Emmy Award winning actress Mariette Hartley is recognized as one of the most versatile actresses in the industry through her impressive career in television, film and theatre. Currently recurring on “Law & Order: SVU,” Hartley has also recurred on the FX series Dirt, and has appeared in dozens of television shows including recent appearance on Grey’s Anatomy, The Cleaner and Saving Grace and Big Love. She has starred in such movies for television as Silence of the Heart, Meet the Santas and MADD: The Candy Lightner Story. A three-time Clio Award winner for her Polaroid commercials with James Garner, she also hosted the CBS Morning Program, nine seasons of the series Healthy Solutions and is currently hosting her tenth season of Wild About Animals.
Hartley’s recent stage appearances include starring roles in the Broadway production of Cabaret and the Pasadena Playhouse production of Enchanted April. She starred in the national tour of the award winning play Copenhagen which earned her a Helen Hayes Award and the League of American Theaters and Producers National Touring Broadway Award .
Hartley started her career as a protégé of Eva LaGalienne and a member of John Houseman’s American Shakespeare Festival. Theatre credits include Chemin de Fer, The Miser (Mark Taper Forum); Detective Story (Ahmanson Theatre); Sylvia (Manhattan Theatre Club & LA); Ancestral Voices (NY & LA); 42nd Street, Lion in Winter (LA); the West Coast Premier of Tom Stoppard’s The Seagull at the Old Globe directed by Jack O’Brian; Buffalo Gal (Williamstown Festival); Measure for Measure, King John (Joseph Papp Public Theatre); Same Time Next Year, Love Letters, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, King & I, Mame. She has starred in the national tours of Death Trap and The Sisters Rosenzweig.
One of the last performers chosen by MGM studios to be groomed for motion picture stardom, her film roles include her breakthrough role in Sam Peckinpah’s classic, Ride The High Country. Other films include Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie, Encino Man, 1969, Novel Romance and Improper Channels, for which she was nominated for a Genie Award, Canada’s equivalent of the Oscar. Her numerous television credits include Peyton Place, Goodnight Beantown, M*A*S*H and The Bob Newhart Show. Hartley has been Emmy nominated five times and won for her role on The Incredible Hulk.
One of the country’s foremost advocates for the mentally ill, Hartley is the co-founder and national spokesperson for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which honored her with its Humanitarian Award for her outstanding work in the field of suicide prevention and research. Hartley also facilitates survivor’s groups through the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles, served on their Board of Directors and received the organization’s Erasing The Stigma Award.
For her involvement with organizations combining mental illness and her commitment to creating public awareness and understanding about this illness, she was honored by the Southern California Counseling Center, and received the PSYCHE Award from the L.A. County Psychological Association. She was also the first recipient of the California Family Studies Center “Life Achievement Award” for her strength and ability to overcome family difficulties and received an honorary doctorate from Ryder College. Additionally, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith. She was also the recipient of the 1997 Silver Ribbon Award from the University of California at Irvine’s Brain Imaging Center Committee. Most recently, she received the 2010 Personal Legacy Award from the Mental Health Commission of the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
Mariette Hartley is also involved with the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, SOJOURN, M.A.D.D., and she hosted an educational video entitled “How To Stop The One You Love From Drinking And Using Drugs,” which is part of Paramount Home Video’s ongoing “Strong Families, Safe Families” series. She was also named Outstanding Mother of the Year by the National Mother’s Day committee, in Washington D.C.
Born in Weston, Connecticut, she is the granddaughter of renowned psychologist John B. Watson, who founded the school of behaviorism and her warm and affectionate personality is a stark contrast to her upbringing. Hartley’s autobiography, “Breaking The Silence” published by Putnam was a best seller and has just been reissued in paperback. Because of her candor and humor, she is now one of the most highly sought-after motivational speakers in the country and Hartley’s accomplishments were recognized with the installation of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.