<Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> Soap Who's the Boss? </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> George N. Martin (m . 1957; div. 1962) David Christian (m . 1962) </Td> </Tr> <P> Katherine Marie Helmond (born July 5, 1929) is an American film, theater and television actress and director . In her five decades of television acting, she is known her starring role as the ditzy matriarch, Jessica Tate, on the ABC prime time soap opera sitcom, Soap (1977--1981) and her co-starring role as feisty mother, Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss? (1984--1992). She also played Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond . She has also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety shows . </P> <P> After her stage debut in As You Like It, she began working in New York in 1955 . She later ran a summer theatre in the Catskills for three seasons and taught acting in university theatre programs . She made her television debut in 1962, but would not achieve fame until the 1970s . She also acted on stage, earning a Tony nomination for her performance on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown (1973). Other Broadway productions include Private Lives',' Don Juan and Mixed Emotions . </P>

Who plays mona in who's the boss