‘Law & Order’ actress drowns in New York river

Mary Mara, a veteran actress who has appeared on TV shows including Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Ray Donovan, has died after drowning in the St. Lawrence River over the weekend.

She was 61.

Soldiers responded to a possible drowning call at 8 a.m. Sunday. When they arrived at the crime scene in Cape Vincent, they found her body, according to a New York State Police report obtained by the Post.

Mara was visiting her sister and swimming in the water, police said. TMZ reported that she jumped into the gym.

Her body showed no signs of third-party negligence and was taken to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, according to state police.

“Mary was one of the best actresses I’ve ever met,” Craig Dorfman, her manager, told Variety. “I remember seeing her on stage in 1992’s ‘Mad Forest’ Off-Broadway. She was electric, funny and a real individual. Everyone loved her. She will be missed.”

Mara, who lived in Cape Vincent, was from Syracuse. She graduated from Corcoran High School before going to San Francisco State University and Yale — where she earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts from their School of Drama — to learn the skills she would use throughout her more than three decades of acting professional career started.

Mara has appeared in over 20 films and 40 TV shows including The West Wing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ER, Nash Bridges, The Practice and Star Trek: Enterprise. . ‘, ‘Lost’ and ‘Shameless’, among others. She also appeared in the films “Mr. Saturday Night” with Billy Crystal and “Love Potion No. 9” with Sandra Bullock.

Her last performance was “Break Even” according to her IMDb page in 2020.

Mara also appeared opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Goldblum in the 1989 Shakespeare-in-the-Park production of The Bard’s Twelfth Night, followed by a string of performances in the 1990s for New York’s acclaimed Manhattan Theater Club.