‘ER’ actress Mary Mara apparently drowned in a New York river

“Preliminary investigation suggests the victim drowned while swimming,” Maj. Michael S. TenEyck wrote. “The victim’s body showed no signs of foul play and was transported to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office pending an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.”

Craig Dorfman, her manager, confirmed Mara’s death to The Washington Post on Tuesday.

“Mary was one of the best actresses I’ve ever met,” said Dorfman. “She was electric, fun and a real person, and dedicated to her family. They all loved her. She will be missed.”

A family spokesman said Term that Mara was staying at the summer house of her sister, Martha Mara. The property is near the St. Lawrence River, which separates the United States and Canada.

Mara was a celebrated character actress with over 80 screen credits to her name. She is best known for her time in the ’90s as a recurring character on NBC’s hit show “ER,” playing patient Loretta Sweet, and her stint as Inspector Bryn Carson, a main character on CBS’s “Nash Bridges.” . She later played recurring characters on the Showtime shows “Dexter” and “Ray Donovan.”

Born September 21, 1960, in Syracuse, Mara studied at San Francisco State University and Yale before beginning her acting career. Her brother, Roger Mara, told the San Francisco Examiner in 1996 that they were both encouraged to continue acting after seeing “her mother’s flair for the dramatic.”

Mary Mara’s first credited role was in the 1989 television movie “The Preppie Murder,” according to his IMDb page. After appearing in the 1992 Billy Crystal film “Mr. Saturday Night,” Mara broke into “ER” at a time when the NBC show was the hottest medical drama on primetime television. She appeared in nine episodes between 1995 and 1996, playing Sweet, a former prostitute diagnosed with cervical cancer.

The recurring spot on “ER” helped catapult Mara into a leading role in the cast of “Nash Bridges,” appearing in 23 episodes in the first two seasons between 1996 and 1997. After appearing on shows like “NYPD Blue,” “Ally McBeal” and “Law and Order,” Mara landed recurring roles as Valerie Hodges on “Dexter” in 2009 and as Mrs. Sullivan on “Ray Donovan” in 2013.

He recently appeared in the 2020 movie “Break Even.”

Dorfman told The Post that the outpouring of pain he has received since Sunday has been “extraordinary.” Some of the people who had worked with Mara over the years took to social media to remember a colleague described as a consummate professional.

Actor-director Jon Lindstrom recalled working with Mara during a Los Angeles stage performance of “In Heat” at a time when, he said, she had undergone chemotherapy for cancer.

“She was going through the side effects of chemotherapy,” Lindstrom wrote, saying that Mara’s death left him “crushed”. “Brave, brilliant, super talented. The Earth will be much less colorful without it.”

Screenwriter Bob Saenz posted a black and white photo of Mara, who he said he worked with for “2 great years.”

“This is the Maria I remember”, Sáenz tweeted. “The consummate pro, funny, sharp, kind, a first class human being. He was kind enough to participate in a table read of one of my first scripts.”

He added: “RIP Mary. You will be missed.”

Mara is survived by stepdaughter Katie Mersola, sisters Martha Mara and Susan Dailey, brother-in-law Scott Dailey and nephew Christopher Dailey, according to Variety.

The investigation into Mara’s death is ongoing, police said.