Marilu Henner

Marilu Henner is an American actress, singer, and author born on April 6, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. She is of Greek and Polish descent, the daughter of Loretta Callis and Joseph Henner. Both of her parents died in their fifties — her mother from complications of arthritis, her father from a heart attack. Henner has appeared on Broadway from 1972 through 2018 and is also recognized as one of fewer than 100 documented cases of hyperthymesia, a condition giving her the ability to recall nearly every day of her life since age eleven.

Henner's performing career began while she was a student at the University of Chicago, when she originated the role of Marty Maraschino in the Kingston Mines production of Grease in 1971. When the production transferred to Broadway, she was invited to reprise the role but chose instead to join the national touring company, where she performed alongside John Travolta, who played Doody. Her Broadway credits include Over Here!, in which she again appeared with Travolta, as well as revivals of Pal Joey, Chicago, Social Security, and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. She also starred in Annie Get Your Gun and appeared in Gettin' The Band Back Together.

Henner made her film debut in the 1977 sleeper comedy-drama Between the Lines, which featured early performances from Jeff Goldblum, Lindsay Crouse, John Heard, and Jill Eikenberry. Her second film role came opposite Richard Gere in Bloodbrothers in 1978. That same year, she was cast as Elaine O'Connor Nardo in the ABC/NBC sitcom Taxi, a role she held until 1983. The character was a single mother working as a cab driver who aspired to a career in the art world, and the performance earned Henner five Golden Globe Award nominations.

Her film work during the 1980s included the 1982 Wim Wenders film Hammett, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring her first husband Frederic Forrest, in which she played the leading female role. In 1983, she starred opposite Burt Reynolds in The Man Who Loved Women, directed by Blake Edwards, and Reynolds subsequently invited her to join the cast of Cannonball Run II alongside Shirley MacLaine and Dom DeLuise. She played the love interest to Michael Keaton in the 1984 comedy Johnny Dangerously and appeared with Travolta again in the 1985 film Perfect. In 1991, she appeared opposite Steve Martin in L.A. Story as Trudi, earning a nomination for an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Female in a Motion Picture. She also appeared in Noises Off in 1992 and in Man on the Moon in 1999, a film about her Taxi co-star Andy Kaufman in which she played both herself and herself portraying her Taxi character.

From 1990 to 1994, Henner co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the CBS sitcom Evening Shade, which also featured Ossie Davis and Hal Holbrook. In 1994, she hosted her own daytime talk show, Marilu, for 165 episodes. She provided the voice of Gotham City socialite Veronica Vreeland in Batman: The Animated Series from 1992 to 1999, reprising the role in the animated films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm in 1993 and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero in 1998. In 2006 and 2007, she hosted the television series America's Ballroom Challenge, and in 2008 she competed on NBC's first Celebrity Apprentice, where she was eliminated in the eighth episode but was brought back to assist fellow contestant Trace Adkins in the final task. She returned for the show's thirteenth season, The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, competing on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association and raising over $50,000 for the cause, again returning after elimination to assist Adkins in the finale.

Henner served as a consultant for the CBS drama Unforgettable, which starred Poppy Montgomery as a character with hyperthymesia, and she guest-starred on the series as the character's aunt Evie. She made five guest appearances on Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2013 and appeared in the first season of The Neighborhood in 2018, a CBS series starring Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, and Beth Behrs. On season 23 of Dancing with the Stars in 2016, she was partnered with professional dancer Derek Hough and was eliminated in the ninth week, finishing in sixth place. In December 2010, her hyperthymesia was featured on 60 Minutes.

Henner has written nine books focused on diet, health, and memory, including Total Health Makeover, The 30-Day Total Health Makeover, and Total Memory Makeover: Uncover Your Past, Take Charge of Your Future. She has two sons, Nicholas Lieberman and Joseph Lieberman, from her second marriage to Robert Lieberman. Pianist Bob James, who composed the music for Taxi, recorded a jazz track titled The Marilu as a tribute to her.