By Marian Seldes

"In 1947 the brilliant designer Robert Edmond Jones introduced me to John Huntington who was the producer of the Cambridge Summer Theatre in Massachusetts. It was my first job. I cleaned the men's room and did props and played very small parts. The final play of the season was BURLESQUE starring Bert Lahr and Eileen Heckart. I played a stripper. Knowing I wanted to join Equity, Mr. Lahr took me with him to several other theatres, and by September, I had worked enough weeks to apply as a Junior Member. That fall I presented my first Equity card to Robert Whitehead, the producer of MEDEA and began my career in the New York theatre."

Marian Seldes made her theatre debut in 1947, and although she has had many film and television roles, she has mainly devoted herself to stage work from the 1960s to the present day.

She originated the role of Blackie in Tennessee Williams' THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE in 1964 and in 1965 she was the stand-by for Irene Worth in Edward Albee's enigmatic TINY ALICE, a role she eventually took over. She won a Tony for her performance in Mr. Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE. She also received a Tony for DEATHTRAP, in which she performed over one thousand times, an accomplishment that put her in The Guinness Book of World Records. She won two Obie Awards, for THE GINGER MAN, and for ISADORA DUNCAN, and received the Obie's Sustained Achievement Award in 2001. Other accolades include the Outer Critics Circle Award for PAINTING CHURCHES, an Ovation Award for THREE TALL WOMEN, and a Drama League Award for RING AROUND THE MOON.

Marian recently received much critical acclaim for her performance in Albee's THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY, for which she received a Drama Desk Nomination and a Drama League Award, and for her performance in DINNER AT EIGHT, for which she received a Tony Nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Nomination.

In addition to her television, film, and stage career, Marian taught at the drama division of The Juilliard School from 1967-1991, and at Fordham University in 2002. She has written a memoir, "The Bright Lights, A Theatre Life" and a novel, "Time Together", as well as articles for the New York Times, Theatre Week, Victoria Magazine and American Theatre. Marian is the daughter of critic and author Gilbert Seldes and niece of muckraking journalist George Seldes.