Marian Ethel Mercer (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer.
Known for her role on the Witt/Thomas sitcom, It's a Living, Mercer would make two guest appearances on the ABC sitcom, Benson. One in Season 2 as Trudi and another in Season 6 as Ursla Van Dyne.
Career[]
Mercer was a regular on television, appearing in The Dom DeLuise Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, The Sandy Duncan Show, A Touch of Grace (starring Shirley Booth), The Andy Williams Show, and the sitcom It's a Living,[2] in which she played piquant restaurant hostess Nancy Beebe Miller. (Mercer was one of four members of the cast who lasted through the series' network and syndicated runs; the others were Gail Edwards, Paul Kreppel, and Barrie Youngfellow). She had recurring roles on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; its sequel, Forever Fernwood; St. Elsewhere; and Empty Nest.
She made guest appearances on such shows as Love, American Style; Archie Bunker's Place; Mama's Family; Benson; The Golden Girls; Murder, She Wrote; Touched by an Angel; and Suddenly Susan, among many others. She had featured roles in the television movies The Cracker Factory (1979), which starred Natalie Wood, and Murder in Three Acts (1986), starring Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis. Her big screen credits include John and Mary (1969); Oh, God! Book II (1980); and 9 to 5 (1980), where she played Missy Hart, the sweet-natured wife of misanthropic corporate executive Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman).
Marian had been reunited with two former co-stars of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (in which she played Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter) in two separate projects. She was reunited first with Dabney Coleman (he had played Merle Jeeter) in the movie 9 to 5; and then with Louise Lasser (who played Mary Hartman) on It's a Living.
Death[]
Mercer was a resident of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California where she resided until her death on April 27, 2011 from Alzheimer's disease in Newbury Park, California at the age of 75.