Marcia Gay Harden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marcia Gay Harden
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Harden in 2013
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| Born | August 14, 1959 San Diego, California, U.S.
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| Education | University of Texas, Austin (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Thaddaeus Scheel
(m. 1996; div. 2012) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Full list |
Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American actress. She is one of the few performers to have won both an Academy Award for film and a Tony Award for theater. She has also been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for her work in television.
Harden first became well-known for her role in the 1990 movie Miller's Crossing. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing artist Lee Krasner in the movie Pollock (2000). She was nominated for the same award again for the crime drama Mystic River (2003). Some of her other famous movies include The First Wives Club (1996), Flubber (1997), Space Cowboys (2000), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), and the Fifty Shades film series.
In 1993, Harden started acting on Broadway in the play Angels in America. Her performance earned her a nomination for a Tony Award. In 2009, she returned to Broadway in the comedy God of Carnage and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
On television, Harden has appeared in shows like The Newsroom and How to Get Away with Murder. She had main roles in the medical drama Code Black (2015–2018) and the comedy-drama So Help Me Todd (2022–2024).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Harden was born in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California. Her mother, Beverly, was a housewife, and her father, Thad Harold Harden, was a captain in the United States Navy. Because of her father's job, her family moved often. She lived in Japan, Germany, Greece, California, and Maryland while growing up. She has three sisters and one brother.
Harden graduated from Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Maryland, in 1976. She then went to college at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater in 1980. In 1988, she completed her studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Acting Career
Early Career and Breakthrough
Harden's first role was in a student film in 1979. In the 1980s, she acted in several TV shows. Her big break came in 1990 with the Coen brothers' movie Miller's Crossing. This role made her famous, but she still had to work catering jobs to earn money at the time.
In 1993, she made her debut on Broadway in the play Angels in America. Her performance was praised by critics and earned her a Tony Award nomination.
Throughout the 1990s, Harden acted in many movies and TV shows. She co-starred with Robin Williams in the popular Disney comedy Flubber (1997). She also appeared in the drama Meet Joe Black (1998) with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, and the adventure movie Space Cowboys (2000) with Clint Eastwood.
Major Awards and Film Success
In 2000, Harden won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing the painter Lee Krasner in the movie Pollock. This is one of the highest honors an actor can receive. In 2003, she was nominated for another Academy Award for her role in the mystery film Mystic River.
Harden also had success in television. She guest-starred on the crime show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as an undercover FBI agent. This role earned her an Emmy Award nomination in 2007.
In 2007, she appeared in several films, including Into the Wild and The Mist, which was based on a story by Stephen King.
Broadway, Television, and Recent Work
In 2009, Harden returned to Broadway in the play God of Carnage. She starred alongside James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, and Jeff Daniels. For her performance, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
From 2013 to 2014, she had a role in the HBO series The Newsroom. She played Grace Trevelyan Grey in the Fifty Shades movies from 2015 to 2018.
From 2015 to 2018, she starred as Dr. Leanne Rorish in the medical drama Code Black. More recently, she starred with Skylar Astin in the CBS series So Help Me Todd from 2022 to 2024.
Personal Life
Harden married Thaddaeus Scheel in 1996. They have three children together. The couple divorced in 2012.
Harden has several interesting hobbies. She is a skilled potter and enjoys ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. Her mother learned ikebana when the family lived in Japan.
In 2018, Harden published a book called The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers. The book is about her relationship with her mother, who was living with Alzheimer's disease. Harden used her ikebana skills to create flower arrangements for the book that represented different stages of her mother's life.
See also
In Spanish: Marcia Gay Harden para niños
