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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

Marion Eileen Ross (born October 25, 1928; age 95) is a former SpongeBob SquarePants cast member. She voiced Grandma SquarePants, SpongeBob's paternal grandmother, in the episodes "Grandma's Kisses," "BlackJack," "The Abrasive Side," "Pet Sitter Pat," and "Don't Make Me Laugh," and the video game Employee of the Month.

Since 2018, Ross has been retired from television, and her character has been limited to non-speaking appearances and off-screen mentions. However, Jim Meskimen, the son of Marion Ross, showed footage of her recording her lines for the episode "Don't Make Me Laugh" that was uploaded in a TikTok video on January 27, 2023, briefly bringing her out of retirement.[1]


Biography[]

Marion Ross, born as Marian Eileen Ross, was born in Watertown, Carver County, Minnesota as the daughter of Gordon and Ellen (Hamilton) Ross, natives of Saskatchewan, Canada. She lived in Waconia, then moved to Willmar, and eventually to Albert Lea, Minnesota.[2] At the age of 13, she changed the spelling of her name from "Marian" to "Marion" because she thought it would look better on a marquee. After completing her sophomore year in high school, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, studying drama at the MacPhail Center for Music and attending Southwest High School. A year later, her family moved to San Diego, California.[3] She graduated from Point Loma High School in San Diego.[4]

Ross enrolled at San Diego State University,[5] where she was named the school's most outstanding actress. After graduation in 1950, she performed in summer theater in La Jolla, California. The director was impressed by her talent and suggested that she audition for work in films.

Other roles[]

Prior to her work on SpongeBob SquarePants, her best-known role was as Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom Happy Days, on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Before her success on Happy Days, Ross appeared in a variety of film roles, appearing in The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Sabrina (1954), Lust for Life (1956), Teacher's Pet (1958), Some Came Running (1958), Operation Petticoat (1959), and Honky (1971), as well as several minor television roles, one of which was on television's The Lone Ranger (1954). Ross also starred in The Evening Star (1996), for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2007, Ross appeared in Music Within. In 2007 and 2010, she played Ida Holden on ABC's Brothers & Sisters. In June 2008, the Albert Lea Civic Theater in Albert Lea, Minnesota changed its name to the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center.[6] That year, Ross played Aunt Lucille in the film Superhero Movie,[7] and in 2009 she appeared in a guest spot on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

In 2010, Ross guest-starred on Nurse Jackie and Grey's Anatomy, and appeared in the Cartoon Network television film Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster as Mrs. Trowburg. In 2013, she guest-starred on both Major Crimes and The Middle, and in 2014 on Two and a Half Men. In September 2015, she began making brief appearances on MeTV to share her memories of her Happy Days co-stars.

References[]

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