Marlo Thomas Biography

Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl (1966"1971) and her award-winning feminist children's franchise, Free to Be... You and Me. She also serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Early life

Thomas was born in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest child of comedian Danny Thomas (1912"1991) and his wife, the former Rose Marie Cassaniti (1914"2000). On her mother's side, she is also the granddaughter of drummer and percussionist, Marie "Mary" Cassaniti (1896"1972). Her brother, Tony Thomas, is a television and film producer, and her sister, Terre Thomas, is a former actress. Her father was Lebanese American and her mother was Italian American.

Marlo Thomas was raised in Beverly Hills, California. Her parents called her Margo as a child, though she soon became known as Marlo, she told The New York Times, because of her childhood mispronunciation of the nickname. She attended Marymount High School in Los Angeles. Thomas graduated from the University of Southern California with a teaching degree; "I wanted a piece of paper that said I was qualified to do something," she said. She was also a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.

Career

Early career

Thomas was a regular on The Joey Bishop Show from 1961 to 1962, playing Joey's star-struck sister, Stella Barnes. She followed the series with guest appearances on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Donna Reed Show, Ben Casey, My Favorite Martian, and Bonanza. It was at this time that she had rhinoplasty surgery to reduce the size of her nose.

In 1967, she and her father Danny Thomas provided the voices of Caleb and his daughter Bertha in the Rankin-Bass animated adaption of Charles Dickens classic novella The Cricket on the Hearth.

That Girl

Thomas signed a contract with ABC in 1966, to star in the network's newest sitcom, That Girl. Thomas played Ann Marie, a beautiful and up-and-coming actress who's the girlfriend to Donald Hollinger (played by Ted Bessell). The series told the daily struggles of Ann holding different temp jobs while pursuing her dream of a career on Broadway. The series was the first television show to focus on a single girl who did not live with her parents.

That Girl became popular for its opening theme in which ended with someone saying "...that girl", in which Ann then appears on the screen and the words "That Girl" appear over a freeze-frame shot of Ann. The sequence was different for every episode and usually indicated what the episode would concern. This motif was abandoned in season five and was replaced with lyrics.

Despite being a solid ratings performer on ABC, That Girl never reached the overall top 30. Thomas wanted to end the series after season four; ABC convinced her to do one more year. In the beginning of season five, Ann and Donald get engaged but never marry. Thomas did not want to send a message to young girls that marriage was their main goal. During the show's five-year run, Thomas won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy four times.

Later career

After That Girl, eager to expand her horizons, Thomas attended the Actors Studio, where she studied with Lee Strasberg until his death in 1982, and subsequently with Strasberg's disciple Sandra Seacat. Writing in 2010, Thomas expressed gratitude to both individuals.

In 1972, she released a children's book, Free to Be... You and Me, which was inspired by her young niece Dionne Gordon. She went on to create multiple recordings and television specials of and related to that title: Free to Be... You and Me (1972, 1974) and Free to Be... A Family (1987), with Christopher Cerf.

In 1973, Thomas joined Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, and Letty Cottin Pogrebin as the founders of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the first women's fund in the U.S. The organization was created to deliver funding and other resources to organizations that were presenting women's voices in communities nationwide.

Adept at drama as well as comedy, Thomas appeared in the television movies It Happened One Christmas (1977) (a remake of It's a Wonderful Life), Nobody's Child (1986), and The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck (1984) while she starred in films Jenny (1970), Thieves (1977) and an uncredited role in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999).

Thomas's Broadway theatre credits include Thieves (1974), Social Security (1986, in which she also toured), and The Shadow Box (1994). In 1993 she toured in Six Degrees of Separation. In 2007, she starred as Doreen in Elaine May's comedy Roger Is Dead at George Street Playhouse. She returned to George Street Playhouse in the spring of 2008 in Arthur Laurents's play New Year's Eve with Keith Carradine and Natasha Gregson Wagner.

Thomas is also active with the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where she serves as the national outreach director. She is donating all royalties from her 2004 book and CD, Thanks & Giving: All Year Long (also produced with Cerf), to the hospital, which was started by her late father, Danny Thomas.

Thomas has further supported charity through her publications of the two volumes of The Right Words at the Right Time.

In recent years, Thomas has made guest appearances on Ally McBeal, Friends (as Rachel's mother, Sandra Green), as well as on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (she played Judge Mary Conway Clark, a mentor of ADA Casey Novak). She also appeared in the 2000 comedy Playing Mona Lisa.

