- Born
- Died
- Birth nameNancy Lou Marchand
- Nickname
- Nan
- Height1.77 m
- Nancy Marchand's mother, a pianist, sent her shy daughter to acting classes in hopes of breaking her out of her shell. As a student at Carnegie Tech (Carnegie Mellon University), she studied the works of William Shakespeare and the other great playwrights and, upon graduation, set off for New York City. She received acclaim in the part of the tavern hostess in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" at the City Center in 1951. Her list of theater works include "The Cocktail Hour" and "The Balcony" (an Obie for both), "White Lies and Black Comedy" (Tony nominations for both), "The Octette Bridge Club" and "Morning's at Seven". She worked at many of the great theaters in the United States, including the Brattle Theatre, Long Wharf, Lincoln Center Repertory Company and the Goodman Theatre. During her illustrious theater career, she won the role of Mrs. Pynchon in the TV series Lou Grant (1977) with Ed Asner, for which she won four Emmys. Her last accolade was her role as Livia Soprano in HBO's Les Soprano (1999), for which she won a Golden Globe.- IMDb mini biography by: Circe925 (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- SpousePaul Sparer(July 7, 1951 - November 19, 1999) (his death, 3 children)
- ChildrenDavid Rosebud SparerRachel B Sparer (Bersier)Kathryn "Katie" Sparer (Bowe)
- ParentsRaymond Louis MarchandMarjorle Evelyn Freeman
- RelativesMarilyn Jane Marchand (Schulz)(Sibling)
- Appeared in the second episode of season 3 of Les Soprano (1999) despite having died almost six months before. Using CGI techniques, a scene between Tony Soprano and his mother was constructed using a body double. Producer David Chase decided to use this technique, having seen it being used in Gladiator (2000) when star Oliver Reed died during production.
- A chain smoker for many years, Marchand died on the day before what would have been her 72nd birthday from lung cancer and emphysema.
- Her television career reads like a book about the history of television: Her first credit was co-starring in the groundbreaking classic Marty (1953) with Rod Steiger, when CBS was at the height of its prestige as the "Tiffany network"; she won Emmy Awards as Mrs. Pynchon, the newspaper publisher on Lou Grant (1977); and she ended her career on the HBO series Les Soprano (1999).
- Her portrait is one of the pictures used in Julia Roberts's character's photography exhibit in Closer, entre adultes consentants (2004).
- Was of English and French descent.
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