Remembering Marian Seldes (1928-2014)

 On Monday the world lost a significant stage presence: Marian Seldes, whose career spanned some 60 years.  I met Ms. Seldes in July of 2007 following a performance of "Deuce" with Angela Lansbury (see photo below).  Ms. Seldes was gracious, warm, and genuinely charming.  We chatted about her role in the first ill-fated sequel to "Annie," "Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge," which I had seen in Washington, DC, before it closed prior to its planned Broadway transfer; she portrayed Mrs. Christmas.  She reminisced about her friend Dorothy Loudon, who played Miss Hannigan, as she had in the original "Annie" and how hard they worked to save the show, but "it was not to be."  In 2002 Seldes took over for Loudon in the show "Dinner at Eight" when Loudon fell ill.  Loudon died the following year and Seldes told me how much she missed her.

Here she and Lansbury, in character, waved to their fans.  In "Deuce" they played former tennis champions and rivals.  Now we wave good-bye to Seldes.  We miss her already!

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