Since her 1963 Broadway debut as Sue Ann in the short-lived musical, Hot Spot, Mary Louise Wilson has been active on and off Broadway, appearing in musicals as well as stage plays, from Noël Coward to William Shakespeare to The Beard of Avon.
In 1998, she won a Tony® nomination for her role as Fraulein Schneider in the revival of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret and earned a Tony® in 2007 for her performance in Grey Gardens, portraying the character Edith Bouvier Beale.
Among her many musical appearances, Wilson played Comrade Ada in Kander and Ebb’s 1965 musical, Flora, The Red Menace, and portrayed Tessie Tura in the 1974 revival of Gypsy. A replacement for Marge MacDougall in the original production of Promises, Promises, Mary Louise Wilson won the 1995 Obie and a Drama Desk Award in Full-Gallop, a one-woman stage play she co-wrote with Mark Hampton in which she played Diana Vreeland. It went on to London and has since been produced in countries all over the world.
Her films include Stepmom, Huck Finn, Green Card, She-Devil, Pet Semetary, Zelig, The Money Pit, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, King of the Gypsies, and Klute. Among her recent television appearances have been Frasier, Cosby, and The Sopranos.
Photo courtesy of The Everett Collection
