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Amanda Bearse appeared as Marcy D'Arcy (formerly Marcy Rhoades) on Married with Children. Bearse is also widely recognized by horror movie fans as Amy Peterson in the original Fright Night film in 1985.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Bearse was born in Winter Park, Florida, and was also raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Birmingham Southern College.

Education[]

Bearse studied acting at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse under instructor Sanford Meisner.

Career[]

Amanda's initial success came with the role of Amanda Cousins on the soap opera All My Children] between 1981 and 1984. During and after that time, she appeared in a string of independent and B-movies, including Protocol (1984), Fright Night and Fraternity Vacation (both 1985). Her big star break came in 1987 when she was cast as Marcy Rhoades (later Marcy D'Arcy) on the hit FOX-TV sitcom Married... with Children. She played the role until the show's end in 1997, and became known to television audiences all over the world. In the mid-1990s, Bearse also appeared in the films The Doom Generation and Here Come the Munsters.

Amanda took up the challenge of television series and film directing while appearing on Married... with Children. Between 1991 and 1997, she helmed over 30 episodes of the show. She also directed episodes of Reba, MADtv, Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, Malcolm & Eddie, Pauly, The Tom Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, Dharma & Greg, Veronica's Closet, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Jesse (starring her former Married... with Children co-star Christina Applegate), and Ladies Man. In 2005, she directed The Sperm Donor, a pilot for NBC starring Maggie Wheeler and in 2006, Bearse teamed with Rosie O'Donnell to direct The Big Gay Sketch Show, which debuted on Logo on April 24, 2007. Most recently she appeared in the 2022 film, Bros.

Relationship with Married... with Children Cast[]

Since the show ended, a number of interviews and reports have suggested that Bearse has remained close to her female, but not male, co-stars, particularly Ed O'Neill.

In 2017, during an interview on the MWC podcast, she admitted that she and O'Neill in fact did not get along by the final season of the show, despite having been good friends at the beginning of the show.[1] . During a Q-and-A session at RaleighCon 2018, she noted that O'Neill was not particularly happy with the show during its final years. She went on to mention that in the last couple of seasons of the show, she had to be both an actress and director, which meant that she had more to say about how things went and implied that O'Neill was not happy with her decisions. She did conclude by praising his acting ability.[2]

O'Neill had a similar take in a different interview from 2013, noting that while he respects her as an actress and director, their personalities clashed by the final years of the show, despite getting along well at the beginning of the series. He also alluded to her change in personality, noting that Bearse was already a lesbian when the show started and was the more cute / feminine partner in the relationship, but at some point decided to become more masculine and snarky. He even mentions that she did not invite him, David Faustino, and show co-creator Ron Leavitt to her wedding out of fear that they would laugh at the sight of her and her partner in a tuxedo while standing at an alter in church. [3]

During an interview on the “Dinner’s On Me” podcast in January 2024, he mentioned that he believes the feud between him and Bearse started when he and the main cast appeared on the cover of TV Guide in 1989, which excluded Bearse and David Garrison as they were the neighbors. O'Neill also noted that TV Guide had a rule that only a certain number of cast members can appear on the cover, pointing out that the two rare exceptions were M*A*S*H and Dallas. He then stated that when Bearse and Garrison heard about the news, they asked O'Neill to stand up for them and confront Ron Leavitt about why they were excluded. O'Neill then admitted that he was hesitant to do so, as it had taken some time for the show to get recognized and he did not want to risk losing the opportunity. He concluded by saying that he regretted choosing to remain silent and wished that he had handled the situation better.[4]

In the same MWC podcast interview, Bearse mentioned that she is still friends with David Garrison, having seen him on Broadway multiple times since he left the show. She appeared alongside Garrison on an episode of Nikki in 2001, where they played a parody version of Steve and Marcy Rhoades. She also reunited with Garrison and Ted McGinley at Rhode Island Comic Con in November 2017 and with McGinley again at Niagara Falls Comic Con 2019. In a 2020 interview, she confirmed that she was still in contact with Garrison, McGinley, and Christina Applegate, proclaiming herself to be one of Applegate's biggest fans.[5]

Most recently, she also appeared alongside Katey Sagal and David Faustino when Christina Applegate received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in November 2022.

Selected Filmography[]

Movies[]

  • Protocol (1984) - Soap Opera Actor
  • Fraternity Vacation (1985) - Nicole Ferret
  • Fright Night (1985) - Amy Peterson
  • The Doom Generation (1995) - Barmaid
  • Here Come the Munsters (1995) - Mrs. Pearl
  • Bros (2022) - Anne

Television[]

  • All My Children (1982–1984) - Amanda Cousins
  • Married with Children (1987–1997) - Marcy D'Arcy, also directed multiple episodes
  • Anger Management (2013) - Rita

Personal life[]

Amanda is openly homosexual. She publicly came out of the closet as a professing lesbian in 1993. While she continued her relationship with her on-screen husbands Ted McGinley and David Garrison, she did play a dual role as a homosexual character, Mandy, a cousin of Marcy's, whom of all ironies, got along great with Al Bundy.

References[]

External links[]

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