Early life

Parker was born in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The youngest of four children, she is the daughter of Caroline Louise (née Morell) and John Morgan Parker, a judge who served in the U.S. Army. Her ancestry includes Swedish (from her maternal grandfather), English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, German, and Dutch. Because of her father's career, Parker spent parts of her childhood in Tennessee and Texas, as well as in Thailand, Germany, and France. She described her childhood as "profoundly unhappy", further noting that, "My parents did everything they could; I had books, clothes, a home and a warm bed, but I was never happy". She graduated from Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona. Parker majored in drama at the North Carolina School of the Arts and graduated in 1986.

Career

1980s

Parker got her start in acting with a role on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. In the late 1980s, Parker moved to New York. After a few minor roles, she made her Broadway debut in a 1990 production of Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss, playing the lead role of Rita. She moved with the production when it transferred from its origin Off-Broadway. Parker won the Clarence Derwent Award for her performance and was nominated for a Tony Award (although she did not play the role when the film was made).

1990s

Parker starred with Kevin Kline in Grand Canyon (1991); with Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Jessica Tandy in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991); with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in The Client (1994); with John Cusack in Bullets over Broadway (1994); and with Drew Barrymore and Whoopi Goldberg in Boys on the Side (1995), as a woman with AIDS. Parker's next role was in a movie adaptation of another Craig Lucas play, Reckless (1995), alongside Mia Farrow, followed by Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996), which also starred Nicole Kidman, Viggo Mortensen, Christian Bale, John Malkovich and Barbara Hershey. In addition, she appeared alongside Matthew Modine in Tim Hunter's The Maker (1997).

Parker's theater career continued when she appeared in Paula Vogel's 1997 critical smash How I Learned to Drive, with David Morse. In the late 1990s, she appeared in several independent films, including Let the Devil Wear Black and The Five Senses.

2001-2003

On December 7, 2003, HBO aired a six-and-a-half-hour adaptation of Tony Kushner's acclaimed Broadway play Angels in America, directed by Mike Nichols. Parker played Harper Pitt, the Mormon Valium-addicted wife of a closeted lawyer. For her performance, Parker received Golden Globe and Emmy awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries.

2004-2006

In 2004, Parker appeared in the comedy Saved!, and a television film called Miracle Run, based on the true story of a mother of two sons with autism, as well as appearing in Craig Lucas' Reckless on Broadway. Parker took the lead role that had been Mia Farrow's on screen. The production, directed by Mark Brokaw, earned Parker another nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actress in 2005.

In November 2005, Parker was the subject of a career exhibition at Boston University, where memorabilia from her career were donated to the University's library. Parker received the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, for her lead role in Weeds. In that category, she defeated the four leads of Desperate Housewives. She dedicated the award to the late John Spencer, known for his work as Leo McGarry on The West Wing. After receiving the award, Parker stated: "I'm really in favor of legalizing marijuana. I don't think it's that controversial."

2007 onwards

In March 2007, Parker played the lead role in the television film The Robber Bride. She then portrayed Zerelda Mimms in the Andrew Dominik film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which opened in cinemas in September 2007. Parker appeared alongside Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell and Garret Dillahunt. In August 2007, Parker continued her role in the third season of Weeds.

In August 2007, she posed nude for an ad for the third season of Weeds. In the ad, she appears as Eve in the Garden of Eden, with a snake draped around her body and a cannabis leaf behind her ear.

Parker appeared in 2008's The Spiderwick Chronicles and in off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons production in the New York premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, a new play by Sarah Ruhl, alongside Drama Desk Award Winner Kathleen Chalfant.

She filmed the Donna Vermeer film Les Passages alongside Julie Delpy. Following this, she returned to work on the fifth season of Weeds. Parker took the lead role in the Roundabout Theatre Broadway revival of the play Hedda Gabler, running from January through March 29, 2009. The play garnered a series of negative reviews.

Parker starred opposite Bruce Willis in the film RED, an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name. The film was released on October 15, 2010. In 2011, Parker became the host for the tenth season of the PBS documentary series Independent Lens. In 2013 she played roles in both RED 2 and R.I.P.D. She appeared in the Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club production of the play The Snow Geese by Sharr White at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre from October 24 through December 15, 2013. The play was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan and also starred Danny Burstein and Victoria Clark.

She starred in the new play by Simon Stephens, Heisenberg, produced Off-Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club. The play, directed by Mark Brokaw, opened on June 2, 2015. The play extended its run, closing on July 11, 2015. The play will transfer to Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, with previews starting on September 20, 2016, and Parker and her co-star Denis Arndt reprising their roles.

Personal life

From 1997 to November 2003, Parker dated actor Billy Crudup, who left her for Claire Danes while she was seven months pregnant with their son, William Atticus Parker, born in 2004. William's godmother is actress Susan Sarandon.

