoe shop Ecco, where she mesured the feet size. In 1990, she played in Prelude to a kiss by Craig Lucas. She was acclaimed by critics, and won a Clarence Derwent award and a Theatre world award, and a nomination for the Tony awards and Drama desk awards. She also fell in love with her on-stage partner, actor Timothy Hutton, but their relationship didn’t last long.

The same year, Craig Lucas asked her to play in Longtime companion. Mary-Louise also played in the movie Grand canyon, then in the famous Fried green tomatoes. She became famous for her role of Ruth. She then played in several other movies, like The client in 1994, with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, Bullets over Broadway and Boys on the side, with Drew Barrymore and Whoopi Goldberg. Craig Lucas asked her again to play for him in Reckless. In 1996, she played in Jane Campion’s Portrait of a lady, with Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich and in Bus stop, with Billy Crudup. Mary-Louise fell in love with Billy and they began to live together in Manhattan.

When Paula Vogel asked her in 1997 to play in How I learned to drive, she didn’t hesitate and won two prizes. With her next appearance, in Proof by David Auburn, she won 9 awards, including the Tony award.

After the storm, Mary-Louise decided to go back to movies, with Red dragon and Pipe dream in 2002. She then accepted a role in the TV show The West wing, in which she played Amy Gardner for more than 20 episodes. For this role, Mary-Louise was nominated for an Emmy award and for a SAG award. She fell pregnant at the beginning of the 5th season and her character was removed from the show, that’s why she had enough time to play in Angels in America by Tony Kushner.

Unfortunatly, when Mary-Louise was 7 month pregnant, Billy Crudup left her for a “younger woman”, actress Claire Danes. Mary-Louise felt really depressed, but she was strong for her upcoming child. Angels in America was a success, and she won a Golden globe and an Emmy award after giving birth to her son William Atticus.

In 2004, she played in the comedy Saved!, then in Miracle run and in Reckless. With this new appearance in Broadway, she was nominated for a Tony awards. She was also back on TV with the last episodes of The West wing.

In 2005, Mary-Louise got the role of Nancy in the TV show Weeds. The show was acclaimed by the critics and the public and Mary-Louise won the Golden globe!

In 2007, she played Brad Pitt’s wife in The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Very busy with Weeds, she found some time to adopt another child, a girl called Caroline Aberash, in Ethiopia. She dated Jeffrey Dean Morgan, got engaged but broke their engagement a few months later.

2008, Weeds was back for a 4th season, the best one for many fans. And for her children, Mary-Louise played in The Spiderwick chronicles. In 2009, she began filming Solitary man along with Michael Douglas. She also played in Hedda Gabler, but the play wasn’t that sucessful. The 5th season of Weeds was as successful as the previous one.

She will soon play in Les passages with Julie Delpy. And, maybe, get more awards…

Biography by Lily for www.mary-louiseparker.net
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