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MOTHER'S DAY FOR `SIX FEET UNDER' STAR

Frances Conroy is the Rodney Dangerfield of HBO's "Six Feet Under." She gets no respect. Not on the show, playing repressed mortuary mom Ruth Fisher, and not off, reports TV Guide Online: Of the terrific cast, she's one of the least interviewed. Some of the corpses get more attention.

But all that seems poised to change heading into the HBO hit's third season, beginning Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST.

"I've been doing plays in New York forever, but no one ever approached me," says the modest 49-year-old. "But after two seasons of `Six Feet Under,' that's really changed. People in New York are yelling, `We love the show! We love Ruth!' "

Ruth's role will expand this season: Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates ("About Schmidt," "Misery"), who's directed three episodes, will guest-star as a new friend, offering a "wonderful friendship that will surprise everybody," says Conroy, who can't elaborate under penalty of death.

Also slated for this season: Ruth's expanding relationship with Lisa (Lili Taylor), a more mature connection with daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose) and the usual parade of stiffs.

"I read one of the death scenes at the beginning of an episode," teases Conroy, "and I thought, `Oh, my God, you can die that way?' And evidently you can."