Kathy Bates, Patricia Clarkson, Robert Foxworth, Lili Taylor and Rainn Wilson will all make appearances on the upcoming season. Bates will also be among the list of returning directors for the 13-episode season.
"Six Feet Under" centers on the Fisher family who own and operate a funeral parlor out of their own home. The family was thrown into discord as the father died in a car accident in the pilot episode. The two sons, the mother and daughter were suddenly faced with a business to run and family relationships that were estranged. The family drama was created by writer-director Alan Ball ("American Beauty").
The series features Conroy as the burdened matriarch Ruth. Conroy has appeared on Broadway in such productions as The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Ring Around the Moon, The Little Foxes, Two Shakespearean Actors, as well as Our Town (Lincoln Center), In the Summer House and The Rehearsal — earning Drama Desk Award nominations for the latter two. She won the award for her portrayal in The Secret Rapture.
Series regular Hall, who stars as the homosexual son David, already a partner in the business, recently returned to Broadway in Chicago during his hiatus. (The show's song "We Both Reached For The Gun" received an added laugh on the lyric "Where's your parents?/ Six feet under.") Hall has also starred in Broadway's other Kander and Ebb work Cabaret as the Emcee. Other credits include Skylight and Corpus Christi.
Bates, known best for her turn as the book fanatic in the Stephen King novel-based film "Misery," has donned the Broadway stage in Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean as a replacement in Fifth of July and in her Tony Award-nominated performance in 'night, Mother. Clarkson returns as the free-spirited sister of the Fisher's mother — a role which won her an Emmy Award. Recently receiving lauds for her turn in the film "Far From Heaven," Clarkson has appeared in a number of Richard Greenberg plays including Eastern Standard (Broadway), The Author's Voice, The Maderati and Vanishing Act. Other credits include John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves (Broadway),The Maiden's Prayer, Raised in Captivity (Vineyard), Three Days of Rain, Wolf-Man and Oliver, Oliver (MTC).
Foxworth, who plays father to Griffiths' psychologically troubled Brenda (and fiancee of Fisher son Nate), has been seen on Broadway in Judgment at Nuremberg, Honour, Ivanov, Candida and Love Letters. Taylor, who returns as the mother to Nate's newborn child, can be remembered from her onstage turns in Three Sisters on Broadway and in Off-Broadway's The Dead Eye Boy, Aven' U Boys and What Did He See? Guest star Wilson has appeared on Broadway in London Assurance and The Tempest.
"Six Feet Under" airs on HBO Sunday nights at 9-10PM (ET). Check your local listings. The complete first season was recently released and is available on DVD. For more information on the show, visit the official website at www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder.
