Marion Ross was born on October 25, 1928 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. She is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress.

She was voted Outstanding Actress at San Diego State University in 1950, then went on to work at the prestigious La Jolla Playhouse. Mel Ferrer, La Jolla's resident director, recommended that Ross try her luck in Hollywood. She worked steadily in TV and films from 1953 onward, but stardom was still outside her reach. Ross played a succession of maids, nuns, nurses, and that nebulous classification, the Heroine's Best Friend.

She showed up in small roles in such films as Forever Female (1953), Lust for Life (1955), and Operation Petticoat (1959), earning the respect of her fellow workers but very little in the way of public recognition. "I've always had a way of not attracting attention," she would note with resignation later in life. On television, Marion played unstressed recurring roles on such series as Life with Father, Mrs. G Goes to College and Mr. Novak. She finally achieved stardom as Marion Cunningham, mother of 1950s high-schooler Richie Cunningham, on the weekly sitcom Happy Days.

What started out as a shaky midseason replacement in January of 1974 ended up ABC's number-one hit; Ross hitched her wagon to the ever-rising Happy Days star until its final episode in 1983. During this period, she reactivated her stage career, with considerably more success than she'd enjoyed in the 1950s.

Ross' post-Happy Days TV gigs included a 1986 guest shot as the new bride of Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) on The Love Boat and the brief 1989 series Living Dolls. In 1991, Marion Ross earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of archetypal Jewish mother Sophie Berger on the TV "dramedy" Brooklyn Bridge.

Credits by Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmography

• Superhero! (2008)
• "The Boondocks" (1 episode, 2007)
• Smiley Face (2007)
• "Brothers & Sisters" (1 episode, 2007)
• c (2007)
• Where There's a Will (2006)
• "Out of Practice" (1 episode, 2006)
• Community Service (2006)
• "Family Guy" (1 episode, 2005)
• The 3rd Annual TV Land Awards (2005)
• "Gilmore Girls" (6 episodes, 2001-2005)
• "King of the Hill" (1 episode, 2004)
• "The Drew Carey Show" (13 episodes, 1997-2004)
• "Touched by an Angel" (4 episodes, 1995-2003)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Employee of the Month (2002)
• Ladies and the Champ (2001)
• "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1 episode, 2001)
• "The Wild Thornberrys" (1 episode, 2000)
• "Chicken Soup for the Soul" (1 episode, 2000)
• "That '70s Show" (4 episodes, 1998-1999)
• "Family Law" (1 episode, 1999)
• The Last Best Sunday (1999)
• "Postcards from Heaven" (1999)
• About Sarah (1998)
• "The Love Boat: The Next Wave" (1 episode, 1998)
• The Lake (1998)
• The Third Twin (1997)
• "Early Edition" (1 episode, 1997)
• The Evening Star (1996)
• "ABC Afterschool Specials" (4 episodes, 1979-1996)
• "Promised Land" (1 episode, 1996)
• Hidden in Silence (1996)
• "Burke's Law" (1 episode, 1995)
• Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart (1995)
• "The John Larroquette Show" (1 episode, 1994)
• "The Boys Are Back" (1 episode, 1994)
• "Robin's Hoods" (1 episode, 1994)
• "Sweet Justice" (1 episode, 1994)
• A Perfect Stranger (1994)
• "Dream On" (1 episode, 1993)
• "Brooklyn Bridge" (20 episodes, 1991-1993)
• "MacGyver" (1 episode, 1990)
• "Night Court" (1 episode, 1989)
• "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1 episode, 1987)
• "The Love Boat" (8 episodes, 1978-1986)
• "You Again?" (1 episode, 1986)
• "Hotel" (1 episode, 1985)
• Sins of the Father (1985)
• "Happy Days" (49 episodes, 1974-1984)
• "Fantasy Island" (1 episode, 1984)
• "Joanie Loves Chachi" (2 episodes, 1982)
• Midnight Offerings (1981)
• Skyward (1980)
• Survival of Dana (1979)
• "Pearl" (1978)
• Grand Theft Auto (1977)
• "The Streets of San Francisco" (2 episodes, 1976)
• "Petrocelli" (2 episodes, 1975-1976)
• "Emergency!" (1 episode, 1973)
• "Escape" (1 episode, 1973)
• "Mannix" (3 episodes, 1969-1973)
• The Weekend Nun (1972)
• "Ironside" (3 episodes, 1968-1972)
• "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1 episode, 1972)
• "Love, American Style" (1 episode, 1972)
• Honky (1971)
• "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury" (1 episode, 1971) "Longstreet" (1 episode, 1971)
• "Hawaii Five-O" (2 episodes, 1969-1971)
• "Sarge" (1 episode, 1971)
• "Mission: Impossible" (1 episode, 1971)
• The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children (1970)
• Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
• "The Mod Squad" (1 episode, 1970)
• Airport (1970)
• "The Brady Bunch" (1 episode, 1969)
• Any Second Now (1969)
• "Felony Squad" (3 episodes, 1967-1968)
• "Death Valley Days" (2 episodes, 1961-1967)
• "The Fugitive" (1 episode, 1965)
• "Paradise Bay" (1965)
• "The Outer Limits" (1 episode, 1964)
• "The Great Adventure" (2 episodes, 1963-1964)
• "Mr. Novak" (1963)
• "The Eleventh Hour" (1 episode, 1963)
• "Dr. Kildare" (1 episode, 1963)
• "Route 66" (2 episodes, 1962-1963)
• "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1 episode, 1962)
• "Rawhide" (2 episodes, 1962)
• "The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor" (1 episode, 1962)
• "Cain's Hundred" (1 episode, 1962)
• "The Gertrude Berg Show" (1961)
• "Thriller" (1 episode, 1961)
• "Stagecoach West" (1 episode, 1961)
• "Dante" (1 episode, 1961)
• Blueprint for Robbery (1961)
• "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" (1 episode, 1960)
• "Letter to Loretta" (2 episodes, 1954-1960)
• "The Brothers Brannagan" (2 episodes, 1960)
• "The Chevy Mystery Show" (1 episode, 1960)
• The Slowest Gun in the West (1960)
• "Zane Grey Theater" (1 episode, 1960)
• "Philip Marlowe" (1 episode, 1960)
• "Father Knows Best" (1 episode, 1960)
• "General Electric Theater" (1 episode, 1960)
• "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" (1 episode, 1960)
• "The Untouchables" (1 episode, 1959)
• Operation Petticoat (1959)
• "The Donna Reed Show" (1 episode, 1959)
• It Started with a Kiss (1959)
• "M Squad" (1 episode, 1959)
• "Perry Mason" (1 episode, 1959)
• Some Came Running (1958)
• "Steve Canyon" (1 episode, 1958)
• "Buckskin" (1 episode, 1958)
• "Mike Hammer" (1 episode, 1958)
• Teacher's Pet (1958)
• "The Thin Man" (1 episode, 1958)
• "The Walter Winchell File" (1 episode, 1958)
• God Is My Partner (1957)
• Lizzie (1957)
• Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
• The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956)
• Lust for Life (1956)
• The Proud and Profane (1956)
• "Ford Star Jubilee" (1 episode, 1956)
• Blithe Spirit (1956)
• "The Millionaire" (1 episode, 1956)
• "The Lone Ranger" (1 episode, 1954)
• Sabrina (1954)
• Pushover (1954)
• "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1 episode, 1954)
• Secret of the Incas (1954)
• The Glenn Miller Story (1953)
• Forever Female (1953)
• "Life with Father" (1953)