| Born in La Jolla, California, to U.S. Naval Captain Thaddeus Harden and Beverly Bushfield Harden. Her families roots run six generations deep into Texas history and as the middle child of five, Marcia spent her childhood - because of her father's profession - in such offspring locations as Greece, Japan and Germany. Marcia's high school years would be spent in Washington D.C. while her father served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. She graduated from Surrattsville Senior High School in Maryland a year early, and when her father was appointed Commanding Officer of a communi- cations station in Greece, she began her first year of college at Deree Pierce, in Athens, Greece. A year later she attended the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany, and then returned to the states to earn a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Texas in Austin. Upon graduation Marcia returned to the D.C. area and found work in local theatres. She was first recognized when she received two Helen Hayes Award nominations for her performances in "The Miss Firecracker Contest" and "Crimes of the Heart", both performed at the Olney Theatre in Maryland. For the young theatre grad New York City was the only real choice for a career in "the business". Once in N.Y., Harden did her share of waiting tables and other sundry jobs, but eventually won a full scholarship to NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate program. Marcia Gay studied under Ron Van Lieu, and earned her MFA in 1988. She continues a relationship with NYU through the "Marcia Gay Harden Scholarship", in which she annually awards monies to a promising new acting student.
The Coen Brothers finally introduced Marcia to the big screen with an often noted striking feature debute as seductress Verna in their film-noir "Millers Crossing", co-starring Albert Finney and Gabriel Byrne. The acclaim with "Millers Crossing" was followed by the independent comedy "Late for Dinner" and a leading role in the disturbing "Crush" by Alison Maclean, which was hailed at the Cannes Film Festival". Marcia also joined the all-star cast, including Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy and Marcello Mastroianni in the comedy "Used People". Despite her promsing start in film, Marcia returned to the stage to score her yet biggest success of her career, performing Valium-loving Mormon wife Harper Pitt in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" on Broadway, a role that not only recognized her with a nomination for the Tony Award but won her the World Theatre Award in 1993. Her stage performances were continued with turns in "The Years" and "Those the River Keeps", both at the Goodman Theatre, while her film career was reduced to smaller performances through the 90's. Her most notable performances include the critically acclaimed "The Spitfire Grill", and supporting turns in "The First Wives Club", "Safe Passage" and "Desperate Measures". Her credit can be also found in the blockbuster hits "Flubber", opposite Robin Williams, and as Anthony Hopkins' daughter in "Meet Joe Black".
Another turn in her career was launched by Ed Harris, who casted Marcia as Lee Krasner in his biopic on the American painter Jackson Pollock. Her nothing less than brilliant performance not only resulted some of the best reviews of her career but also the Oscar as Best Support-ing Actress of 2001. The dawning years of the new millennium were undeniably kind to the tireless actress, and after a trio of made-for-television movies in the year 2000 Harden essayed the role of a stylish but enigmatic catalyst to a mystery with decidedly comic undertones in Susan Seidelman's "Gaudi Afternoon". A brief foray into sitcom territory followed soon thereafter when Harden co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in shortlived television series "The Education of Max Bickford", and the following year found her sticking to the small screen for the mini-series "Guilty Hearts" and the made-for-television feature "King of Texas", co-starring Patrick Stewart (the latter earning her a a Golden Sattelite nomination). Equally busy in 2003, Harden abandoned the small screen to work with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. Joining Daryl Hannah and Mary Steenburgen, Marcia played one of six women on their way to adopt a child in Latin America, the John Sayles-directed drama was hailed by critics but missed by audiences. She once again received critical praise for her tour de force performance as despaired wife Celeste Boyle who suspects her husband of murdering their friends' daughter in Clint Eastwood's masterpiece "Mystic River". Recognized with six Oscar nominations in 2004, Marcia received her second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Marcia met her husband Thaddeus Scheel, whom she married in 1996, on the set of "The Spitfire Grill".
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