Mary Mara death: ER star dies aged 61

‘ER’ and ‘Nash Bridges’ actor drowned while swimming in the St. Lawrence River in New York

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ER star Mary Mara has died aged 61.

According to a report from the New York State Police, the actor was discovered in the St. Lawrence River in Cape Vincent on Sunday evening.

A preliminary investigation suggested Mara, who lived in the vicinity, had gone swimming and died by drowning. An autopsy will be performed to determine an official cause of death.

Mara’s death was confirmed by her manager Craig Dorfman. “Mary was one of the finest actresses I ever met,” Dorfman wrote in a statement to Variety. “I still remember seeing her onstage in 1992 in ‘Mad Forest’ off Broadway. She was electric, funny and a true individual. Everyone loved her. She will be missed.”

Mara was born in 1960 and raised in Syracuse, New York before studying at San Francisco State University and Yale.

She made her film debut in 1989 thriller Blue Steel, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. She went on to receive over 80 screen credits, most notably as recurring patient Loretta Sweet in ER, and as Inspector Brynn Carson in Nash Bridges. Her other television credits included appearances on Ally McBeal, The West Wing and Law & Order.