In December 2006, Parker began dating actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, whom she met on the set of Weeds. On February 12, 2008, Parker and Morgan announced their engagement, only to break up the following April.

In 2009, Parker was dating singer Charlie Mars, and appeared in a video for his "Listen to the Darkside."

In September 2007, Parker adopted a baby girl, Caroline Aberash Parker, from Ethiopia.

In 2013 Parker was honored for her work with Hope North, an organization that works in the educating and healing of young victims in Uganda's civil war. The actress began her involvement with the organization after meeting a former victim of Uganda's civil war.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Signs of Life	Charlotte
1989	Longtime Companion	Lisa
1991	Fried Green Tomatoes	Ruth Jamison
1991	Grand Canyon	Dee
1993	Mr. Wonderful	Rita
1993	Naked in New York	Joanne White
1994	Bullets over Broadway	Ellen
1994	Client, TheThe Client	Dianne Sway
1995	Reckless	Pooty
1995	Boys on the Side	Robin Nickerson
1996	Portrait of a Lady, TheThe Portrait of a Lady	Henrietta Stackpole
1997	Murder in Mind	Caroline Walker
1997	Maker, TheThe Maker	Officer Emily Peck
1998	Goodbye Lover	Peggy Blane
1999	Let the Devil Wear Black	Julia Hirsch
1999	Five Senses, TheThe Five Senses	Rona
2002	Red Dragon	Molly Graham
2002	Quality of Mercy, TheThe Quality of Mercy	Sarah Richardson
2002	Pipe Dream	Toni Edelman
2004	Saved!	Lillian Cummings
2004	Best Thief in the World, TheThe Best Thief in the World	Sue Zaidman
2006	Romance & Cigarettes	Constance Murder
2007	Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, TheThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	Zee James
2008	Spiderwick Chronicles, TheThe Spiderwick Chronicles	Helen Grace
2009	Solitary Man	Jordan
2010	Howl	Gail Potter
2010	RED	Sarah Ross
2013	R.I.P.D.	Mildred Proctor
2013	RED 2	Sarah Ross
2013	Christmas in Conway	Suzy Mayor
2014	Behaving Badly	Lucy Stevens
2014	Jamesy Boy	Tracy Burns
2016	Chronically Metropolitan	Annabel	Post-production

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1988	Ryan's Hope	N/A	Unknown episodes
1988	Too Young the Hero	Pearl Spencer	Television film
1994	A Place for Annie	Linda	Television film
1995	Sugartime	Phyllis McGuire	Television film
1998	Saint Maybe	Lucy Dean Bedloe	Television film
1998	Legalese	Rica Martin	Television film
1999	Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, TheThe Simple Life of Noah Dearborn	Dr. Valerie Crane	Television film
2000	Cupid & Cate	Cate DeAngelo	Television film
2001-2006	West Wing, TheThe West Wing	Amy Gardner	23 episodes
2002	Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story	Bonnie Hanssen	Television film
2003	Angels in America	Harper Pitt	6 episodes
2004	Miracle Run	Corrine Morgan-Thomas	Television film
2005	Vinegar Hill	Ellen Grier	Television film
2007	Robber Bride, TheThe Robber Bride	Zenia	Television film
2005-2012	Weeds	Nancy Botwin	102 episodes
2014	The Blacklist	Naomi Hyland	4 episodes
2017	When We Rise	Roma Guy	Miniseries

Theatre

Year	Play	Role	Notes
1990-1991	Prelude to a Kiss	Rita
1993	Four Dogs and a Bone	Brenda	Acted alongside Polly Draper
1996	Bus Stop	Cherie
1997	How I Learned to Drive	Li'l Bit
2000-2003	Proof	Catherine
2004	Reckless	Rachel
2008	Dead Man's Cell Phone	Jean
2009	Hedda Gabler	Hedda Tesman
2013	The Snow Geese	Elizabeth Gaesling

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1990	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Prelude to a Kiss	Nominated
	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play		Nominated
	Theatre World Awards	N/A		Won
2000	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	The Five Senses	Nominated
2001	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Proof	Won
	Drama League Awards	Distinguished Performance		Won
	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Play		Won
	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play		Won
2002	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The West Wing	Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2004	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Angels in America	Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie		Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie		Nominated
2005	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Weeds	Won
	Tony Awards	Best Actress in a Play	Reckless	Nominated
2006	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Weeds	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2007	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actress - Comedy Series		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	The Robber Bride	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Weeds	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2008	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2009	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Choice TV Drama Diva		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2010	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	RED	Nominated
		Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Weeds	Nominated

Charities

Mary-Louise Parker supports the following charitable cause: Adoption.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]