Biography
University of Tulsa graduate Mary Kay Place hightailed it to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a writer and performer of comedy material. She was hired for 1970s The Tim Conway Comedy Hour as a production assistant to both star Conway and producer
Norman Lear. It was Conway who gave her her first on-camera break, while Lear saw to it that Place received her first writing credit on his subsequent
All in the Family. Lear displayed her to even better advantage in the role of senseless, tactless, and eminently lovable would-be C&W star Loretta Haggers on the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-1977). She won an Emmy for her work as Loretta, and was later nominated for a Grammy for her spin-off musical album, Tonight! At the Capri Lounge...Loretta Haggers. She wrote scripts for such TV sitcoms as
The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
Phyllis, and
MASH, usually in collaboration with her professional partner (and future
Designing Women producer), Linda Bloodworth. In films since 1976's
Bound for Glory, Place has only occasionally been given a chance to shine on the big screen; the best of her movie roles include the washout nightclub singer who briefly replaces
Liza Minnelli in New York, New York (1976), and the reconstituted "child of the '60s" who eagerly volunteers for surrogate motherhood in
The Big Chill (1983). Place then continued to work on a variety of projects throughout the 80's and 90's, playing family friend Camille Chersky on the tragically-cancelled dramatic series
My So-Called Life, and directing episodes of TV shows like
Friends and Arli$$. With the new millennium, Place turned once again towards the big screen, enjoying appearances in films like
Being John Malkovich and Girl, Interrupted, but she continued to work in TV as well, with a recurring role on the Showtime series
Big Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide