‘ER’ actress Mary Mara dies after apparently drowning in the St. Lawrence River in New York

“Preliminary investigation indicates the victim drowned while swimming,” wrote Major Michael S. TenEyck. “The victim’s body showed no signs of foul play and was transported to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy was performed to determine an 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, funny and a real personality who was devoted to her family. Everyone loved her. She will be missed.”

A family spokesman told Deadline that Mara was staying at her sister Martha Mara’s summer home. The property is near the St. Lawrence River, which separates the United States and Canada.

Mara was an acclaimed character actress with more than 80 films to her name. She is best known for her 1990s stint as a recurring character on NBC’s hit series ER, playing patient Loretta Sweet, and for her role 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 on September 21, 1960 in Syracuse, Mara studied at San Francisco State University and Yale before beginning her acting career. Roger Mara, her brother, told the San Francisco Examiner in 1996 that they were both encouraged to pursue acting after seeing “their mother’s flair for the dramatic.”

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

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

She was last seen in the 2020 film Break Even.

Dorfman told The Post that the grief he’s 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 who was described as a consummate professional.

Actor and director Jon Lindstrom recalled working with Mara during a theatrical screening of “In Heat” in Los Angeles at a time when she was, he said, undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

“She was plowing through the aftermath of chemo,” Lindstrom wrote, who said Mara’s death left him “devastated”. “Brave, brilliant, over-talented. The earth will be a lot less colorful without them.”

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

“That’s the Mary I remember,” Saenz tweeted. “True professional, funny, sharp, friendly, a first class person. She was kind enough to attend a dinner reading of one of my earliest screenplays.”

He added: “RIP Mary. You are missing.”

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

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