Marian Mercer, Tony-Winning Original Star of Promises, Promises, Dies at Age 75

Marian Mercer, a gifted comic actress who won a 1969 Tony Award for her performance as Marge MacDougall in the original Broadway production of Promises, Promises, died on April 27 in Newbury Park, CA. The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a statement from her husband, Patrick Hogan, to The New York Times. Mercer was 75 and lived in Agoura Hill, CA.

Born in Akron, Ohio, on November 26, 1935, Mercer studied musical theater at the University of Michigan and moved to New York in 1957. She made her Broadway debut in 1960 in the ensemble of the short-lived musical Greenwillow and got her break the following year in the off-Broadway spoof Little Mary Sunshine..

Cast as Chuck Baxter’s owl-coated bar pick-up Marge MacDougall (opposite Jerry Orbach) in Promises, Promises, Mercer won Tony, Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards. Her later Broadway credits included Hay Fever, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off (opposite Sammy Davis Jr.) and the short-lived premiere production of John Guare’s Bosoms and Neglect. She tackled more serious roles in regional theater, including Olivia in Twelfth Night, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Known for her offbeat comic persona, Mercer was featured on the late 1970s hit Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and played hostess Nancy Beebe on the sitcom It’s a Living. On the big screen, she played Missy Hart, wife of Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman) in 9 to 5, among other comic roles.

In addition to her husband of 31 years, Mercer is survived by a daughter, Deidre Whitaker, and a sister, Marjorie Keith.