Blythe Danner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Blythe Danner
Danner in 2010
Born	Blythe Katherine Danner (1943-02-03) February 3, 1943 (age 82) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Bard College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–present
Spouse(s)	Bruce Paltrow ​ ​ (m. 1969; died 2002)​
Children	Gwyneth Paltrow Jake Paltrow
Relatives	Harry Danner (brother) Katherine Moennig (niece) Apple Martin (granddaughter)

Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is a talented American actress. She has won many awards for her acting. These include two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role in the TV show Huff. She also won a Tony Award for her performance in the play Butterflies Are Free on Broadway.

Blythe Danner is also known for playing Dina Byrnes in the popular movie Meet the Parents (2000). She appeared in its sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). She is expected to be in a fourth movie in this series, which is planned for 2026.

She has worked with director Woody Allen in films like Another Woman (1988) and Alice (1990). Her other well-known movies include 1776 (1972), The Great Santini (1979), and The Prince of Tides (1991). She also appeared in The X-Files (1998) and Paul (2011).

Blythe Danner is the sister of Harry Danner. She was married to producer and director Bruce Paltrow, who passed away in 2002.

Early Life and Education

Blythe Danner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 3, 1943. Her mother was Katharine and her father was Harry Earl Danner, who worked as a bank executive. She has a brother, Harry Danner, who is an opera singer and actor. She also has a sister and a half-brother.

Her family background includes Pennsylvania Dutch, English, and Irish roots. Her grandmother on her mother's side was an immigrant from Germany. One of her great-grandmothers on her father's side was from Barbados.

Blythe Danner finished high school at George School in 1960. This was a Quaker school located near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Acting Career Highlights

Blythe Danner studied at Bard College. Her first acting roles were in the 1967 musical Mata Hari. She also appeared in the 1968 Off-Broadway play Summertree.

Early Broadway Success

Her first appearances on Broadway included Cyrano de Bergerac in 1968. She won a Theatre World Award for her role in The Miser in 1969. She then won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for playing a free-spirited character in Butterflies Are Free in 1970.

Danner in 1980

Notable Film and TV Roles

In 1972, Danner played Martha Jefferson in the movie 1776. In the same year, she was in an episode of Columbo called "Étude in Black." She played the wife of a man who committed murder.

One of her first main film roles was with Alan Alda in To Kill a Clown (1972). She later appeared with Alda again in an episode of M*A*S*H. She played Carlye Breslin Walton, a love interest for Alda's character, Hawkeye Pierce.

She also played lawyer Amanda Bonner in the TV show Adam's Rib. She acted opposite Ken Howard as Adam Bonner. Danner played Zelda Fitzgerald in the 1974 TV movie F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles'. She was the main character in the film Lovin' Molly (1974).

In the 1976 movie Futureworld, she played Tracy Ballard with co-star Peter Fonda. She played Margarete Speer in the 1982 TV movie Inside the Third Reich. In the 1986 film Brighton Beach Memoirs, she played a Jewish mother.

Blythe Danner has been in two films based on books by Pat Conroy. These are The Great Santini (1979) and The Prince of Tides (1991). She also starred in two TV movies based on books by Anne Tyler. These were Saint Maybe and Back When We Were Grownups. Both were for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Danner at the Metropolitan Opera opening, September 22, 2008

Later Career and Awards

Danner acted alongside Robert De Niro in the popular comedy Meet the Parents (2000). She returned for the sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). It was announced on May 30, 2025, that Danner will be in a fourth film in the series. This movie is set to be released on November 25, 2026.

From 2001 to 2006, she was a regular on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She played Will Truman's mother, Marilyn. From 2004 to 2006, she was a main cast member in the comedy-drama series Huff.

In 2005, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. These were for her work on Will & Grace, Huff, and the TV film Back When We Were Grownups. She won an Emmy for her role in Huff. The next year, she won a second Emmy Award for Huff.

For 25 years, she has performed regularly at the Williamstown Summer Theater Festival. She also serves on its board of directors. In 2006, Danner received the first Katharine Hepburn Medal. This award was given by Bryn Mawr College. In 2015, Danner was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Activism and Causes

Blythe Danner has been involved in environmental issues for over 30 years. She supports recycling and conservation. She is active with INFORM, Inc. and is on the board of Environmental Advocates of New York. She is also on the board of directors for the Environmental Media Association. In 2002, she won the EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. In 2011, Danner joined Moms Clean Air Force. This group works to fight against toxic air pollution.

