Blythe Danner

Early life

Danner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Katharine and Harry Earl Danner, a bank executive. She has a brother, opera singer and actor Harry Danner, a sister and a maternal half-brother. Danner has Pennsylvania Dutch, some English and Irish ancestry. Her maternal grandmother was a German immigrant, and one of her paternal great-grandmothers was born in Barbados to a family of European descent. Danner graduated from George School, a Quaker high school located near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1960.

Career

A graduate of Bard College, Danner's first roles included the 1967 musical Mata Hari and the 1968 Off-Broadway production of Summertree. Her early Broadway appearances included Cyrano de Bergerac (1968) and her Theatre World Award-winning performance in The Miser (1969). She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying a free-spirited divorcée in Butterflies Are Free (1970).

In 1972, Danner portrayed Martha Jefferson in the film version of 1776. That same year, she played the unknowing wife of a husband who committed murder, opposite Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, in the Columbo episode "Étude in Black".

Her earliest starring film role was opposite Alan Alda in To Kill a Clown (1972). Danner appeared in the episode of MASH* entitled "The More I See You", playing the love interest of Alda's character Hawkeye Pierce. She played lawyer Amanda Bonner in television's Adam's Rib, opposite Ken Howard as Adam Bonner. She played Zelda Fitzgerald in F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974). She was the eponymous heroine in the film Lovin' Molly (1974) (directed by Sidney Lumet). She appeared in Futureworld, playing Tracy Ballard with co-star Peter Fonda (1976). In the 1982 TV movie Inside the Third Reich, she played the wife of Albert Speer. In the film version of Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical play Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), she portrayed a middle-aged Jewish mother. She has appeared in two films based on the novels of Pat Conroy, The Great Santini (1979) and The Prince of Tides (1991), as well as two television movies adapted from books by Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe and Back When We Were Grownups, both for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Danner appeared opposite Robert De Niro in the 2000 comedy hit Meet the Parents, and its sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). On May 30, 2025, it was announced that Danner would return for a fourth film which is scheduled to release on November 25, 2026.

From 2001 to 2006, she regularly appeared on NBC's sitcom Will & Grace as Will Truman's mother Marilyn. From 2004 to 2006, she starred in the main cast of the comedy-drama series Huff. In 2005, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on Will & Grace, Huff, and the television film Back When We Were Grownups, winning for her role in Huff. The following year, she won a second consecutive Emmy Award for Huff. For 25 years, she has been a regular performer at the Williamstown Summer Theater Festival, where she also serves on the board of directors.

In 2006, Danner was awarded an inaugural Katharine Hepburn Medal by Bryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. In 2015, Danner was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Environmental activism

Danner has been involved in environmental issues such as recycling and conservation for over 30 years. She has been active with INFORM, Inc., is on the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York and the board of directors of the Environmental Media Association, and won the 2002 EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. In 2011, Danner joined Moms Clean Air Force, to help call on parents to join in the fight against toxic air pollution.

Health care activism

After the death of her husband Bruce Paltrow from oral cancer, she became involved with the nonprofit Oral Cancer Foundation. In 2005, she filmed a public service announcement to raise public awareness of the disease and the need for early detection. She has since appeared on morning talk shows and given interviews in such magazines as People. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, administered by the Oral Cancer Foundation, raises funding for oral cancer research and treatment, with a particular focus on those communities in which healthcare disparities exist.

She has also appeared in commercials for Prolia, a brand of denosumab used in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Personal life

Danner was married to producer and director Bruce Paltrow, who died of oral cancer in 2002. She and Paltrow had two children together, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.

Danner's niece is the actress Katherine Moennig, the daughter of her maternal half-brother William.

Danner co-starred with her daughter in the 1992 television film Cruel Doubt and again in the 2003 film Sylvia, in which she portrayed Aurelia Plath, mother to Gwyneth's title role of Sylvia Plath.

Danner is a practitioner of transcendental meditation, which she has described as "very helpful and comforting".

Acting credits

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (2001). "The Actor's Art: Conversations with Contemporary American Stage Performers". Rutgers University Press.
2. (April 28, 2011). "Dan Gross: Gwynnie had no time for granny".
3. Hughes, Mike. (November 20, 2004). "'Grownups' star finds role is a welcome distraction".
4. (March 31, 2011). "Hollywood celebrity finds family links in Barbados".
5. "George School profile".
6. Kroll, Justin. (2025-05-30). "Ariana Grande Joins 'Meet The Parents' Sequel At Universal; Fall 2026 Release Date Set".
7. "Trustees". Williamstown Theatre Festival.
8. [http://www.brynmawr.edu/hepburn/medalists/danner.shtml "Danner wins medal"] {{Webarchive. link. (June 4, 2013 Bryn Mawr.edu)
9. (May 4, 2015). "Theater Hall of Fame Ceremony, Honoring Susan Stroman, F. Murray Abraham, Philip J. Smith and more, presented tonight". www.playbill.com.
10. (June 24, 2003). "City Council Minutes". [[Santa Monica, California.
11. "Board of Directors". Environmental Media Association.
12. "12th Annual Environmental Media Awards". Environmental Media Association.
13. "Moms Clean Air Force". momscleanairforce.org.
14. (December 7, 2011). "The Oral Cancer Foundation". Oral Cancer Fund.
15. (December 7, 2011). "Bruce Paltrow Fund". Oral Cancer Fund.
16. "Hear from Blythe on Prolia".
17. (2018). "Denosumab".
18. "Bruce Paltrow Fund". OCF Inc..
19. (2018-03-13). "Gwyneth Paltrow - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times".
20. (1992-05-17). "Blythe's Spirit".
21. (2003-10-17). "Paltrow equal to the task of portraying a tortured Plath".
22. (May 27, 2015). "Blythe Danner: 'A part of me feels like I have never grown up'".
23. Simon, Fran, [https://news.tulane.edu/node/36846/pdf "Star of Stage and Screen Coaches Students"] {{Webarchive. link. (August 14, 2022 , ''news.tulane.edu'', May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2022-08-14.)
24. [[Frank Rich. Rich, Frank]], [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/15/theater/review-theater-kline-and-danner-in-much-ado-in-park.html "Review/Theater; Kline and Danner In 'Much Ado' in Park"], ''New York Times'', July 15, 1988. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
25. Beaufort. John, [https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/0719/lbeau.html "New `Much Ado' matches saucy Danner with superb Kline"], ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', July 19, 1988. Retrieved 2022-08-14.