Character actress Mary Mara, who has appeared on television shows such as “Nash Bridges,” “Dexter,” and “ER” for over 30 years, has died in northern New York. She was 61 years old.
Death is Announced by New York state police said Mara’s body was found on the St. Lawrence River near Cape Vincent, New York, near the Canadian border on Sunday morning, suggesting that she had drowned while swimming in a preliminary investigation.
She lived in Cape Vincent.
Mara was born on September 21, 1960 in Syracuse, New York, to Roger Mara, a former director of a special event at the New York State Fair, and Lucille Mara, an accountant. Her brother, Roger, who was Puppeteer, told the San Francisco Examiner in 1996 that he and Mary were encouraged by her mother’s talent for the drama.
After graduating from Corcoran High School in Syracuse, Mara studied at San Francisco State University and later earned a master’s degree in art from the Yale School of Drama. Throughout her career, she worked on theater, especially in 1989, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio for the New York Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night.”
That same year, she earned her first on-screen credit in the television movie The Preppie Murder, which is based on the true story of a young woman’s murder in New York. In 1992 she starred in “Love Potion No. 9” and “Mr. Billy Crystal as a veteran stand-up comedian” Saturday Night. ” Mara played her estranged daughter.
Her other films included the 2008 horror film “Prom Night.”
She is probably the most repetitive role in “ER”, which played patient Loretta Sweet from 1995 to 1996, and “Nash Bridges,” which played Brine Carson’s inspector from 1996 to 1997. It was well known.
She once said she thought her personality was overshadowed by a male detective played by Don Johnson and Cheech Marin in the latter show.
“This is a male-centric show headed by Don and Cheech,” she told Syracuse’s Post Standard in 1999. The show writer “started writing really well for me in almost half of the season,” she added. The producer said, “I was worried that I might be too noticeable.”
Mara later appeared on programs such as “Dexter,” “Ray Donovan,” “Bones,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Her last credit was in the 2020 movie “Break Even”.
In a statement, Mara’s manager, Craig Dorfman, described her as “electric, entertaining, and a true individual.”
According to the variety, her survivors include her stepdaughter Katie Melsora and her two sisters Martha Mara and Susan Daily.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
