Mary Stuart's BIO

An Actress, Author, Singer, and Songwriter

Mary Stuart was an American actress who was best known for her role as Joanne Gardner on the popular soap opera "Search for Tomorrow." She was born Mary Stuart Houchins on July 4, 1926, in Florida, and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She developed an interest in acting and singing at an early age, and after finishing high school, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in show business.

Mary began her acting career in the 1940s, appearing in a number of minor film roles. In 1951, she landed the role of Joanne Gardner on "Search for Tomorrow," a role that would become her most famous and enduring. She played the role of Joanne, a young woman searching for love and happiness, for more than three decades, becoming one of the longest-serving cast members in the history of American soap operas.

In addition to her work on "Search for Tomorrow," Mary was also an accomplished singer and, later, songwriter. She recorded two albums – one of lullabies in 1956 and one of mostly her own music in 1973. She also founded Book Pals, a charity through which actors read to children in schools and promoted reading. 

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She also wrote her autobiography, Both of Me, published in 1980 which chronicled both her own life and that of her long-running character Joanne. 

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In 1988, Mary chronicled her long-running relationship with a homeless woman who lived in Central Park in a non-fiction piece for New York Magazine entitled My Shadow. The story was later adapted by Marsha Norman as a televised movie with Tyne Daly, Gena Rowlands and Cynthia Nixon entitled Face of a Stranger.

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Mary's career spanned more than 50 years, and she appeared in a variety of television shows and films in addition to her work on "Search for Tomorrow." She was a talented and respected actress, and her contributions to the world of entertainment were significant. She passed away on February 28th, 2002, at the age of 75, but her legacy as one of the greatest actresses in the history of American soap operas lives on.

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Mary was the first actress to be nominated for a daytime Emmy in 1962, and later added three more nominations. In 1983, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work on “Search for Tomorrow.”