Danner, Blythe 1944(?)–

PERSONAL

Full name, Blythe Katharine Danner; born February 3, 1944 (some sources cite 1943), in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of Harry Earl (a bank executive) and Katharine Danner; married Bruce W. Paltrow (a writer and producer), December 14, 1969 (died October 3, 2002); children: Gwyneth Kate (an actress), Jake (a director), Laura. Education: Bard College, B.A., 1965.

Addresses: Agent—Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA, 90212.

Career: Actress. As a college student, singer with a jazz group in Stowe, VT; appeared in radio commercials for Campbell's soup and Weight Watchers weight-loss franchises.

Awards, Honors: Theatre World Award, 1969, for The Miser; Antoinette Perry Award, best supporting actress in a dramatic play, 1972, for Butterflies Are Free; Golden Scroll, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, best actress, 1977, for Futureworld; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actress in a play, 1980, for Betrayal; honorary D.F.A., Bard College, 1981; honorary L.H.D., Hobart-Smith College, 1981; Best Actress Award, Vevey Film Festival, 1982; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best leading actress in a play, 1988, for A Streetcar Named Desire; Annual CableACE Award nomination, National Cable Television Association, best actress in a movie or miniseries, 1990, for Judgment; Annual CableACE Award nomination, best actress in a movie or miniseries, 1997, for A Call to Remember; Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite supporting actress in a comedy, 2001, for Meet the Parents; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actress in a musical, 2001, for Follies; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie, 2002, for We Were the Mulvaneys; Lucy Award, Women in Film, 2004; Special Award, Sonoma Valley Film Festival, career achievement, 2004; Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a miniseries or television movie, 2005, for Back When We Were Grownups.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Laura, The Glass Menagerie, Theatre Company of Boston, Boston, MA, 1965.

The Service of Joseph Axminster, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965–66.

The Way Out of the Way In, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965–66.

The Knack, Theatre Company of Boston, 1965–66.

Girl, The Infantry (revue), Eighty-First Street Theatre, New York City, 1966.

Helena, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Trinity Square Playhouse, Providence, RI, 1967.

Irina, Three Sisters, Trinity Square Playhouse, 1967.

Michele, Mata Hari (musical), National Theatre, Washington, DC, 1967.

Girl, Summertree, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Forum Theatre (now Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre), New York City, 1968.

Sister Marthe, Cyrano de Bergerac, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1968.

Violet Bean, Up Eden, Jan Hus Theatre, New York City, 1968.

Standby for Mag, "Winners" (double-bill with "Losers"), Lovers, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Music Box Theatre, New York City, both 1968.

Connie Odum, Someone's Comin' Hungry, Pocket Theatre, New York City, 1969.

Elsie, The Miser, Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1969.

Jill Tanner, Butterflies Are Free, Booth Theatre, New York City, beginning 1969, later produced elsewhere.

Title role, Major Barbara, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1971.

Viola, Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1972.

Nina, The Seagull, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1974.

Isabel, Ring Around the Moon, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1975.

Cynthia Karslake, The New York Idea, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, 1977.

Lisa, Children of the Sun, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1979.

Emma, Betrayal, Trafalgar Theatre, New York City, 1980.

Tracy Samantha Lord, The Philadelphia Story, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1980–81.

Elvira, Blithe Spirit: An Improbable Farce, Morris Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore, MD, then Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1987.

Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, Circle in the Square, New York City, 1988.

Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1988.

Melissa Gardner, Love Letters, Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1989.

Picnic, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1991.

Arkadina, The Seagull, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1994.

Kate, Sylvia, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, New York City, 1995.

Bel, Moonlight, Roundabout Theatre Company, Laura Pels Theatre, Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, New York City, 1995–96.

Hester Collyer, The Deep Blue Sea, Roundabout Theatre Company, Criterion Center Stage Right Theatre, New York City, 1998.

Jane, Ancestral Voices (staged reading), Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, 1999.

Tonight, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2000.

Phyllis Rogers Stone, Follies (musical), Roundabout Theatre Company, Belasco Theatre, New York City, 2001.

"Little Murders" (staged reading), Voices!, City Center Theatre, New York City, 2001.

Mrs. Mullin, Carousel (concert performance), Carnegie Hall, New York City, 2002.

Karen Richards, All About Eve (benefit reading), Actors' Fund of America, Ahmanson Music Center of Los Angeles County, CA, 2003.

The Chekhov Cycle, Nikos Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2002.

Also appeared in Collision Course; performed annually at Williamstown Theatre Festival for many years.

Film Appearances:

Lily Frischer, To Kill a Clown, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972.

