American retired actress Marion Ross was born 97 years ago as Marian Ellen Ross in Watertown, Minnesota, is a widow and has 2 children.
As a kid, Marion studied drama and then attended high school. She then continued her education at university where she obtained an undergraduate degree. When she was 13 years old, Ross changed her name from ‘Marian’ to ‘Marion’ as she thought it would look better on theatrical programmes.
In 1953, Marion made her big screen debut when she acted in the movie ‘Forever Female’, starring also William Holden and Ginger Rogers. For the rest of that decade, she appeared in another 16 films, amongst which there were ‘Sabrina’, ‘Lizzie’ and ‘Operation Petticoat’, plus guest starring in episodes of some TV productions like ‘Perry Mason’ and ‘The Donna Reed Show’.
During the 60s, Ross acted in only one movie but starred in several TV series and sitcoms including ‘Father Knows Best’, ‘Route 66’ and ‘The Brady Bunch’. Marion rose to fame in the mid-70s when in 1974 she was offered a main role in the famous sitcom ‘Happy Days’, interpreting the character of Marion Cunningham, mother of Richie and Joanie, played by Ron Howard and Erin Moran respectively, and wife of Howard, played by Tom Bosley. The show aired for 10 years until 1984, and Marion appeared in a total of 252 episodes.
Concurrently, she appeared in 2 movies and the continued with her career and has since starred in 14 films and around 20 TV productions. Her last movie role was in 2021 in ‘Senior Entourage’ and then she retired. Marion had recurring roles in ‘Brooklyn Bridge’, ‘The Drew Carey Show’ and ‘The Gilmore Girls’. She also voiced numerous animated movie characters and appeared in 2 video games. In 2018, she also published a book.
During her long career, Marion won 6 awards out of 16 nominations, including 2 Viewers for Quality Television, a Lone Star Film and Television and LA Femme International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement.
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