Marcia Rodd, a Broadway actor known for her extensive TV career and roles in classic sitcoms, died over the holidays.
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She passed away on Dec. 27, her family announced Wednesday. While the cause of death was not disclosed, the family shared that she passed peacefully, according to Deadline. Rodd was 87.
Born in Lyons, Kansas, on July 8, 1938, Rodd was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kansas. She debuted on Broadway in 1964 as a replacement in Oh What A Lovely War, followed by Love in E Flat in 1967. Two years later, she gained widespread recognition as Bobbi in Neil Simon’s hit Last of the Red Hot Lovers, starring with Linda Lavin, James Coco, and Doris Roberts.
In 1973, Rodd earned a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for Shelter, directed by Austin Pendleton. Her final Broadway role was in 1986 as a replacement in Herb Gardner’s I’m Not Rappaport.
According to IMDb, Rodd made her film debut in 1971, starring alongside Elliott Gould in Little Murders.
Rodd’s other film credits include Herbert Ross’s T.R. Baskin (1971) and Jonathan Demme’s Citizens Band (1977) and Last Embrace (1979).
Marcia Rodd Makes Her Mark on Classic Sitcoms
Also in 1971, she appeared on TV in an episode of The New Dick Van Dyke Show. The following year, Rodd took on two of her most memorable sitcom roles during the second season of Norman Lear’s prolific sitcom, All in the Family.
Her first guest spot on the CBS classic was as Marilyn Sanders, a woman who appears on the Bunkers’ doorstep with a young child she claims was fathered by Gloria’s husband, Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner).
Just a few months later, Rodd appeared in the episode titled “Maude,” which served as the pilot for the successful spinoff starring Bea Arthur. Rodd played Carol Findlay, the liberal, liberated daughter of Arthur’s titular character.
Rodd reportedly declined to continue the role when the series launched in late 1972, choosing instead to focus on her stage career. Adrienne Barbeau stepped into the career-defining role on Maude. However, Rodd later returned to the show in 1977, portraying a different character.
Meanwhile, throughout the 1970s and ’80s, Rodd made guest appearances on Barnaby Jones, Phyllis, and Laverne & Shirley. She also held recurring roles in several sitcoms, including a 10-episode run on the James Coco series The Dumplings and 10 episodes of 13 Queens Boulevard starring Eileen Brennan.
Additionally, she appeared in 14 episodes of the MASH spinoff, Trapper John, M.D.
More recently, she appeared in Family Law, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Young and the Restless. In 2014, she played novelist Mary McCarthy opposite Robert Maxwell’s Lillian Hellman in the TV movie Hellman v. McCarthy.
Rodd is survived by William Lewis, her partner of 25 years; her brother Stephen; brother-in-law Roger Ellis; and her extended family.