Martha Wales Skelton Jefferson, 1776, Columbia, 1972.

Molly Taylor, Lovin' Molly, Columbia, 1974.

Miss Trout, Hearts of the West (also known as Hollywood Cowboy), United Artists, 1975.

Tracy Ballard, Futureworld, American International Pictures, 1976.

Lillian Meechum, The Great Santini (also known as The Ace and The Gift of Fury), Warner Bros., 1980.

Sheila Beckwith, Man, Woman, and Child, Paramount, 1983.

Interviewee, Starring … the Actors, American Film Institute, 1984.

Kate, Brighton Beach Memoirs (also known as Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs"), Universal, 1986.

Narrator, One Art, 1987.

Lydia, Another Woman, Orion, 1988.

Grace Barron, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Miramax, 1990.

Dorothy, Alice, Orion, 1990.

Sallie Wingo, The Prince of Tides, Columbia, 1991.

Rain's mother, Husbands and Wives, TriStar, 1992.

Beatrice, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, Universal, 1995.

Katherine Samuel, Homage, Arrow Releasing, 1996.

Lena, The Myth of Fingerprints, Sony Pictures Classics, 1997.

Mrs. Banks, Mad City, Warner Bros., 1997.

Voice of Mother Dingo, Napoleon, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1997.

Syril Danning, The Proposition (also known as Shakespeare's Sister and Tempting Fate), PolyGram, 1998.

Claudia's mother, No Looking Back (also known as Long Time, Nothing New), Gramercy, 1998.

Jana Cassidy, The X Files (also known as Blackwood, Fight the Future, X-Files: Blackwood, The X Files: Fight the Future, X-Files: The Movie, and Aux frontieres du reel), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998.

Virginia, Force of Nature, DreamWorks, 1999.

Mrs. Bradford, Cosas que olvide recordar (also known as Things I Forgot to Remember), Sogepaq Distribucion/Warner Sogefilms, 1999.

Lillian MacFarquhuar, The Love Letter, DreamWorks, 1999.

Dina Byrnes, Meet the Parents, Universal, 2000.

Gail O'Connor, Invisible Circus, Fine Line, 2000.

Beverly, 3 Days of Rain, Maximone Pictures, 2002.

Mary, The Quality of Light (also known as To What Sweet End), Karalex Pictures, 2003.

Aurelia Plath, Sylvia, Focus Features, 2003.

Dina Byrnes, Meet the Fockers, Universal, 2004.

Voice of Madam Suliman for English version, Hauro no ugoku shiro (animated; also known as Howl's Moving Castle), Buena Vista, 2005.

Isabella Stewart Gardner, Stolen (documentary), Precision Films, 2005.

Grandma, Walk Two Moons, 2005.

Television Appearances; Series:

Amanda Bonner, Adam's Rib, ABC, 1973.

Hillary Tattinger, Tattinger's (also known as Nick & Hillary), NBC, 1988–89.

Marilyn Truman, a recurring role, Will & Grace, NBC, beginning 2001.

Dr. Harriet Lanning, Presidio Med, CBS, 2002.

Isabelle "Izzy" Huffstodt, Huff, Showtime, 2004.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Jane "Janey" Rausch, Dr. Cook's Garden, ABC, 1971.

Janice Benedict, Columbo: Etude in Black, NBC, 1972.

Zelda Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Last of the Belles," ABC, 1974.

Eleanor Gehrig, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, NBC, 1978.

Anne Osborne, Are You in the House Alone?, CBS, 1978.

Joan Barlow Maple, "Too Far to Go," NBC Theatre, NBC, 1979.

Eileen Wilcox, In Defense of Kids, CBS, 1983.

Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues, syndicated, 1984.

Louise Jamison, Guilty Conscience, CBS, 1985.

Jeannie, Money, Power, Murder (also known as Dead Air), CBS, 1989.

Emmeline Guitry, Judgment (also known as Sacraments and Vermillion Parish), HBO, 1990.

Jane Mermelstein, Never Forget (also known as The Promise), TNT, 1991.

Lily Montgomery, Getting Up and Going Home (also known as Unfaithful), Lifetime, 1992.

Eliza Mercer, Leave of Absence, NBC, 1994.

Paula Tobias, A Call to Remember, Encore and Starz!, 1997.

Bee Bedloe, "Saint Maybe" (also known as "Anne Tyler's 'Saint Maybe'"), Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS, 1998.

Voice of Mrs. Murphy, Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (also known as Murder, She Purred), ABC, 1998.

