Thomas, Marlo (1943—)

views 2,608,033 updated

Thomas, Marlo (1943—)

Marlo Thomas will always be best remembered as the naively innocent and exhaustingly enthusiastic Ann Marie of the television show That Girl (1966-1971). One of the first series to present an unmarried female pursuing anything other than a husband, it was more traditional than it claimed. Although the show made a great deal of the fact that she was an aspiring actress living on her own in New York City, both Ann's father and her ever-present boyfriend were just a phone call away when she found herself in one of her never-ending predicaments. Moreover, she was seldom seen auditioning and worked at only low-paying temporary jobs suitable for women of the period. Despite her inability to find a reliable source of income, she somehow managed to live in a three-room apartment in a good neighborhood in New York City and dress in the height of fashion.

After the series ended Thomas became a producer and in that capacity won Emmy Awards for her work on Marlo and Friends in Free to Be … You and Me and The Body Human: Facts for Girls. She won a third Emmy for her role in Nobody's Child (1986). She has also been a strong advocate for a variety of women's causes. In 1980, Thomas married talk-show host Phil Donahue.

Further Reading:

Atholl, Desmond and Michael Cherkinian. That Girl and Phil. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1990.

O'Donnell, Monica M., editor. Contemporary Theatre, Film, & Television. New York, Gale Research, 1986.

More From encyclopedia.com