Mary Steenburgen Biography

Mary Nell Steenburgen (born February 8, 1953) is an American actress. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's 1980 film Melvin and Howard.

Early life and education

Steenburgen was born in Newport, Arkansas, the daughter of Nellie Mae (née Wall), a school-board secretary, and Maurice Steenburgen, a freight-train conductor who worked at the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Steenburgen grew up in north Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Career

Early career

Steenburgen moved to New York City in 1972, working at Doubleday while studying acting at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse under Will Esper.

Film career

Steenburgen's big break came when she was discovered by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount's New York office and was cast as the female lead in his second directorial effort, the 1978 Western Goin' South.

Steenburgen had a leading role in the 1979 film Time After Time as a modern woman who falls in love with author H. G. Wells, played by her first husband-to-be Malcolm McDowell.

In only her third film, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1980 film Melvin and Howard, playing Lynda Dummar, the wife of Melvin Dummar, then a trucker and aspiring singer, who claimed to have befriended reclusive eccentric Howard Hughes. Another notable film appearance came in the well-received 1983 film Cross Creek, in which she played Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling.

In Back to the Future Part III (1990), Steenburgen played Clara Clayton, a school teacher who falls in love with Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd. She was persuaded to play the role by her children, as well as by fans of the Back to the Future films, and reprised the role by providing the character's voice in Back to the Future: The Animated Series.

Other performances have been: in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), as a woman who is having an affair with the title character (played by Johnny Depp); the role of Hannah Nixon in the Oliver Stone biopic, Nixon (1995); and in the Will Ferrell 2003 comedy Elf, as a woman who discovers that her husband is the father of one of Santa's elves.

In recent years, she has been in the comedy films, Step Brothers (2008), starring Will Ferrell, playing the mother of Ferrell's character; Four Christmases (2008) opposite Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon; and The Proposal (2009) opposite Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

Dirty Girl, which features Steenburgen along with Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich and William H. Macy, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12, 2010. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed film The Help (2011), starring alongside Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Television career

In television, Steenburgen starred in the sitcom Ink (1996) with her husband, Ted Danson, and co-starred in the television miniseries Gulliver's Travels (1996) with Danson. She appeared as herself, alongside Danson, in the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. She played the mother of the title character in the CBS drama series Joan of Arcadia. In 2011, she made guest appearances in Bored to Death, again alongside Danson. She starred in the 2011 FX pilot, Outlaw Country, but FX decided against making a series.

Personal life

Steenburgen married actor Malcolm McDowell in 1980 and they had two children together: Lilly Amanda (now Lilly McDowell Walton), born January 31, 1981, and Charles Malcolm, born July 10, 1983. Steenburgen and McDowell divorced in 1990.

On October 7, 1995, Steenburgen married actor Ted Danson. In September 2005, she and Danson gave a guest lecture for students at the Clinton School of Public Service where they discussed their roles in public service as well as the foundations and causes in which they are involved. An alumna of Hendrix College, Steenburgen received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 1989. In 2006, Steenburgen received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas.

She is a close friend of former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and supported Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign along with Danson.

