Mary Steenburgen | |
|---|---|
 Steenburgen in 2009 | |
| Born | Mary Nell Steenburgen (1953-02-08)February 8, 1953 (age 72) Newport, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1978–present |
| Known for | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingCharlie McDowell |
| Relatives | Lily Collins (daughter-in-law) |
| Awards | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture |
Mary Nell Steenburgen[1] (/ˈstiːnˌbɜːrdʒən/; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York'sNeighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in the Western comedy filmGoin' South (1978). Steenburgen went on to earn critical acclaim for her role inTime After Time (1979) andJonathan Demme's comedy-drama filmMelvin and Howard (1980), for which she received theGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Steenburgen received aGolden Globe Award nomination forMiloš Forman's drama filmRagtime (1981). Her other films includeA Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982),Cross Creek (1983),Back to the Future Part III (1990),What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993),Philadelphia (1993),Nixon (1995),The Brave One (2007),Last Vegas (2013),A Walk in the Woods (2015),Book Club (2018),Nightmare Alley (2021), andBook Club: The Next Chapter (2023). She also became known for playing mothers in a string of comedy films such asParenthood (1989),Elf (2003),Step Brothers (2008),Four Christmases (2008),The Proposal (2009),Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009),The Help (2011), andHappiest Season (2020).
She received nominations for aBAFTA TV Award for the miniseriesTender Is the Night (1985) and aPrimetime Emmy Award for the television filmThe Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988). Steenburgen has worked as a singer-songwriter for numerous films, in some of which she starred. For her song "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)", written for the musical filmWild Rose (2018), she received theCritics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song. Steenburgen was awarded withBob Hope Humanitarian Award in2025.
Steenburgen was born February 8, 1953, inNewport, Arkansas, to Nellie Mae (née Wall),[2] a school-board secretary, and Maurice Hoffman Steenburgen, a freight-train conductor who worked for theMissouri Pacific Railroad.[3][4][1][5] She has a sister, Nancy Kelly (née Steenburgen), a teacher.[6] In 1971, she enrolled atHendrix College to study drama.[1] She subsequently traveled toDallas at the suggestion of her drama teacher where she successfully auditioned for New York City'sNeighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.[1]
Steenburgen moved toManhattan in 1972 after the Neighborhood Playhouse offered her an opportunity to study acting. She worked as a server atThe Magic Pan and forDoubleday while studying underWilliam Esper.[6]
Steenburgen's break came when she was discovered byJack Nicholson in the reception room ofParamount Pictures's New York office and was cast as the female lead in his second directorial work, the Western comedyGoin' South (1978).[6] Steenburgen had a leading role in the filmTime After Time (1979), for which she won theSaturn Award for Best Actress. She played a modern woman who falls in love with authorH. G. Wells, played byMalcolm McDowell, whom she married the following year.
In her third film, she won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the filmMelvin and Howard (1980). She played Lynda Dummar, the wife ofMelvin Dummar, a trucker and aspiring singer who claimed to have befriended reclusive eccentricHoward Hughes. Another notable film appearance came in the well-received filmCross Creek (1983), in which she portrayedMarjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author ofThe Yearling. In 1985, she starred in the filmOne Magic Christmas as someone who falls on devastating times at Christmas, only to rely on a miracle to save her family. In 1989, she played Karen Buckman inParenthood. InBack to the Future Part III (1990), Steenburgen playedClara Clayton, a schoolteacher who falls in love with Doc Brown. She was persuaded to play the role by her children, as well as by fans of theBack to the Future films, and reprised the role by providing the character's voice inBack to the Future: The Animated Series.
Other performances have been inWhat's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), as a woman who is having an affair with the title character;My Summer Story (1994), as the mother of Ralphie Parker (the sequel toA Christmas Story); the role ofHannah Milhous Nixon in theOliver Stone biopicNixon (1995); and theWill Ferrell comedyElf (2003), as a woman who discovers that her husband is the father of one of Santa'selves.
She has appeared in the comedy filmsStep Brothers (2008), playing the mother ofWill Ferrell's character;Four Christmases (2008); andThe Proposal (2009).Dirty Girl, which featured Steenburgen, premiered at theToronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed filmThe Help (2011) and had a featured role as a lounge singer, who is the romantic interest in a love triangle, in the comedy filmLast Vegas (2013). She had a small role in the comedy-drama filmA Walk in the Woods as Jeannie. In 2018, Steenburgen starred withDiane Keaton,Jane Fonda andCandice Bergen in the romantic comedy filmBook Club.
In television, Steenburgen appeared as Kate Montgomery inInk (1996) and co-starred as Mary Gulliver inGulliver's Travels (1996). She has a recurring role as herself inCurb Your Enthusiasm. Steenburgen co-starred as Helen Girardi, the mother ofAmber Tamblyn's title character inJoan of Arcadia. In 2011, she had a recurring role as Josephine in theHBO sitcomBored to Death. Steenburgen starred as Anastasia Lee in the 2011FX pilotOutlaw Country,[7] but it was passed by the network.[8] She appeared in the dark sitcomWilfred from 2011 through 2013 as Catherine Newman, the title character's eccentric and mentally ill mother. Steenburgen had a recurring role as Diana Jessup on theNBC sitcom30 Rock from 2012 to 2013.
In 2014, she began a recurring role as former Dixie Mafia boss Katherine Hale in the fifth and sixth seasons ofJustified.
