Mary Tarcai (July 6, 1906 – September 22, 1979 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an actress. She was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, emigrated to the United States with her family when she was a child and grew up in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. She began her career as an actress at the Neighborhood Playhouse in

and later taught there. Her background was in the Stanislavski method and in New York at the beginning of her career she worked with Isaac Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya. After leaving the Neighborhood Playhouse she went to Atlantic City, where she started her own theater and produced her own shows. She then went to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and worked with the

Actors' Lab The Actors' Laboratory Theatre was a politically active theatre company and acting school founded in January 1941 by Roman Bohnen, Jules Dassin, Dick Flake, Lloyd Bridges, Danny Mann, Jeff Corey, Mary Virginia Farmer and J. Edward Bromberg. During ...

for seven years and also as an assistant to many film directors. Returning to New York in 1955, she began teaching acting, both at the Neighborhood Playhouse and privately. She was one of the first to teach classes centering on cold readings. Her students over the years included

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Shirley MacLaine, numerous accolades, including a ...

, Florence Henderson, Charlotte Rae, Edmond O'Brien, Valerie Harper, Raymond Burr,

Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer; August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate Business magnate, mogul. ...

, Ralph Waite, Lilia Skala, and Ann B. Davis. She was married to Arthur H. Singer, a writer and story editor on the third season of the original ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' series, until his death in 1978.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarcai, Mary 1906 births 1979 deaths Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Actresses from Cleveland American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses