Roseanne & The Conners Wiki
Advertisement
Roseanne & The Conners Wiki

Nana Mary was a fictional character in the Roseanne sitcom. She was portrayed by actress Shelley Winters.

About Nana Mary[]

Nana Mary would always say her favorite thing was getting to spend time with her favorite person ever. Born in 1910, Nana Mary is the free-spirited, caring, outspoken, lovable mother of Beverly Harris, making her the fun-loving grandmother of Roseanne and Jackie, great-grandmother of their children and great-great-grandmother of Darlene and David Healy's baby girl Harris Conner Healy.

Nana Mary is brash, outspoken and very popular with the family. She rebelled against the ways of life when she was younger. Her daughter Bev mentions that when she was a young girl she and her mother constantly moved and her mother was always bringing home another new man. Nana Mary actually has no idea who Beverly's actual biological father might be. She married Marvin in 1937, settled down with him and had another daughter, Sonya.

Beverly's relationship with Nana Mary is shown to be very similar to the one Roseanne and Jackie share with her. Nana Mary outsmarts and drives Bev crazy as she does her own daughters, much to the family's amusement; she loves to feign senility and use it as her excuse to direct a barrage of insults at anyone she chooses. She often plays cards, although she constantly cheats by using her own crooked deck. She threatened Jackie by taking her out of the will.

Although not an alcoholic like Bev, Nana Mary is no stranger to liquor, especially at celebrations; however, none of the family seems to worry much, as her antics while drunk are very amusing and usually come at Bev's expense. D.J. mentioned that she passed out in the middle of the shrimp cocktail at Darlene and David's wedding. The morning after the hen party, she was discovered in a sleeping bag in the living room sans pants, unable to remember anything of the night before.

Just as Bev is quick to interfere, Nana Mary is quick to stop her, such as when she tries to talk Jackie into marrying her baby's father. Near the end of the series, after Bev announces she's a lesbian, Nana Mary finally has a heart-to-heart with her daughter, who comes to her house in Iowa seeking answers about her life. Nana Mary explains that Bev was just a rebel in her way, being the complete opposite of what her mother truly was. The two finally reconcile, making it her final appearance. D.J. later named his daughter, Mary Conner after her.

In Season 10, Roseanne finds a hat that belonged to Nana Mary, stating that it was 'passed' down to her, insinuating that she has passed away.

Trivia[]

  • Nana Mary has appeared in a total of 10 episodes. In one (during Jackie's wedding), she is only seen as a background filler.
  • She has another daughter named Sonya, whom she had with her late husband Marvin. She also mentions a few grandchildren from Sonya; they appear to be more well-off than Roseanne and Jackie (before they hit the lottery).
  • Her age was never revealed but she reveals during her last appearance that she had Beverly at a very young age, possibly her late teens, which would put her in her late 70s at the start of the series and early 80s by season 9. In reality Shelley Winters was only seven years older than Estelle Parsons who played her daughter.
  • In the episode, Thanksgiving 1994, she revealed she had had two abortions in Canada.
  • A week after Beverly's birth, Mary left her with her own mother Flora, who raised her for her first four years before returning her to her mother.
  • Though she hasn't featured since Season 9 because Shelley Winters passed away, Nana Mary's picture is among the many photos in the Conner household.

Behind the Scenes[]

  • Nana Mary is named after Mary Betnum, Roseanne's actual grandmother whom she loved for her outspoken attitude.
  • According to Estelle Parsons, who played her daughter, Shelley Winters told her to dye her hair to help help distinguish an age gap between the two characters since they were only seven years apart in reality. "Both of them couldn't have grey hair."
  • Shelly Winters was friends with actress Sally Kirkland (her protege from the Actors Studio) who made guest appearances in 2 episodes in season 5 as Barbara Healy, the mother of Mark and David.

Appearances[]

Roseanne (TV series)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 #
Season 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X - N/A 1
Season 4 - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N/A 1
Season 5 - - - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - N/A 1
Season 6 - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X N/A 2
Season 7 - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Season 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - X - - N/A 2
Season 9 - - - - - - - - - X X - - - - - - - - - - - - - N/A 2
Total 10

Categories[]

Advertisement