Mary Mara, a character actress who appeared on TV shows such as ‘Nash Bridges’, ‘Dexter’ and ‘ER’ over a career spanning more than 30 years, has died in upstate from New York. She was 61 years old.
The death was announced by New York State Police, who said Ms. Mara’s body was found Sunday morning in the St. Lawrence River near Cape Vincent, NY, near the Canadian border, and that a preliminary investigation suggested she had drowned. while swimming.
She lived in Cape Vincent.
Ms. Mara was born on September 21, 1960, in Syracuse, NY, to Roger Mara, the former New York State Fair special events director, and Lucille Mara, an accountant. Her brother, Roger, who was a puppeteer, told the San Francisco Examiner in 1996 that he and Mary were encouraged by their mother’s flair for the theater.
After graduating from Corcoran High School in Syracuse, Ms. Mara studied at San Francisco State University and later earned an MFA from Yale School of Drama. Throughout her career, she dabbled in acting, most notably in the 1989 New York Shakespeare Festival production of “Twelfth Night,” alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
That same year, she had her first screen credits, in the TV movie “The Preppie Murder”, based on the true story of the murder of a young woman in New York. In 1992, she appeared in “Love Potion No. 9” and “Mr. Saturday Night,” in which Billy Crystal played a veteran stand-up comedian. Mrs. Mara played his ex-daughter.
His other films included the 2008 horror film “Prom Night”.
She was perhaps best known for her recurring roles on “ER,” in which she played patient Loretta Sweet from 1995 to 1996, and “Nash Bridges,” in which she played Detective Bryn Carson from 1996 to 1997.
She once said that she thought her character was overshadowed by the male detectives played by Don Johnson and Cheech Marin in the latter show.
“It’s a male-dominated show with Don and Cheech as directors,” she told The Post-Standard of Syracuse in 1999. Although the show’s writers “got to write really well for me halfway through the season,” she added, the producers “were afraid I’d stand out too much.”
Ms. Mara later appeared in “Dexter”, “Ray Donovan”, “Bones”, “Star Trek: Enterprise” and other shows. His last credit was in the 2020 film “Break Even”.
In a statement, Ms Mara’s manager Craig Dorfman described her as “electric, funny and a real person”.
His survivors include a stepdaughter, Katie Mersola, and two sisters, Martha Mara and Susan Dailey, according to Variety.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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