Maryedith Burrell

Maryedith Burrell
Born April 12, 1952
Gilroy, California
Occupation Producer
Writer
Actress
Years active 1979–present

Maryedith Burrell (born April 12, 1952) is an American film and television producer, writer, actress and comedian, best known for her roles in the early 1980s late night sketch comedy series Fridays. She also had recurring roles in the television series Throb, Parenthood, The Jackie Thomas Show, Seinfeld and Home Improvement. She was one of the writers of the television comedy film Mr. St. Nick.

Early life

She was born and raised in Gilroy, a small farming town near Monterey, CA. After attending a Catholic girls high school on scholarship, she headed to UC Santa Cruz, working and studying simultaneously with American Conservatory Theater and The San Francisco Mime Troupe. After two terms at UCSC, She transferred to UC Los Angeles and as a student in its Theatre Arts Program, won the Hugh O'Brian acting award. One of the judges happened to be Jack Lemmon, who was impressed by her acting talents. He gave her his phone number and offered to help with her career. Lemmon helped her to appear on the TV shows Days of Our Lives and M*A*S*H working with Alan Alda. While still a college student she traveled to London and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and director Peter Brook.[1]

Early acting and writing

While working in the publicity department of Westwood Playhouse, she met Jason Robards, Gena Rowlands, Shelley Winters, and a number of writers and producers who taught her lessons about forming a career that would include writing as well as acting. She joined The Groundlings and it led to her first TV writing assignment. The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts was a new show by the creator of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Ann Marcus. She has also performed with other improv groups, including The War Babies, The Second City, The Comedy Store Players, Sills And Company and The Spolin Players where she learned her skills as an ensemble player.[2]

Fridays

She was selected for Fridays by the producers because of her experience in many improvisational roles. She became an important part of the Friday Edition news team as roving correspondent and special reporter with the recurring segment Friday Focus. She also added her comedic talent to a wide range of sketches on the show. She always appeared in the popular Battle Boy sketches as Battle Boy's mother, a chain-smoking, often abusive parent who yelled at Battle Boy whenever he set his sister's dolls on fire, harassed the neighbor kids, or made a mess in the yard. She co-starred with Mark Blankfield, Jack Burns, Melanie Chartoff, Larry David, Rich Hall, Darrow Igus, Brandis Kemp, Bruce Mahler, Michael Richards and John Roarke. The show completed in 1982.

Post Fridays

She was approached by Shelley Duvall whom she had met on Fridays, to write five programs for the successful Faerie Tale Theatre. Unusual names in the film world, who would not normally work in TV, signed on for this venture, which made it especially interesting for Burrell. She watched actors and directors such as Carrie Fisher, Francis Ford Coppola, Lee Remick, Burgess Meredith, and Tim Burton bring life to her scripts. As the decades passed, she starred in more TV series and took some recurring and guest roles in many genres of acting. She acted in films, did voice-overs for cartoons, and wrote more movies. One of her movie assignments came from a former Groundlings colleague who had become head of TV movies for NBC. Impressed with the work she had done for Duvall’s series, he asked her to write the teleplay for her first TV movie, Little Match Girl.

Her successful career in film and television spans across writing, production, and acting. Notably, she signed a deal with Walt Disney Studios to create original TV programming. She has worked as a ghost writer for films that include The Little Mermaid and Casper. Since 2000, she has written a screenplay for Universal Studios and signed with Sony Pictures Entertainment to write the biography of Emily Post.[3]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Barnaby Jones Nurse 1 Episode
1979 Dallas Nurse Barker 1 Episode
1980 Taxi Hatcheck Girl 1 Episode
1980 Wholly Moses Villager Film
1980 Fridays Ensemble Cast Member 54 Episodes
1982 Filthy Rich Wanda Dean 1 Episode
1982 Kiss Me Goodbye Mrs. Newman Film
1983 Trapper John, M.D. Mary Lamagra 1 Episode
1984 Last of the Great Survivors Vie TV Movie
1984 Faerie Tale Theatre Beggar Woman 1 Episode
1984 Paper Dolls Polly Loftus 1 Episode
1984 Newhart Attorney Arleen 1 Episode
1985 Family Ties Young May 1 Episode
1983–1986 Simon & Simon Mary Johnson, Mary DeAngelo 2 Episodes
1984–1986 Remington Steele Frances Piper 2 Episodes
1986 Big Trouble Gail Film
1986 Say Yes Gladys Film
1986 River's Edge Film
1987 Little Match Girl Rita TV Movie
1986–1988 Throb Meredith 48 Episodes
1988 Annie McGuire 1 Episode
1989 Those She Left Behind Ann Hobson TV Movie
1991 Eve of Destruction Dawn Perlin Film
1991 White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd Patsy Kelly TV Movie
1990–1991 Parenthood Helen Buckman 12 Episodes
1991 Bad Attitudes Katyana TV Movie
1992 Samantha Charlotte Otto / Mrs. Samantha Film
1992–1993 The Jackie Thomas Show Nancy Mincher 18 Episodes
1992–1993 Seinfeld Maryedith / Mother 2 Episodes
1994 Camp Nowhere Gwen Nowicki Film
1996 Murder, She Wrote Nattie Holt 1 Episode
1996 Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man 1 Episode
1996 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Veronica Stewart 1 Episode
1996–1997 Home Improvement Tracy 2 Episodes
1998 Chicago Hope Dr. Louise Ginsberg 1 Episode
1998 Mike Hammer, Private Eye Calvin's Neighbor 1 Episode
2000 Ready to Rumble Nun #1 Film

Continuing education

She moved to Asheville, NC and is a Master of Liberal Arts student at the University of North Carolina Asheville. She is currently writing fiction, producing a documentary, and creating a one-woman play, all while attending her MLA classes.[4]

References

  1. University of North Carolina Asheville accessed 11-Dec-2013
  2. University of North Carolina Asheville accessed 11-Dec-2013
  3. University of North Carolina Asheville accessed 11-Dec-2013
  4. University of North Carolina Asheville accessed 11-Dec-2013
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