In January 2012, Steenburgen became a grandmother when her daughter Lilly gave birth to a girl named Clementine Mae.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Goin' South	Julia Tate Moon
1979	Time After Time	Amy
1980	Melvin and Howard	Lynda Dummar
1981	Ragtime	Mother
1982	'	Adrian
1983	Cross Creek	Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1983	Romantic Comedy	Phoebe Craddock
1985	One Magic Christmas	Ginny Grainger
1987	Dead of Winter	Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn
1987	'	Young Sarah
1987	End of the Line	Rose Pickett
1989	Miss Firecracker	Elain Rutledge
1989	Parenthood	Karen Buckman
1990	Back to the Future Part III	Clara Clayton
1990	'	Narrator (voice)
1991	'	Stella Keefover
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Betty Carver
1993	Philadelphia	Belinda Conine
1994	Clifford	Sarah Davis
1994	Pontiac Moon	Katherine Bellamy
1995	My Family	Gloria
1995	'	Sister Ida
1995	Powder	Jessie Caldwell
1995	Nixon	Hannah Milhous Nixon
2001	Nobody's Baby	Estelle
2001	'	Mother (voice)
2001	Life as a House	Colleen Beck
2001	I Am Sam	Dr. Blake
2002	Sunshine State	Francine Pinkney
2002	Wish You Were Dead	Sally Rider
2003	Hope Springs	Joanie Fisher
2003	Casa de los Babys	Gayle
2003	Elf	Emily
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School	Marienne Hotchkiss
2006	'	Leah's Mother
2007	Elvis and Annabelle	Geneva
2007	Nobel Son	Sarah Michaelson
2007	Numb	Dr. Blaine
2007	'	Carol
2007	Honeydripper	Amanda Winship
2008	Step Brothers	Nancy Huff
2008	Four Christmases	Marilyn
2009	In the Electric Mist	Bootsie Robicheaux
2009	'	Grace Paxton
2009	'	Katherine
2009	Did You Hear About the Morgans?	Emma Wheeler
2010	Dirty Girl	Peggy
2011	Keepin' It Real Estate	Claire	Video short
2011	'	Elain Stein
2012	Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood	Mary
2013	Last Vegas	Diana
2013	Brahmin Bulls	Helen West
2014	Song One		Post-production
2014	'	Julia	Pre-production

Television

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	TV miniseries
1988	'	Miep Gies	TV film
1991-1992	Back to the Future	Clara Clayton (voice)	Main role (26 episodes)
1994	'	Catherine	TV short
1995	Frasier	Marjorie (voice)	Episode: "Retirement Is Murder"
1996	Gulliver's Travels	Mary Gulliver	TV miniseries
1996-1997	Ink	Kate Montgomery	Main role (22 episodes)
1998	About Sarah	Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey	TV film
1999	Noah's Ark	Naamah	TV film
2000	Picnic	Rosemary Sydney	TV film
2000	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Mary Steenburgen	Episode: "Ted and Mary"
2002	Living with the Dead	Det. Karen Condrin	TV film
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Grace Rinato	Episode: "Denial"
2003-2005	Joan of Arcadia	Helen Girardi	Main role (45 episodes)
2004	Becker	Patient	Episode: "DNR"
2004	It Must Be Love	Clem Gazelle	TV film
2004	Capital City	Elaine Summer	TV film
2007	Reinventing the Wheelers	Claire Wheeler	TV film
2007	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Mary Steenburgen	Episodes: "Meet the Blacks", "The Anonymous Donor", "The Freak Book"
2009	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Mary Steenburgen	Episode: "The Hot Towel"
2009	Happiness Isn't Everything	Audrey Veill	TV film
2010	Southern Discomfort		TV film
2011	Wilfred	Catherine Newman	Episode: "Compassion"
2011	Robot Chicken	Athena (voice)	Episode: "The Core, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"
2011	Bored to Death	Josephine	Recurring role (4 episodes)
2012	30 Rock	Diana Jessup	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2012	Outlaw Country	Anastasia Lee	TV film
2012	Wilfred	Catherine Newman	Episode: "Service"
2013	Wilfred	Catherine Newman	Episodes: "Confrontation", "Regrets"

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
1978	Goin' South	Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year " Actress
1979	Time After Time	Saturn Award for Best Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1980	Melvin and Howard	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1980	Melvin and Howard	New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1981	Ragtime	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture
1985	One Magic Christmas	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
1985	Tender Is the Night	British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
1988	The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie
1989	Miss Firecracker	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990	Back to the Future Part III	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1995	Nixon	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1998	About Sarah	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2002	Wish You Were Dead	DVD Premiere Award for Best Supporting Actress
2004	Joan of Arcadia	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Television Series
2011	The Help	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

In addition to these recognitions, Steenburgen received the 1,337th star on Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 16, 2009.