August 23, 1928—October 6, 2014

Theater legend Marian Seldes has died at 86. Renowned for her work ethic (she never missed one of the 1,809 performances of Deathtrap in 1978) and versatility, she appeared in such celebrated productions such as the Hume Cronyn (July 18, 1911—June 15, 2003)/Jessica Tandy (June 7, 1909—September 11, 1994) original production of A Delicate Balance (1966), Equus (1974) and Three Tall Women (1993).

She was married for nine years to writer/director Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912—March 13, 1999), and was the daughter of author and critic Gilbert Seldes (January 3, 1893—September 29, 1970).

Seldes (R) in A Delicate Balance with (L to R) Carmen Mathews (May 8, 1911—August 31, 1995) and Henderson Forsythe (September 11, 1917—April 17, 2006). Seldes won her only competitive Tony for this role, and was the play's last surviving cast member.

I'm glad I got to see her perform, even if it was at the first preview of the subpar Deuce in 2007;  she was fun at the stage door in what wound up being her second-to-final Broadway show:

I saw Ms. Seldes (in a wheelchair) a year ago in the spring. Times flies...I'd thought it was recent.