Marian Mercer

Marian Ethel Mercer (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer born in Akron, Ohio, to Samuel and Nellie Mercer. After graduating from the University of Michigan, she spent several seasons in summer stock before making her Broadway debut in 1960 in the chorus of the short-lived musical Greenwillow.

Mercer's Broadway career spanned from 1960 to 1979 and included a range of musical and dramatic productions. Her performance in New Faces of 1962 drew critical attention, and she went on to earn widespread recognition for her portrayal of Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises (1968), a role that earned her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and the Theatre World Award, all in 1969. Her additional stage credits included the play Hay Fever, the short-lived 1978 revival of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off alongside Sammy Davis Jr., the short-lived A Place for Polly, and the 1979 production Bosoms and Neglect, in which she starred as Deirdre.

On television, Mercer maintained a consistent presence across several decades. She appeared as a regular on The Dom DeLuise Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, The Sandy Duncan Show, The Andy Williams Show, and A Touch of Grace, which starred Shirley Booth. She played Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter on the soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and reprised work in its sequel, Forever Fernwood. She also held recurring roles on St. Elsewhere and Empty Nest. Among her most sustained television work was the sitcom It's a Living, in which she played restaurant hostess Nancy Beebe Miller through both the series' network and syndicated runs, alongside castmates Gail Edwards, Paul Kreppel, and Barrie Youngfellow. Her television film credits included The Cracker Factory (1979), starring Natalie Wood, and Murder in Three Acts (1986), featuring Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis. Guest appearances spanned programs including The Golden Girls, Murder, She Wrote, Mama's Family, Benson, Archie Bunker's Place, Touched by an Angel, and Suddenly Susan, among others.

Her film work included John and Mary (1969), Oh, God! Book II (1980), and 9 to 5 (1980), in which she played Missy Hart. The latter film reunited her with Dabney Coleman, who had played her on-screen husband Merle Jeeter on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was similarly reunited with that series' lead, Louise Lasser, when Lasser joined the cast of It's a Living.

Mercer resided at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles in her later years. She died on April 27, 2011, from Alzheimer's disease in Newbury Park, California, at the age of 75.