Mary-Louise Parker Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Early Years And Education

Mary-Louise Parker was born on 2nd August 1964, to John and Caroline Parker. She is the youngest of four children.

Mary-Louise Parker's father was a judge, who served in the U.S. Army. This led to the family moving on a regular basis during Mary-Louise Parker's childhood, and her memories from younger days are unhappy ones. She acknowledges that her parents did all they could in providing a good home, but she was still unhappy. The moves were both within the United States as well as overseas, including Thailand, France, and Germany. Her father eventually tired of the army life, and they settled in Phoenix where he became a bank manager.

She completed her high schooling at Marcos de Niza High School, in Arizona. From there, she went on to study drama at the North Carolina School of the Arts, which she graduated from in 1986.

Career

Mary-Louise Parker moved to New York in the 1980s, and she debuted on Broadway in “Prelude to a Kiss’, by Craig Lucas. When the production moved off-Broadway, Parker followed and stayed in the lead role.

In 1989, Mary-Louise Parker began her movie career. Over the years, between 1989 and 2017, Parker was in over 30 movies. She wasn’t only in movies though, as during the same period she acted in three series on television, and was in 11 television movies and a mini-series.

As well as all her film and television work, between 1989 and 2016, Mary-Louise Parker also acted in 11 stage productions. She wrote a book which was published in 2015, titled “Dear Mr. You.” The book is letters written from herself to various men she has known through her life. As well as her book, she is a regular contributor to Esquire magazine.

Major Works

Mary-Louise Parker is best known for her television series, “Weeds.” The show ran for eight seasons, from 2005 to 2012. Parker played the female lead, a widow with two sons who starts to sell marijuana once her husband dies so that she can support her family.

Awards And Honors

Mary-Louise Parker has been nominated for 33 awards in her career. She won nine of them, of which some of the more notable are as follows:

2001:   Tony Awards, Best Actress in a Play for her role in “Proof.”

2004:   Golden Globe Awards, Best Supporting Actress, Series, Mini-series, or Television Movie for her role in “Angels in America.”

2006:   Golden Globe Awards, Best Actress, Television Series Musical or Comedy, for her role in “Weeds.”

Personal

Mary-Louise Parker has never been married. She had a relationship with Billy Crudup, an actor, from 1997 to 2003. While she was seven months pregnant with their child, Cruddup left her for a younger actress. Parker had a son, William.

Mary-Louise Parker's other notable relationship was with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, another actor, from 2006 to 2008. Shortly after announcing her engagement to Morgan, the two separated.

In 2007, Mary-Louise Parker adopted a little girl from Ethiopia, named Caroline.

Charity

Over the years, Mary-Louise Parker has done a lot of work with Hope North, which is a school involved with young victims caught up in Uganda’s civil war. The organization works on educating and healing the young people and is run by an escaped child soldier. Parker has a very close bond with him and describes him as almost like a best friend.

Legacy

Mary-Louise Parker has been prolific in her acting career, on stage and screen. Currently, in her early 50s, we can expect to see a lot more from her in coming years.