Amanda Bearse
“I don't smoke, but I swear, the salad tastes better with a cigarette in it”
Transsexual lesbian Amanda Bearse (born August 9, 1958) has been called lots of names, including "actress," "director," and "comedienne," but the first four letters of her first name, which is given only in the sense that she gave it to herself, says it all: Amanda is "a man."
Roles[edit | edit source]
Bearse has appeared in TV and movie roles, playing wacky or frightening weirdos.
Marcy Darcy[edit | edit source]
She is best known as the wacky neighbor Marcy Darcy (nee Rhoades) of the Married. . . with Children couple, Al and Peggy Bundy. The writers of this situation comedy, or sitcom,and script after script called for her to wear revealing lingerie, as indicated by these stills from the show.
Bearse in lingerie: funny
Bearse in lingerie: funnier
Bearse in lingerie: funniest
However, Al Bundy was never fooled by his neighbor. He knew there was something bizarre about Darcy and never accepted her as a true woman. In fact, much of the show's humor, such as it was, and quite a bit of its laugh track, was dedicated to Bundy's insults regarding Darcy's femininity or lack therof, as these quotes, all made by Bundy, indicate:
“Hey, Marcy, what's holding the towel up?”
“Marcy, the part with the cups goes in front.”
“Marcy, have the nerve to face me when you're speaking to me! Oops! You are. We have to get you a sign that says 'FRONT' and 'BACK.'”
Monsters[edit | edit source]
When she wasn't cast as a bimbo or an airhead, Bearse was frightening, especially while she was still learning to wear high-heeled shoes, to apply makeup, and to exhibit feminine mannerisms and gestures, and, for this reason, she was cast in the horror film Fright Night, in which she played the part of a transitioning transsexual whose body underwent strange mutations as a result of overdoses of estrogen and she ultimately went on a PMS-inspired rage, mutilating and murdering men, male dogs and cats, or any other organism that possessed male organs.
She also played monsters in Doom Generation and Here Come the Munsters. She played a turkey baster in the comedy Sperm Donor, impregnating Christina Applegate, who starred with her in Married. . . with Children and is the mother of their resulting child, Bimbo. Curiously (or not so curiously), her characters are always named Amanda.
Personal life[edit | edit source]
She is married to Dell Pierce, to whom she refers as "a full-time wife and part-time mom." Otherwise, Bearse has no personal life.