From 2015 to 2018, she starred as Gail Klosterman on the comedy seriesThe Last Man on Earth.
From 2020 to 2021, she played the role of Maggie Clarke in the NBC musical comedy-drama seriesZoey's Extraordinary Playlist for two seasons. She reprised the role forThe Roku Channel television filmZoey's Extraordinary Christmas.
In 2007, Steenburgen underwent minor surgery on her arm, which required ageneral anaesthetic; shortly thereafter, she began experiencing "music (...) playing in her head day and night". She subsequently took music lessons so that she could write down what she was hearing, and by 2013 had almost 50 songwriting credits.[9] She has collaborated with musicians from Nashville and was also signed toUniversal Music Group as a songwriter.[10] She performs one of her own songs inLast Vegas.[11]
In 2018, her composition "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" as performed byJessie Buckley featured as the climactic musical moment in the filmWild Rose and won Steenburgen several awards, includingCritic Choice Award.[12] On October 30, 2020, Steenburgen signed a global publishing deal withUniversal Music Publishing Group.[13]
In 1978, Steenburgen met and began dating actorMalcolm McDowell while they were co-starring inTime After Time.[14] They married and had two children together, including sonCharlie McDowell. They divorced in 1990.[15] On October 7, 1995, Steenburgen married actorTed Danson, whom she had met on the set of the filmPontiac Moon, and became the stepmother to Danson's two daughters from his previous marriage.[16][17]
Steenburgen resides in the Los Angeles area with her family.[18] An alumna ofHendrix College, she received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 1989.[19] In 2006, Steenburgen received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree fromLyon College inBatesville, Arkansas.[20] In September 2005, she and Danson gave a guest lecture for students at theClinton School of Public Service, where they discussed their roles in public service as well as the foundations and causes in which they are involved.[21]
Steenburgen is a friend of formersenator andSecretary of StateHillary Clinton and supported, with Danson, Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.[22] She spoke at the2016 Democratic National Convention. Steenburgen is involved with various groups ranging from human rights to environmental causes.[23]
Since 2014, Steenburgen's son Charlie McDowell has had a running joke at her expense, claiming on numerous occasions onsocial media that his mother is actressAndie MacDowell.[24]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Mary / Little Red Riding Hood | Episode: "Little Red Riding Hood" |
| 1985 | Tender Is the Night | Nicole Warren Diver | Miniseries |
| 1988 | The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank | Miep Gies | Television film |
| 1991–1992 | Back to the Future | Clara Clayton (voice) | Main role |
| 1994 | The Gift | Catherine | Television short film |
| 1995 | Frasier | Marjorie (voice) | Episode: "Retirement Is Murder" |
| 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Mary Gulliver | Miniseries |
| 1996–1997 | Ink | Kate Montgomery | Main role |
| 1998 | About Sarah | Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey | Television film |
| 1999 | Noah's Ark | Naamah | Miniseries |
| 2000 | Picnic | Rosemary Sydney | Television film |
| 2000–2017 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Mary Steenburgen | 6 episodes |
| 2002 | Living with the Dead | Detective Karen Condrin | Television film |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Grace Rinato | Episode: "Denial" | |
| 2003–2005 | Joan of Arcadia | Helen Girardi | Main role |
| 2004 | Becker | Patient | Episode: "DNR" |
| It Must Be Love | Clem Gazelle | Television film | |
| Capital City | Elaine Summer | ||
| 2007 | Reinventing the Wheelers | Claire Wheeler | |
| 2009 | Happiness Isn't Everything | Audrey Veil | |
| 2010 | Southern Discomfort | Mary Lou Dobson | |
| 2011–2013 | Wilfred | Catherine Newman | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Robot Chicken | Athena (voice) | Episode: "The Core, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" |
| Bored to Death | Josephine | 4 episodes | |
| 2012 | 30 Rock | Diana Jessup | 5 episodes |
| Outlaw Country | Anastasia Lee | Television film | |
| 2014–2015 | Justified | Katherine Hale | 13 episodes |
| 2015 | Togetherness | Linda | 2 episodes |
| 2015–2017 | Orange Is the New Black | Delia Powell | 6 episodes |
| 2015–2018 | The Last Man on Earth | Gail Klosterman | Main role |
| 2015 | 7 Days in Hell | Louisa Poole | Television film |
| Turkey Hollow | Aunt Cly | ||
| 2016 | Blunt Talk | Margaret Rudolph | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Finding Your Roots | Herself | Episode: "Puritans and Pioneers" |
| 2018 | The Conners | Marcy Bellinger | Episode: "Keep on Truckin'" |
| 2019–2021 | Bless the Harts | Crystalynn Poole (voice) | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | On Becoming a God in Central Florida | Ellen Joy Bonar | 5 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist | Maggie Clarke | Main role |
| 2020 | Grace and Frankie | Miriam | 2 episodes |
| The Good Place | Music Teacher | Episode: "Whenever You're Ready" | |
| 2021 | Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas | Maggie Clarke | Television film |
| 2022 | Mr. Mayor | Adriana | Episode: "Murder in the Old West" |
| 2025 | A Man on the Inside | Mona Margadoff | Main role (season 2) |
In addition to these recognitions, Steenburgen received the 1,337th star on theHollywood Walk of Fame on December 16, 2009.[25]
