Mary-Louise Parker

Biography: The one major acting award this skilled actress hasn't won is the Oscar. Adept at playing quirky, smart and oftentimes fragile characters, Parker made her Broadway debut in 1990 as a fearful newlywed who unwittingly switches souls with an old man in Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss. The next year she won raves as an abused wife in the Southern-flavored big-screen dramedy Fried Green Tomatoes. From then on, it was all about her TV and stage work, particularly Proof, as a mentally unstable math genius for which she won the 2001 Tony. Although she did appear in a number of films, the powers-that-be didn't regard her as a leading actress. So when Hollywood decided to turn her two signature stage projects into movies, she wasn't invited to the party. (Meg Ryan and Gwyneth Paltrow landed the leads in Prelude to a Kiss and Proof, respectively.) Parker ventured into series television in 2002 with a recurring role on The West Wing and won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her expressiveThe one major acting award this skilled actress hasn't won is the Oscar. Adept at playing quirky, smart and oftentimes fragile characters, Parker made her Broadway debut in 1990 as a fearful newlywed who unwittingly switches souls with an old man in Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss. The next year she won raves as an abused wife in the Southern-flavored big-screen dramedy Fried Green Tomatoes. From then on, it was all about her TV and stage work, particularly Proof, as a mentally unstable math genius for which she won the 2001 Tony. Although she did appear in a number of films, the powers-that-be didn't regard her as a leading actress. So when Hollywood decided to turn her two signature stage projects into movies, she wasn't invited to the party. (Meg Ryan and Gwyneth Paltrow landed the leads in Prelude to a Kiss and Proof, respectively.) Parker ventured into series television in 2002 with a recurring role on The West Wing and won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her expressive portrait of a Mormon wife in the lauded 2003 miniseries Angels in America. That same year she endured off-screen drama when her longtime boyfriend, Billy Crudup, left her while she was pregnant with their son. She bounced back in 2005 with a lead role on the cable series Weeds, which greatly increased her profile (and likely helped Showtime's subscription base), and landed a boyfriend, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who has appeared on the show as her deceased husband. She adopted a baby girl from Africa named Caroline Aberash Parker in 2007, and one of her most fulfilling off-screen activities is reading with her children. In 2010, she took on a film with Bruce Willis, Red, based on a comic book. Expand

Mary-Louise Parker's Scores

Average career score: 69
Highest Metascore: 82 Weeds: Season 3
Lowest Metascore: 56 Weeds: Season 6
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
12 tv reviews
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
71 Colin in Black & White: Season 1 Oct 29, 2021 Mary-Louise Parker 3.9
tbd Independent Lens: Season 22 Aug 29, 2020 Mary-Louise Parker tbd
tbd Independent Lens: Season 21 Oct 28, 2019 Mary-Louise Parker tbd
tbd Mr. Mercedes: Season 3 Sep 10, 2019 Janey Patterson / Mary Louise Parker 6.1
76 Mr. Mercedes: Season 2 Aug 22, 2018 Janey Patterson / Mary Louise Parker 6.6
71 Mr. Mercedes: Season 1 Aug 9, 2017 Janey Patterson / Mary Louise Parker 7.5
67 When We Rise: Season 1 Feb 27, 2017 Mary Louise Parker / Roma Guy 6.3
tbd Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Season 2 Sep 6, 2016 Guest tbd
tbd The View: Season 19 Sep 8, 2015 Guest tbd
tbd The Blacklist: Season 2 Sep 22, 2014 Mary Louise Parker / Naomi 7.9
tbd Late Show with David Letterman: Season 21 Aug 19, 2013 Guest tbd
tbd Jimmy Kimmel Live: Season 11 Jan 8, 2013 Guest 7.4
tbd Conan (2010): Season 3 Nov 5, 2012 Guest 8.2
tbd Late Show with David Letterman: Season 20 Aug 13, 2012 Guest tbd
57 Weeds: Season 8 Jul 1, 2012 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 6.7
tbd Independent Lens: Season 13 Oct 13, 2011 Host tbd
68 Weeds: Season 7 Jun 27, 2011 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 6.2
tbd The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Season 19 Jan 3, 2011 Guest tbd
56 Weeds: Season 6 Aug 16, 2010 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 6.8
tbd Chelsea Lately: Season 4 Jan 4, 2010 Guest tbd
tbd Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Season 2 Dec 9, 2009 Host tbd
tbd The Bonnie Hunt Show: Season 2 Sep 8, 2009 Guest tbd
67 Weeds: Season 5 Jun 8, 2009 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 7.3
tbd Chelsea Lately: Season 3 Jan 6, 2009 Guest tbd
67 Weeds: Season 4 Jun 16, 2008 Nancy Botwin / Actor / Nancy Botwin 7.3
tbd Late Show with David Letterman: Season 15 Oct 2, 2007 Mary-Louise Parker tbd
82 Weeds: Season 3 Aug 13, 2007 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 8.0
tbd Martha: Season 2 Aug 16, 2006 Guest tbd
78 Weeds: Season 2 Aug 14, 2006 Nancy Botwin / Nancy Botwin 8.1
tbd The West Wing: Season 7 Sep 25, 2005 Amy Gardner / Amy Gardner 6.0