Mary Rawson

Mary Rawson (née Riedel; born ),Miller, Ginny (October 10, 1959)
"Teens Get Break On-Stage and Behind Scenes of 'Peg'"
''The Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph''. p. 8. Retrieved July 2, 2025. "Mary Riedel and Saundra Threnhauser, the only teens in the cast, will have their theatrical dreams come true when the curtain goes up at 8:30 Wednesday, at Synod Hall, N. Craig St., in Oakland. ..MARY, WHO IS 16 and a senior at Our Lady of Mercy Academy, will appear in the title role of Peg, a poor little Irish girl taken in by a rich family. ..Although Mary appeared In the 'Song of Bernadette' while she studied with the Diocesan Radio and Television School, the role of Peg will be her first major lead. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald C. Riedel, of Moorehead PI., will be among the first nighters." also known as Mary Sweenie, is an American television producer, talk show host, writer and actress, based in Pittsburgh. She produced and hosted WQED's weekly talk show, ''Lyceum'', for six years and portrayed Cousin Mary Owl on the Neighborhood of Make-Believe on the children's television program ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

Early life and career

Born Mary Anne Riedel,"Death Notices: Riedel"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. September 22, 1969. p. 32. Retrieved July 3, 2025. "On Sunday, Sept. 21, 1969, Donald C.. Moorhead Pl., beloved husband of the late Marie Merriman Riedel; father of Donald C. Riedel Jr. of New Haven, Conn., and Mrs. Mary Sweenie;""Obituaries: Mrs. Marie M. Riedel"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. August 16, 1963. p. 26. Retrieved July 3, 2025. "Requiem high mass for Mrs. Marie Merriman Riedel, former public relations director of the Automobile Club of Pittsburgh, will be sung at 1 p. m. Saturday in St. Paul's Cathedral, Oakland. Mrs. Riedel, 52, of 571 Morehead Place, Shadyside, died Wednesday at Shadyside Hospital. ..Surviving are her husband, Donald C. Riedel; a son, Donald C. Riedel, Jr.; a daughter, Mary Riedel;" circa 1942 or '43, Rawson is the younger of two children born to Marie (née Merriman) and Donald C. Riedel, the eldest being Donald Jr. She attended Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Oakland and Duquesne University.Cloud, Barbara (March 25, 1984)
"Lab Theatre role a switch of channels"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. p. J2. Retrieved July 3, 2025. "'I am a television producer (WQED), not an actress. Acting is not what I do. It is not my profession. 'Of course, I love it and as an English major at Duquesne, I figured that would prepare me for just about anything. I always liked performing and debating and I was active with Red Masquers. But I'm a producer, not an actress.' Still, she has found time to appear at the White Barn Theatre and at Robert Morris Colonial Theater, where she had lead roles in 'Hedda Gabler' and 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'"

Beginning in 1966 and continuing throughout the 1970s, Rawson was known solely by her then married name, Mary Sweenie."Theater: Pitt Professor Sinking Teeth Into a Meaty Role"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. March 22, 1979. p. 6. Retrieved July 3, 2025. "Rawson 's father was the late Richard Hart, who appeared in countless films. ..His wife is Mary Sweenie, a producer and actress."

From July 1978 through December 1984, Sweenie/Rawson was producer of WQED's weekly arts program, ''Lyceum''.

Personal life

From March 1965 until, at the very least, November 22, 1967 (when, as "James F. Sweenie" and "Mary Riedel Sweenie", their names appeared amidst a plethora of alphabetically listed fellow "DISSENTING DEMOCRATS" on a petition/full-page paid political ad, published in the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', addressed to President Lyndon B. Johnson, and demanding an end to the war in Vietnam), Mary Riedel was married to WQED staffer James F. "Jim" Sweenie."Judith Walz Weds at Heinz Chapel"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. June 17, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved July 4, 2025. "The wedding ceremony was performed by Rev. A. Livinus Schuwer, acting chairman the Philosophy Dept. at Duquesne University. A reception followed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Sweenie of Moorhead Place.""A Thanksgiving Message to President Johnson and the Democratic Party"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. November 22, 1967. p. 6. Retrieved July 4, 2025. "MR. PRESIDENT, WE ADVISE YOU AND THOSE ON EVERY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT THAT FROM THIS DAY ON, OUR CAMPAIGN FUNDS, OUR ENERGIES AND OUR VOTES GO TO THOSE AND ONLY THOSE POLITICAL FIGURES WHO WORK FOR AN END TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM. DISSENTING DEMOCRATS, Thomas M. Kerr, Sr., Acting Chairman. Richard Abrams, Donald G. Adam, William Adams, Fred Adelman ..Phillips D. Stewart, Marco Swados, James F. Sweenie, Mary Riedel Sweenie,"

On October 2, 1976, Mary Sweenie married fellow actor Christopher Rawson,Anderson, George (October 11, 1976)
"The Triangle Tattler"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. 13. retrieved July 4, 2025. "Social items: Mary Sweenie, who worked in production at Channel 13, and Christopher Rawson, who was impressive in "When You, Comin' Back, Red Ryder?" at Pitt., were married Oct. 2." with whom she has had a son, Christopher, and daughter, Meghan.Mellon, Steve (May 1, 2017)
"The Digs: On the set of 'Mr. Rogers' in 1971"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. B3. Retrieved July 4, 2025. "Fred Rogers, left, rehearses a scene with actors Mary Rawson (Cousin Mary Owl) and Francois Clemmons (Officer Clemmons). “There was nothing better than running into Fred,” said Mary, who continues to act and teaches in the Conservatory at Point Park and in the Pre-College Program at Carnegie Mellon University. ..While not in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Mary played herself, and in one of the early episodes, she took her two children, Christopher, 4, and Meghan, 2, to see the family’s pediatrician. Mary and her kids were filmed boarding a bus and making the journey to a doctor’s office, which had been created in the WQED studio."

Filmography

Notes

References

Further reading

* Rawson, Mary (January 4, 1998)
"Books on unrelated topics are undeniably Mamet; David Mamet makes fiction from truth and tutors actors"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. G-10.
* Rawson, Mary (July 18, 1999). "Stella Adler's lectures illuminate European playwrights: 'Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov'; Lessons in the Adler method". ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p.&nbs
G-8G-9

* Rawson, Mary (December 21, 2003)
"Lunt and Fontanne were theater's dream team"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. E-4.
* Rawson, Mary (November 19, 2000)
"Childhood traumas led Frank Rich to the theater"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. G-10.
* Rawson, Mary (July 9, 2006)
"Shy Memoirs: Britain’s Bennett writes wisely, but reluctantly about himself"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. H-6.
* Rawson, Mary (May 5, 2013)
"Claire Messud’s mad woman; Tight and vivid, ‘The Woman Upstairs’ is no ordinary midlife-crisis tale"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. B-5.

External links

*
LYCEUM featuring George Romero with host Mary Rawson – Dec 15 1982
at YouTube.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawson, Mary
Year of birth missing (living people)
1940s births
Living people
American television actresses
American women television producers
Duquesne University alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
20th-century American actresses