Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943)[1] is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on Huff (2004–2006), and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her performance in Butterflies Are Free on Broadway (1969–1972). Danner was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for portraying Marilyn Truman on Will & Grace (2001–06; 2018–20), and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her roles in We Were the Mulvaneys (2002) and Back When We Were Grownups (2004). For the latter, she also received a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Blythe Danner
Danner played Dina Byrnes in Meet the Parents (2000) and its sequels Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). She has collaborated on several occasions with Woody Allen, appearing in three of his films: Another Woman (1988), Alice (1990), and Husbands and Wives (1992). Her other notable film credits include 1776 (1972), Hearts of the West (1975), The Great Santini (1979), Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), The X-Files (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), The Love Letter (1999), The Last Kiss (2006), Paul (2011), Hello I Must Be Going (2012), I'll See You in My Dreams (2015), and What They Had (2018).
Danner is the sister of Harry Danner and the widow of Bruce Paltrow. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.
Early life[edit]
Danner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Katharine (née Kile) and Harry Earl Danner, a bank executive.[2] She has a brother, opera singer and actor Harry Danner; a sister, performer-turned-director Dorothy "Dottie" Danner; and a maternal half-brother, violin maker William Moennig III. Danner has Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and some English and Irish ancestry; her maternal grandmother was a German immigrant, and one of her paternal great-grandmothers was born in Barbados (to a family of European descent).[3][4]
Danner graduated from George School, a Quaker high school located near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1960.[5]
Environmental activism[edit]
Danner has been involved in environmental issues such as recycling and conservation for over 30 years.[9] She has been active with INFORM, Inc., is on the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York and the board of directors of the Environmental Media Association,[10] and won the 2002 EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award.[11] In 2011, Danner joined Moms Clean Air Force,[12] to help call on parents to join in the fight against toxic air pollution.
Health care activism[edit]
After the death of her husband Bruce Paltrow from oral cancer, she became involved with the nonprofit Oral Cancer Foundation.[13] In 2005, she filmed a public service announcement to raise public awareness of the disease and the need for early detection. She has since appeared on morning talk shows and given interviews in such magazines as People. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, administered by the Oral Cancer Foundation, raises funding for oral cancer research and treatment, with a particular focus on those communities in which healthcare disparities exist.[14]
She has also appeared in commercials for Prolia, a brand of denosumab used in the treatment of osteoporosis.[15][16]
Personal life[edit]
Danner was married to producer and director Bruce Paltrow, who died of oral cancer in 2002.[17] She and Paltrow had two children together, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.[18]
Danner's niece is the actress Katherine Moennig, the daughter of her maternal half-brother William.
Danner co-starred with her daughter in the 1992 television film Cruel Doubt[19] and again in the 2003 film Sylvia, in which she portrayed Aurelia Plath, mother to Gwyneth's title role of Sylvia Plath.[20]
Danner is a practitioner of transcendental meditation, which she has described as "very helpful and comforting".[21]