''Mary, Mary'' is a play by

Jean Kerr Jean Kerr (born Bridget Jean Collins, July 10, 1922 – January 5, 2003) was an Irish-American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who authored the 1957 bestseller ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' and the plays ''King of Hea ...

. After two previews, the Broadway production opened on March 8, 1961, at the original Helen Hayes Theatre, where it ran for nearly three years and nine months before transferring to the Morosco, where it closed on December 12, 1964, after 1572 performances, making it the longest-running non-musical Broadway play of the 1960s.

Production

Directed by Joseph Anthony, the original cast starred

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...

as Mary,

Barry Nelson Barry Nelson (born Robert Haakon Nielsen; April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond. Early life Nelson was born in San Francisco, the son of Norwegian immi ...

as Bob, Michael Rennie as Dirk, John Cromwell as Oscar, and Betsy Von Furstenberg as Tiffany. Bel Geddes was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Later in the run,

Nancy Olson Nancy Ann Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Sunset Boulevard'' (1950). She co-starred with William Holden in four films, and later appeared in ...

and Inger Stevens were among those who assumed the role of Mary, while Bob was portrayed by George Grizzard,

Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as ''Anatomy of a Murder'', ''The Hustler'', ''The Graduate'', ''Jaws'' and ''The Amityville Hor ...

, and

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. Hiram Sherman replaced Cromwell as Oscar, Edward Mulhare and Michael Wilding appeared as Dirk, and

Carrie Nye Carolyn Nye McGeoy (October 14, 1936 – July 14, 2006), known professionally as Carrie Nye, was an American actress. In her career spanning 32 years, she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1965, a Primetime Emmy Award in 1980, and a Drama Desk ...

was cast as Tiffany. The London production opened in February 1963 with

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...

in the role of Mary. The play became extremely popular at summer stock theatres, with notable productions including

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...

and

Alvin Epstein Alvin Epstein (May 14, 1925 – December 10, 2018) was an American actor and director. He was a founding member of both the American Repertory Theater and Yale Repertory Theatre. He was particularly admired for his performances in the plays of Samu ...

at the

Bucks County Playhouse THE BUCKS COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE The Bucks County Playhouse is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. When the ''Hope Mills'' burned in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the ''New Hope Mills,'' by Benjamin Parry. The town was renamed for the mills. ...

and real-life married couple Craig Stevens and

Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...

at the Shady Grove Theatre. Bob was played by Chuck Connors at the

Sahara Tahoe Hard Rock Lake Tahoe (formerly Sahara Tahoe, High Sierra, Horizon Lake Tahoe and Park Tahoe) is a hotel and casino located in Stateline, Nevada. Also previously known as Sahara Tahoe and High Sierra resorts, it is one of four major casino hotels ...

Casino in 1972, and Farley Granger played the role in an Equity stock company production in Queens in 1977. ''Mary, Mary'' was revived off-off-Broadway in 2019 by Retro Productions.

Plot

The plot focuses on wisecracking cynic Mary and infuriatingly-sensible Bob, who have recently divorced and have not seen each other in nine months. They meet at his apartment in hopes that they can avert an

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

by the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

, and a snowstorm forces Mary to spend the night. The next morning, mutual friend and lawyer Oscar, Hollywood-heartthrob neighbor Dirk Winston, and Bob's considerably-younger fiancée Tiffany arrive on the scene. The comedy's humor is derived from discussions about income taxes, marriage, alimony, divorce, remarriage, extramarital affairs, weight-loss programs, exercise, and sex.

Film

Richard L. Breen adapted Kerr's play for a 1963 film version directed by

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. In his youth he played juvenile roles in vaudeville and silent film comedies. During the 1930s, LeRoy was one of the two great practitioners of ...

. Nelson, Rennie, and Sherman reprised their stage roles, with

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

as Mary and Diane McBain as Tiffany. It opened at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

to lukewarm reviews. The play ran far longer than the movie.Wilmeth, Don B. and Miller, Tice L. ''Cambridge guide to American theatre'' (1996), Cambridge University Press, , p. 252

References

External links

* (play) * (play) * {{imdb title, 0057293, Mary, Mary (film) 1961 plays Broadway plays American plays adapted into films