Lizbeth Mackay (born March 7, 1949) is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. She works primarily in the theatre and television.

Life and career

Mackay was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, the daughter of Robert J. Mackay, a salesman, and Alice (née Steurnagel), a dancer. She has two children, Caitlin and John. Nicknamed Liz, Mackay is a graduate of Adelphi University and the

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Graduate School of Drama.

Stage

Mackay made her stage debut at the American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Connecticut, in 1970. She appeared in many productions at

The Cleveland Play House Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square whe ...

from 1975 to 1978, including ''

Man and Superman ''Man and Superman'' is a four-act drama written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to a call for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. ''Man and Superman'' opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London o ...

'', '' Dark at the Top of the Stairs'', ''Relatively Speaking'', ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

'', ''Great Expectations'', and '' Little Foxes''. She played Alice in '' You Can't Take It with You'' at Center Stage,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, in 1979, ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

'' at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles (1983), and '' The Dining Room'', Plaza Theatre,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

(1983). Mackay starred in '' Night, Mother'' with

Katherine Helmond Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) was an American actress. Over her five decades of television acting, she was known for her starring role as Jessica Tate on the sitcom ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as ...

in early 1998 at the Orpheum Theatre in

Foxboro, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 a ...

for which she won an Elliot Norton Award. later that year, she starred in ''A View From The Roof'' at Barrington Stage Company and the Orpheum Theatre. She appeared in

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...

's ''

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

'' presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2008. Mackay made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in a 1970 production of '' Othello''. She made her Off-Broadway debut in the role of Lenny Magrath in ''

'' at the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...

in 1980, and went on to play the role on

in 1981. She won the 1982

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

for her performance in ''Crimes of the Heart''. Additional

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

stage credits include ''Sons of the Prophet'' (2011), ''The Shoemaker'' (2010), '' All My Sons'' (2008), ''Two-Headed'' at the Women's Project Theater (2000), '' The Price'' (1999), ''

The Heiress ''The Heiress'' is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed and produced by William Wyler, from a screenplay written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 stage play of the same title, which was itself adapted from Henry Jame ...

'' (1995), '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1993), and '' Death and the Maiden'' (1992).Lizbeth Mackay Broadway credits
ibdb.com, retrieved January 25, 2010

Television and film

Mackay's feature film credits include ''

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

'' (1992), '' Marvin's Room'' (1996), and ''

One True Thing ''One True Thing'' is a 1998 American drama film directed by Carl Franklin. It tells the story of a woman in her 20s who is forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother, who is dying of cancer. The script was adapted by Karen ...

'' (1998). On television, she appeared in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s '' All My Children'' as Leora Sanders in 1981 and '' One Life to Live'' (2004) and the primetime series ''

The Cosby Mysteries ''The Cosby Mysteries'' is an American mystery drama television series starring Bill Cosby that aired on NBC from September 21, 1994, to April 12, 1995. 19 episodes were made. It was the first television series to star Cosby since ''The Cosby Sh ...

'' (1995), '' Ed'' (2000), '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2002), ''

Law & Order: Criminal Intent ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...

'' (2005), and several episodes of the original '' Law & Order'' (1992, 1998, 2003).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Lizbeth 1949 births Living people Actresses from Buffalo, New York American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses Yale School of Drama alumni Adelphi University alumni 21st-century American women