Biografi
Mary Anne McGarry held dual citizenship in the United States and Ireland. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Irish-American parents, she began acting at age 14, landing her first professional role as Irina in Chekhov's "Three Sisters" at the Gaslight Theater in St. Louis. She considered theater her passion, engaging in acting, directing, writing, and producing across the country to maintain her connection to it.
For many years, she pursued simultaneous careers in theater and academia. She studied at Université Laval in Quebec, Cambridge University in the UK, St. Louis University in the US, and earned a Ph.D. in theater and film from Northwestern University. She formerly led the MFA acting program at UC Irvine. Her theater credits include six seasons with the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, as well as performances at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Pasadena Playhouse, Steppenwolf, Northlight Rep, and Court Theaters in Chicago, DC's Folger Theater, New York City's Public Theater, People's Light & Theater Co. in Pennsylvania, Sacramento Theater Company, and running her own summer Shakespeare Festival in Geneva, Illinois.
In 1988, she transitioned into television and film. She notably was dismissed alongside George Clooney from the first season of "Roseanne" for reasons known only to Roseanne Barr. Following this setback, she collaborated with numerous esteemed colleagues.
Her one-woman show, "Honeymoon in Galway," was named "Best of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times and was being developed into a film with Arthur Lappin as Executive Producer. Her screenplay, "Craving for That Kind of Love," set in 1920s Harlem and London, was in development for UK television. Her debut mystery novel, "Homicide Nun," features an Irish nun turned reluctant homicide detective in Riverside, California.
Her family included a daughter, three grandchildren, and three siblings.
