Sitcom Moms & Dads: Will's Mom

I actually have been doing a lot of studying since the last blog entry that I posted, but during a short study break I stumbled something so fascinating (at least to me) that I had to post this. On Will & Grace, Will's mother is played by actress Blythe Danner. Blythe Danner, to our generation is perhaps most famous for playing the mother of Ben Stiller's character in the Meet the Parents movies (wife of Robert DeNiro's character) as well as for being the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow. I was aware of all of this, however while I was casually perusing her IMDB profile (don't ask me why), I stumbled upon an interesting listing in her filmography. She played the character of Martha Jefferson in the classic film version of the musical 1776. 1776 is one of my favorite musicals, one of the first shows I saw on Broadway, and I always particularly enjoyed the film due to the the fact that the lead character of John Adams was played by William Daniels, who starred on Boy Meets World as Mr. Feeny (in the show, they went to John Adams High School, get it?). Anyway, so I'm very familiar with the film, and I had no idea that Martha Jefferson was played by the same actress who years later played Will's mom and Will & Grace! So now compare for yourself, Blythe Danner as Will's Mom and as Martha Jefferson.

As Will's Mom in Will & Grace.



As Martha Jefferson as she sings about Thomas Jefferson's passion for the violin in 1776.