Irma Miller, The Farmhouse (also known as Eye of the Storm), Sundance Channel, 1999.

Corinne, We Were the Mulvaneys, Lifetime, 2002.

Rebecca Holmes Davitch, "Back When We Were Grownups," Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS, 2004.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Margarete Speer, Inside the Third Reich, ABC, 1982.

Bonnie Von Stein, Cruel Doubt, NBC, 1992.

Voice of Elizabeth Todd Edwards, Lincoln, ABC, 1992.

Bianca Honicut, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, CBS, 1994.

The West, PBS, 1996–97.

Narrator, "Galileo Was Right," From the Earth to the Moon, HBO, 1998.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Agnes Nolan Cohan, George M!, NBC, 1970.

Alma Winemiller, "Eccentricities of a Nightingale," N.E.T. Playhouse, PBS, 1970.

"To Confuse an Angel," Prudential's On Stage, CBS, 1970.

"To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," N.E.T. Playhouse, PBS, 1972.

"Invitation to a March," Hollywood Television Theatre, PBS, 1972.

Rachel, "The Scarecrow," Hollywood Television Theatre, PBS, 1972.

Nina, "The Sea Gull" (also known as "The Seagull"), Theatre in America, PBS, 1975.

Cohost, That Was the Year that Was, NBC, 1976.

Elisabeth Custer, "The Court-Martial of General George Armstrong Custer," Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1977.

Alice Sycamore, You Can't Take It with You, CBS, 1979.

Anna Christie, "Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts," American Masters, PBS, 1985.

"Clara Hale," An American Portrait, CBS, 1986.

Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1988.

Jane, "Kiss-Kiss Dahlings!," Great Performances' Twentieth Anniversary Special, PBS, 1992.

Narrator, Barenboim Conducts Strauss, 1993.

Ellen Levine, "The Rosenthal Affair," Tracy Ullman Takes on New York, HBO, 1993.

Voice of Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Century of Women (also known as A Family of Women), TBS, 1994.

Narrator, Linda Leisure and H.O.M.E., 1994.

Voice of Martha Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson, PBS, 1997.

Host, Sophisticated Ladies: Charleston and Savannah with Blythe Danner, PBS, 1998.

Narrator, Intimate Portrait: Mia Farrow, Lifetime, 1999.

Host, Population: Six Billion, PBS, 1999.

Narrator, Healthcare Crisis: Who's at Risk?, PBS, 2000.

Voice, Mark Twain, PBS, 2001.

Voice, Echoes from the White House, PBS, 2001.

Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Cynthia Nixon, Lifetime, 2002.

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Robert De Niro, USA Network, 2003.

Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Dana Delany, Lifetime, 2003.

"Huff:" Around the Edges, Showtime, 2004.

Appeared as Agnes Nolan in a presentation of The Bell Telephone Hour.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Day Tripper", N.Y.P.D., ABC, 1968.

Carly Breslin Walton, "The More I See You," M∗A∗S∗H, CBS, 1976.

Star, "You're a Poet and Don't Know It! … The Poetry Power Hour," The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People, CBS, 1976.

Guest host, Saturday Night Live (also known as NBC's "Saturday Night," Saturday Night, and SNL), NBC, 1982.

Paige Gerradeaux, "The Women," St. Elsewhere, NBC, 1984.

Margaret, "Maniac at Large," Tales from the Crypt, HBO, 1992.

Mad TV, Fox, 2000.

Guest, Coming Attractions, 2004.

Guest, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, CBS, 2005.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Prudy Jenkins, Sidekicks, CBS, 1974.

Evelyn Harper, Two and a Half Men, 2003.

Izzy, !Huff, Showtime, 2004.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

Presenter, The 53rd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1981.

The 71st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1999.

2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 2000.

The First Ten Awards: Tony 2001, PBS, 2001.

The 56th Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 2002.

Presenter, The 29th Annual People's Choice Awards, CBS, 2003.

The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2005.

RECORDINGS

Taped Readings:

Reader, Baby, 1994.

Reader, The Robber Bride, 1995.

Reader (with others), Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, HarperAudio, 2001.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

American Film, June, 1991, p. 24.

Booklist, May 15, 1994, p. 1701; January 15, 1995, p. 946.

Entertainment Weekly, August 2, 1996, p. 12.

Life, May 1, 1999, p. 60.

Nation, December 11, 1995, pp. 762–763.

New York Times, May 15, 1981.

New York Times, August 3, 1994.

Premiere, December, 1991, p. 53.

TV Guide, August 24, 2002, p. 6; October 25, 2003, p. 12.