Nancy Marchand (June 19, 1928 - June 18, 2000)

Before she became the cold and calculating Livia Soprano on HBO's "The Sopranos" Nancy Marchand always played, in her own words, "the tasteful lady." She started out on the stage but quickly made the jump to television. Her first television break was in 1953 on "The Philco Television Playhouse." She would go onto to guest star on many programs including "Studio One", "Playhouse 90", "The Defenders", "Cheers", "Spenser: For Hire", "Law & Order", "Night Court", "Coach", and "Homicide: Life on the Street." Nancy was no stranger to daytime television either...she had recurring roles on "The Edge of Night", "Another World", and "Love of Life." In 1977, she was cast as newspaper publisher Margaret Pynchon on the drama "Lou Grant" starring Edward Asner. She stayed with the program until it went off the air in 1982. Nancy was also present in many made for television movies and a handful of feature films. In 1988 she played the straight laced, tough as nails Mayor of Los Angeles in "The Naked Gun" and in 1995 she appeared with Harrison Ford in the remake of the Audrey Hepburn film "Sabrina." OK...all that being said...on to Livia Soprano. Livia Soprano was rotten to the core...! There was not a single redeeming quality about her. But she was played so brilliantly that she actually made me laugh. The stuff she would say and the way she would say it was horrible...but also terrific. The writing was so damn perfect and the actress picked it up from the page perfectly. When it comes to a performance like this there are two sources of talent to consider...the person who has the ability to put in on paper and the person who has the ability to life it off. Nancy Marchand's Livia Soprano will never win television's greatest Mom, but she might be in the running for television's most dangerous sociopath. Anyone that manipulates her brother-in-law into trying to have her son "whacked" just because he put her in a retirement community deserves that trophy. The loss of Livia Soprano really impacted the show. Her quarrels with her son were some of the show's most intense and most memorable. Perhaps if she had lived on throughout the show season five and season six parts 1 & 2 wouldn't have been so dreadful.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Cast of "Make Room for Daddy" / "The Danny Thomas Show" (583)

It was one of the longest running family sitcoms in television history.  Right there along side "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" it was one of the most beloved programs of the day.  It began on ABC as "Make Room for Daddy" on September 29, 1953.  After 120 episodes the title changed to "The Danny Thomas Show" and in 1957 the program moved to CBS.  After a healthy eleven year run the show ended on April 27, 1964 after producing 351 episodes total.  In 1970 a majority of the cast returned for the show "Make Room for Granddaddy" which lasted from 1970 to 1971 producing 24 episodes.  The cast was headed up by Danny Thomas who played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams.  Jean Hagen played his wife Margaret, Rusty Hamer played his son Rusty and Sherry Jackson played his daughter Terry.  Jackson played Terry from 1953 to 1958 followed by Penny Parker who played the role from
Read more

Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 - March 31, 1979)

She began in New York on Broadway and then started appearing on radio. Some of her radio credits include "Henry Aldrich" and "Mr. & Mrs. North." When she became a widow in 1953 she relocated to California where she began appearing on film and on television. Her first film was Meet Me at the Fair. She also appeared in The Perils of Pauline in 1967. She is best remembered as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Beaver's Principal on "Leave it to Beaver." She also had a recurring role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Her final film appearance was in Shampoo in 1975... Other Television Credits: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre" "The Bob Cummings Show" "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" "I Love Lucy" "Lux Video Theatre" "The Jack Benny Program" "The Thin Man" "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" "Maverick" &quo
Read more