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Anne Haney

Anne Haney was a dependable character actor whose screen career stretched across comedy, drama and science fiction. Born in Memphis on March 4, 1934, she began acting in 1970, working in commercials and local theatre productions in Atlanta, Jacksonville and Norfolk, Virginia. She went on to build a wide-ranging career as a stage, television, film and voice actor, as well as a screenwriter. Television gave Haney room to play an especially varied collection of characters. She was a regular guest star on Mama’s Family as Alberta Meechum, the nemesis of Thelma Harper, and played the fussy neighbour Virginia Taft on Our House. She also had a recurring role on L.A. Law as Judge Marilyn Travelini. Star Trek viewers saw two distinct sides of her: Rishon Uxbridge in The Next Generation episode “The Survivors” and a Bajoran arbitrator in the Deep Space Nine episode “Dax.” Her long list of guest appearances shows how readily Haney could fit into different television worlds. Her credits included Benson, Cheers, Designing Women, The Golden Girls, Columbo, ER, NYPD Blue, Boy Meets World, Charmed, Ally McBeal and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She also appeared in the television movies LBJ: The Early Years and Elvis and Me. On film, Haney was frequently called upon for supporting roles that could add authority, resistance or comic friction to a scene. She played Mrs. Sellner, the family court supervisor, in Mrs. Doubtfire; Mrs. Chapil in The American President; and Greta in Liar Liar. Her later film appearances included Forces of Nature and The Out-of-Towners, both released in 1999. Haney died in 2001, leaving behind a body of work shaped less by star billing than by the steady craft of a character actor who could make even a brief role feel specific.