<P> Conroy was born in Monroe, Georgia, the daughter of Ossie Hardman (née Ray) and Vincent Paul Conroy . Her father, who was of Irish descent, was a business executive, and her mother also worked in business . During the 1971--72 school year she was a student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the Mermaid Players and appeared in college theatrical productions . She moved to New York City to study drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Juilliard School . She was a member of Juilliard's Drama Division Group 6 (1973--1977) which also included Kevin Conroy (no relation), Kelsey Grammer, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Robin Williams . </P> <P> During the 1970s, she performed regularly with regional and touring theatrical companies (most notably The Acting Company), and appeared as Desdemona at the Delacorte Theatre in a production of Othello with Richard Dreyfuss and Raul Julia . One of her first film appearances was as a Shakespearean actress in Woody Allen's 1979 classic, Manhattan . In 1980, she made a very well received Broadway debut in Edward Albee's The Lady From Dubuque . She focused primarily on her stage career for the next two decades, appearing in such productions as Our Town, The Little Foxes, and The Ride Down Mt . Morgan, receiving one Tony and four Drama Desk Award nominations (including a Drama Desk win for The Secret Rapture). Conroy had a small role in the 1984 movie Falling in Love, as a waitress in a swanky restaurant . In 1988 she appeared as the elder daughter of Burt Lancaster's dying patriarch in Rocket Gibraltar . That same year, she appeared in supporting roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Another Woman . In 1992 she played the political science teacher Christine Downes in the film Scent of a Woman . </P> <P> She is best known for her critically acclaimed work on HBO's original drama series Six Feet Under, which she starred in from 2001 and the series' end in 2005, playing the emotional family matriarch Ruth Fisher . During the series' run, Conroy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress--Television Series Drama in 2004 . She was also nominated for four Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series awards, without winning . Along with the cast of the show, they were awarded two times in 2003 and 2004 the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as Conroy winning the individual 2004 award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series . The series ended in 2005, having aired 63 original episodes . </P> <P> In 2008, she landed a guest role in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Virginia Hildebrand, a rich woman who tries to buy the Solis family's love . </P>

Who played the mother on six feet under
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