HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Marcia Ann Strassman (April 28, 1948 – October 24, 2014) was an American actress and singer. She played Nurse Margie Cutler on ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...
'', Julie Kotter on '' Welcome Back, Kotter'', and Diane Szalinski in the film ''
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' is a 1989 American comic science fiction film. It is the first installment of a film franchise and served as the directorial debut of Joe Johnston. The film stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, and Kr ...
'' (1989).


Life and career

Strassman was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and raised in
Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...
. Among her earliest acting credits was an appearance in an episode of ''
The Patty Duke Show ''The Patty Duke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Sidney Sheldon and William Asher. The series ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, to April 27, 1966. The series was developed as a vehicle for teenage star Patty Duke, who h ...
''. In 1963, at age 15, she succeeded
Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...
in the role of Ethel Hofflinger in the
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...
musical '' Best Foot Forward''. In 1967, she became a recording artist for Uni Records. Her debut single, "The Flower Children", was a top-40 hit in many West Coast U.S. markets, hitting #4 in San Diego and #2 in San Francisco; the track also hit #3 in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
(both at CKLG 730 AM and CFUN 1410 AM in July 1967). However, the single failed to break out nationally in either country; the record stalled at #105 in the United States, and just sneaked into RPM's Top 100 for Canada, peaking at #95. The song also reached #95 on ''Cashbox'' Top 100 Singles chart Her follow-up release, "The Groovy World of Jack and Jill", charted in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, but virtually nowhere else. A third single, "Star Gazer" (1968) (produced by
Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has bee ...
), failed to chart anywhere and brought Strassman's brief recording career to a close. Returning to acting after a gap of a few years, she landed the recurring role of Nurse Margie Cutler in six early episodes of ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...
''. She landed the role of Julie Kotter, the wife of title character high school teacher Gabe Kotter ( Gabe Kaplan) on the ABC comedy series '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' in 1975. The series lasted four years. Strassman was told that Kaplan wanted her off the series, and stated in an interview that working on the series made her "miserable". Kaplan read the interview and realized series producer James Komack was separately telling the two actors they didn't like each other, and Kaplan informed Strassman that he actually wanted more balance between Kotter's work and home environments, which would afford her the chance to do more on the series. Kaplan, a guest host on '' The Tonight Show'' that week, had Strassman on to tell the story as an interview guest; she recalled the incident decades later on a Biography Channel special about the history of ''Kotter''. In the 1970s, Strassman did guest spots on '' Time Express'', ''
The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...
'', and '' The Love Boat'', among other shows. In 1980, she starred as Lenina Crowne in a television production of
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...
's ''
Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hiera ...
''. She co-starred in the short-lived sitcom ''
Good Time Harry ''Good Time Harry'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from July 19, 1980, to September 13, 1980. Premise The series centered on Harry Jenkins, a sportswriter for the ''San Francisco Sentinel'' whose playboy escapades often got in the way of ...
'' that year. She guest-starred on the '' Magnum, P.I.'' episode "Heal Thyself", where she played Dr. Karen Harmon, a former nurse with whom the title character served in Vietnam. In 1982, she played Maria Giannin in the romantic comedy '' Soup for One''. In 1989–90, she had a co-starring role on the '' 21 Jump Street'' spin-off, '' Booker'', starring Richard Grieco in the title role. She guest starred on ''
Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...
'' in 1996. Strassman had movie roles as Rick Moranis's wife in ''
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' is a 1989 American comic science fiction film. It is the first installment of a film franchise and served as the directorial debut of Joe Johnston. The film stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, and Kr ...
'' (1989) and '' Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'' (1992). In 1994, she reprised her role from those movies in the 3-D film spin-off ''
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! ''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience'' (known as ''MicroAdventure!'' in Tokyo Disneyland) was a 4D film spin-off of the ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' film series that was shown at several Disney theme parks. The audience wore 3D glasses, and the gimba ...
'' She later went on to play Nancy Sterngood on the television series '' Tremors'' (2003).


Death

In March 2007, Strassman was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer that had spread to her bones. Her memoir, in which she discussed her life, career and illness, was published in 2008. Strassman died of the disease at her home in
Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density th ...
, on October 24, 2014. She was 66 years old. She had a daughter, Elizabeth Collector (from her 1984 to 1989 marriage to Robert Collector).


Filmography


Movies


Television


Discography

* "The Flower Children" / "Out of the Picture" (1967) * "The Groovy World of Jack & Jill" / "The Flower Shop" (1967) * "Self-Analysis" / "Star Gazer" (1968)


Bibliography


Biography

*


References


External links

* * * *
Marcia Strassman
Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Strassman, Marcia 1948 births 2014 deaths American child actresses American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses American women singers Actresses from New Jersey Uni Records artists Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from breast cancer Musicians from Passaic, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses