Marylouise Burke

Marylouise Burke is an American actress born in 1940 or 1941 who has maintained an active Broadway presence from 1992 through 2026. She was raised in Steelton, Pennsylvania, attended Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and earned a master of arts in English literature from the University of Wisconsin. After working as a copy editor and research assistant, she relocated to New York City at age 32 to pursue acting.

Burke made her off-Broadway debut in October 1981 in The Broken Pitcher by Heinrich von Kleist at the Martinique Theatre. Her stage career gained significant recognition when she played Gertie in the David Lindsay-Abaire play Fuddy Meers, which opened at Manhattan Theatre Club Stage II in November 1999, earning her the 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. She first performed in Kimberly Akimbo, also by Lindsay-Abaire, at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California, from April to May 2001, before playing the title role when the production premiered off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club New York City Center Stage I in February 2003. That performance brought her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She also appeared in Lindsay-Abaire's Wonder of the World at Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I in 2001 and in Ripcord at Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, which opened in October 2015, marking her fourth collaboration with the playwright.

On Broadway, Burke appeared in Inherit the Wind in 1996 and played Jack's mother in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods. Subsequent Broadway credits include Is He Dead? in 2007, Fish in the Dark in 2015, True West in 2018–19, and The Balusters. Her work in The Balusters earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play in 2024. Burke received the 2014 Obie Award for sustained excellence of performance and was awarded the 2019 Richard Seff Award, presented by the Actors Equity Foundation to veteran character actors for supporting performances in Broadway or off-Broadway productions.

Her film work includes the role of Lillian in Meet Joe Black in 1998 and Miles' mother in Alexander Payne's 2004 film Sideways. She played Delores in The Baxter in 2005 and Sylvia in Wild Canaries in 2014. On television, she appeared in the Netflix series Ozark in 2020 as Sue Shelby, the Byrde family's corrupt marital therapist.