From October 2011 to January 29, 2012, Thomas starred in a Broadway play called George Is Dead written by Elaine May, which was part of an anthology play, Relatively Speaking, which also featured plays written by Ethan Cohen (Talking Cure) and Woody Allen (Honeymoon Motel).

In 2012, she co-starred in the film LOL, opposite Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore.

She currently narrates the series Happily Never After on Investigation Discovery.

Thomas is a contributor to Web site wowOwow.com and edits MarloThomas.com at the Huffington Post.

Honors

Thomas is the recipient of four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Jefferson Award and the George Foster Peabody Award.

In 1996, she was awarded the Women in Film [[Women_in_Film_Crystal_+_Lucy_Awards#THE_LUCY_AWARD|Lucy Award]] in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.

Personal life

After her relationship with playwright Herb Gardner and a relationship with David Geffen, Thomas married talk show host Phil Donahue in 1980. Through the marriage, she has five stepchildren.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	Jenny	Jenny	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year " Actress
1977	Thieves	Sally Cramer
1990	In the Spirit	Reva Prosky
1993	Falling Down	KTLA Reporter
1997	'	Blair
1998	Starstruck'	Linda Phaeffle
1999	Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo	Margaret	uncredited
2000	Playing Mona Lisa	Shelia Goldstein
2012	In the Woods
2012	LOL	Gran

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	'	Frank's Girlfriend	Episode: "The Hunger Strike"
1960	77 Sunset Strip	Amina	Episode: "The Fanatics"
1961	Zane Grey Theater	Laurie Dubro	Episode: "Honor Bright"
1961	Thriller	Susan Baker	Episode: "The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell"
1961	'	Stella Mason	Episode: "Everything Happens to Me"
1961"1962	'	Stella	10 episodes
1962	Insight	Jeanne Brown	Episode: "The Sophomore"
1964	Arrest and Trial	Angela Tucci	Episode: "Tigers Are for Jungles"
1964	Bonanza	Tai Lee	Episode: "A Pink Cloud Comes from Old Cathay"
1964	My Favorite Martian	Paula Clayfield	Episode: "Miss Jekyll and Hyde"
1964	Wendy and Me	Carol	Episode: "Wendy's Anniversary for --?"
1964	McHale's Navy	Cynthia Prentice	Episode: "The Missing Link"
1965	What's my Line	Herself	Panelist
1965	'	Louise Bissell	Episode: "Guests, Guests, Who Needs Guests?"
1965	Two's Company	Caroline Sommers	Unsold pilot
1965	Ben Casey	Claire Schaeffer	Episode: "Three Li'l Lambs"
1966"1971	That Girl	Ann Marie	137 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actress on Television (1967) TV Land Award for Favorite Fashion Plate - Female (2004) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1967-1971) Nominated - TV Land Award for Hippest Fashion Plate - Female (2003)
1967	Cricket on the Hearth	Bertha (voice)	TV movie
1973	'	Anne Marie (voice)	Episode: "That Girl in Wonderland"
1973	Acts of Love and Other Comedies	Various	TV movie
1976	'	Judy Sinclair	Episode: "Judy Sinclair"
1977	It Happened One Christmas	Mary Bailey Hatch	TV movie
1984	'	Kathryn Beck	TV movie
1985	Consenting Adult	Tess Lynd	TV movie Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film
1986	Nobody's Child	Marie Balter	TV movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film
1991	Held Hostage: The Sis and Jerry Levin Story	Lucille 'Sis' Levin	TV movie
1994	Ultimate Betrayal	Adult Sharon Rodgers	TV movie
1994	Reunion	Jessie Yates	TV movie
1996	Roseanne	Tina Beige	Episode: "Satan, Darling"
1996	Friends	Sandra Green	Episode: "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" Episode: "The One with the Two Parties" Episode: "The One with the Baby Shower" Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (1996)
1999	Frasier	Sophie (voice)	3 episodes
2000	Ally McBeal	Lynnie Bishop	Episode: "Tis the Season" Episode: "Love on Holiday"
2002	Two Against Time	Julie Portman	TV movie
2004	Deceit	Ellen McCarthy	TV movie
2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Judge Mary Clark	4 episodes
2007	Ugly Betty	Sandra Winthrop	Episode: "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
2012	The New Normal	Nancy Niles	Episode: "Baby Proofing"
2012	"The Dr. Oz Show"	Herself	Episode: "Dr. Oz Takes on TV's Sextuplet Toddlers!"