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Marilyn Chris
American actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marilyn Chris (born Marilyn Miller,[1] 1938 or 1939[2][a]) is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Wanda Webb Wolek on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live (1972–1976, 1980–1994). She starred Off-Broadway in Allen Ginsberg's Kaddish (1972), winning an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Variety Critics Poll, and a Drama Desk Award for her performance. In the 1980s, she appeared on Broadway in Brighton Beach Memoirs.
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Early life
Chris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jack Miller, an English-Scottish Mennonite and Sylvia Slavin, a Russian Jew.[5] When she was growing up, her father walked out on the family and her grandfather, who she was close with, died.[6]
She attended Junior High School 109 in Brooklyn. One of her classmates was Steve Lawrence (when he was still known as Sidney Liebowitz).[6] Chris was then accepted at the High School of Performing Arts. After high school, she enrolled at City College of New York.[7]
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Career
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On February 23, 1958, the New York Daily News chose Chris as that week's "Typical American Girl." Her photo appeared in the Sunday magazine section and she won a $25 prize.[6] She began her acting career in the 1950s at The Living Theatre.[8] She appeared in productions for the theatre, including Many Loves, Women of Trachis, In the Jungle of Cities, The Apple, and Man is Man.[9] Prompted by the discovery that her birth name was already registered with Actors Equity, Miller devised a stage name simply by shortening her then-married name, Christopoulos.[1]
In 1963, she appeared in The Good Soldier Schweik for the Chelsea Theater Center.[10] She made her film debut in Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), co-starring with Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen.[11] In 1965, Chris was an under study for the roles of Agnes Graham and Sylvia Goldman in the original Broadway production of The Family Way. In 1967, she was a stand by for the roles of Lulu and Meg in The Birthday Party on Broadway. In 1968, she was a stand by for the title role in a Broadway production of The Seven Descents of Myrtle.[12]
Chris appeared in the romantic drama film John and Mary (1969), co-starring with Dustin Hoffman.[13] In 1970, she guest starred on Hawaii Five-O.[14] The same year, she played Myrtle Young in the crime film The Honeymoon Killers.[15] She also had a role in the drama film The People Next Door.[16] Chris appeared on Broadway in Lenny.[7]
In 1972, Chris briefly played the role of Edie Hoffman on the ABC soap opera All My Children.[10] She was cast as Naomi, the paranoid mother of Allen Ginsberg in Kaddish. The play opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 1972.[17] Chris won an Obie Award for her performance.[18] She also won a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Variety Critics Poll.[19][20]
In May 1972, she was cast in the contract role of Wanda Webb on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live.[6][21] The character opened a restaurant called Heavenly Hash in the fictional city of Llanview.[7] Her true love was Vince Wolek (Antony Ponzini).[22]
Chris played Mrs. Bingham in the comedy film Rhinoceros (1974), co-starring with Gene Wilder.[23] In July 1974, she co-starred with Lee Wallace in the musical Laugh a Little, Cry a Little at the Westbury Music Fair.[24] She played Faye Stone in the television film Strike Force (1975), co-starring with Richard Gere.[25] In 1976, Chris left her role on One Life to Live.[21]
She starred as Rose Lander in the film Looking Up (1977).[26] Chris guest starred on Rafferty and Barney Miller.[14][27] She played Harriet in the television film Some Kind of Miracle (1979).[28] The same year, she appeared in the television miniseries Backstairs at the White House.[29] She made guest appearances on Family and Kaz.[14][27]
Chris played Mavis Skinner in the comedy film The Black Marble (1980).[30] The same year, she also appeared in the romantic comedy film Loving Couples.[31] She had a role in the television film The Secret War of Jackie's Girls.[32] In 1980, Chris returned to the role of Wanda on One Life to Live.[21] She appeared in the television film Kent State (1981).[7]
In the early 1980s, Chris returned to Broadway, playing Kate Jerome in Brighton Beach Memoirs.[33][20][34] She co-starred with her husband, Lee Wallace, in the television film A Doctor's Story (1984).[35] She guest starred on Fame in 1986.[14] Chris appeared in the film American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy (also titled Histoires d'Amerique) (1989).[36] In 1990, she co-starred with Lee Wallace in Taking Stock for the Jewish Repertory Theatre.[10]
In March and April 1992, Chris appeared in Barefoot in the Park at the Valley Forge Music Fair. She co-starred with Bernard Barrow, Cady McClain, and Walt Willey.[37] In October 1992, she co-starred with Lee Wallace in God of Vengeance for the Jewish Repertory Theatre.[38] Soap Opera Digest reported in January 1994 that Chris would be leaving her role on One Life to Live. Her final air date was February 7, 1994.[39]
In the 1990s, she made guest appearances on Law & Order.[14][27] She also guest starred on New York News.[27] Chris played Josie Basilio in Trees Lounge (1996). She co-starred with Steve Buscemi, who also wrote and directed the film.[40] In 1997, she appeared in the television film Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way.[41] The same year, she also had a role in the film The Deli.[42] In May 1997, Chris played Faye in The Young Girl and the Monsoon at Playwrights Horizons.[43]
Chris guest starred on Third Watch in 1999.[14] She guest starred on Deadline and Oz in the early 2000s.[27] She played Phyllis in The Great New Wonderful (2005), a comedy film about New Yorkers living in the city after the September 11 attacks.[44] She appeared as Mrs. Chadwick in the comedy film Waltzing Anna (2006).[45] Chris guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.[14]
In March 2010, she appeared in Sin at the Baruch Performing Arts Center's Rose Nagelberg Theatre. The play closed abruptly due to lack of funds.[46][47] She played Elizabeth Robbins in the suspense film Altered Minds (2013).[48] In July 2024, Chris played serial killer Nannie Doss in a solo reading of The Giggling Granny at the Southampton Cultural Center.[49]
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Personal life
Chris has married three times, the first two ending in divorce: first, in 1957, to aspiring playwright George Christopoulos, with whom she had a son, Paul;[2][1][50][5] next, on New Year's Eve 1967, to actor Ric Mancini;[51][52] and finally—from December 14, 1975 until his death on December 20, 2020—to actor Lee Wallace.[3][53]
Filmography
Film
Television
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Awards and nominations
Notes
- Two reference works concerning the history of daytime TV—each of whose Marilyn Chris entries includes a birthday without specifying the year—diverge widely as to the month and day of her birth. The Soap Opera Book : Who's Who in Daytime Drama, published in 1992 by Todd Publications, lists May 19 as her birthday,[3] whereas Daytime TV Star's Directory, published by Popular Library in 1976, has September 24.[4]
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References
Sources
External links
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