Health Awareness

After her husband, Bruce Paltrow, passed away from oral cancer, Blythe Danner became involved with the Oral Cancer Foundation. This is a non-profit group. In 2005, she made a public service announcement to help people learn about the disease. She wanted to show the importance of finding it early. She has appeared on TV talk shows and given interviews in magazines like People. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund helps raise money for research and treatment. It focuses on communities where healthcare is harder to get.

She has also appeared in commercials for Prolia. This is a medicine used to treat osteoporosis, a condition that makes bones weak.

Personal Life

Blythe Danner was married to producer and director Bruce Paltrow. He passed away from oral cancer in 2002. They had two children together. Their daughter is actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Their son is director Jake Paltrow.

Blythe Danner's niece is the actress Katherine Moennig. Katherine is the daughter of Blythe's maternal half-brother, William.

Blythe Danner acted with her daughter, Gwyneth, in the 1992 TV film Cruel Doubt. They also acted together in the 2003 film Sylvia. In that movie, Blythe played Aurelia Plath, who was the mother of Sylvia Plath, played by Gwyneth.

Blythe Danner practices transcendental meditation. She has said that it is "very helpful and comforting" for her.

Acting Roles

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film Appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	To Kill a Clown	Lily Frischer
	1776	Martha Jefferson
1974	Lovin' Molly	Molly Taylor
1975	Hearts of the West	Miss Trout
1976	Futureworld	Tracy Ballard
1979	The Great Santini	Lillian Meechum
1983	Inside the Third Reich	Margarete Speer
	Man, Woman and Child	Sheila Beckwith
1985	Guilty Conscience	Louise Jamison
1986	Brighton Beach Memoirs	Kate Jerome
1988	Another Woman	Lydia
1990	Mr. & Mrs. Bridge	Grace Barron
	Alice	Dorothy Smith
1991	The Prince of Tides	Sally Wingo
1992	Husbands and Wives	Rain's Mother
1995	Napoleon	Mother Dingo
	Homage	Katherine Samuel
	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	Beatrice
1997	The Myth of Fingerprints	Lena
	Mad City	Mrs. Banks
1998	The Proposition	Syril Danning
	No Looking Back	Claudia's Mother
	The X-Files	Jana Cassidy
1999	Forces of Nature	Virginia Cahill
	The Love Letter	Lillian MacFarquhar
	Things I Forgot to Remember	Mrs. Bradford
2000	Meet the Parents	Dina Byrnes
2001	The Invisible Circus	Gail O'Connor
2003	Three Days of Rain	Woman in Cab
	Sylvia	Aurelia Plath
2004	Howl's Moving Castle	Madam Suliman	Voice role; English dub
	Meet the Fockers	Dina Byrnes
2006	Stolen	Isabella Stewart Gardner
	The Last Kiss	Anna
2008	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	Greta Randolph
2009	Waiting for Forever	Miranda Twist
	Beyond All Boundaries	Elsa Maxwell	Voice; Documentary
	The Lightkeepers	Mrs. Bascom
2010	Little Fockers	Dina Byrnes
2011	Paul	Tara Walton
	What's Your Number?	Ava Darling
	Detachment	Mrs. Perkins
2012	The Lucky One	Ellie Green
	Hello I Must Be Going	Ruth Minsky
2014	Murder of a Cat	Edie Moisey
2015	I'll See You in My Dreams	Carol Petersen
	Tumbledown	Linda Jespersen
2018	What They Had	Ruth O’Shea
	Hearts Beat Loud	Marianne Fisher
	The Chaperone	Mary O'Dell
2019	The Tomorrow Man	Ronnie Meisner
	Strange but True	Gail Erwin
2023	Happiness for Beginners	Gigi
2026	Untitled Meet the Parents film	Dina Byrnes

Television Roles

Stage Performances

Awards and Recognitions

Blythe Danner has won and been nominated for many awards throughout her career. Here are some of her notable achievements:

See also

In Spanish: Blythe Danner para niños