- Born
- Birth nameMary Nell Steenburgen
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Mary Steenburgen is an Academy Award-winning American actress.
She was born in Newport, Arkansas, USA. Her mother, Nellie May (Wall) Steenburgen, was a school-board secretary, and her father, Maurice H. Steenburgen, was a freight-train conductor. Her surname comes from distant Dutch ancestry, and her roots also include English, Scottish, and Welsh.
Young Steenburgen was fond of arts and literature. Mary grew up tap-dancing her way through talent shows and school functions. She was active in her school drama class. After appearing in a number of high school plays, she enrolled at Hendrix College, a highly progressive Southern School located in Conway, Arkansas. Upon the recommendation of her drama professor, she left college in 1972 and moved to New York to study acting professionally. In the past several years, Mary Steenburgen has emerged as one of the most accomplished and sought-after screen actresses. Ever since Jack Nicholson discovered her and cast her as a sassy adventuress in his rollicking western, Goin' South (1978), her career has skyrocketed and she has won acclaim for exceptional performances in each of her diverse film roles. In Nicholas Meyer's Time After Time (1979), Steenburgen was afforded critical praise for her portrayal of a somewhat dippy but liberated young bank clerk in San Francisco who crosses paths, via time machine, with English author H.G. Wells (played by Malcolm McDowell, who later became her husband). In 1980 she shot to fame with her role as Lynda Dummar in Melvin and Howard (1980) for which she won Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Steenburgen again impressed audiences and critics alike with her stunning performance as the strong-willed turn-of-the-century mother in Ragtime (1981).
Steenburgen is a notable patron of arts. She is also an active supporter of humanitarian causes. She has two children from her previous marriage to actor Malcolm McDowell. Since 1995 she has been married to actor Ted Danson, and the couple is living in the Los Angeles area.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov
- SpousesTed Danson(October 7, 1995 - present)Malcolm McDowell(September 29, 1980 - October 1, 1990) (divorced, 2 children)
- Children
- ParentsNellie May Steenburgen (Wall)Maurice H. Steenburgen
- High-pitched voice with southern accent
- Steenburgen is friends with former senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and supported, with Ted Danson, Clinton's presidential campaign. She spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Steenburgen is involved with various groups ranging from human rights to environmental causes.
- She returned to her former high school in North Little Rock, Arkansas in April 2002, to teach drama workshops to students, carrying out a promise made to the parents of teenager Thea Leopoulos, who perished in a traffic accident in 2001.
- Was in the film End of the Line (1987) in which she played the wife of a railroad worker. The film used Union Pacific tracks in Arkansas, which were formerly the tracks of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Mary's father was a freight train conductor on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in Arkansas.
- She received an honorary degree (Doctor of Fine Arts) from her alma mater Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas (1989). She received an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) from Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas (2006).
- President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton attended Steenburgen's 1995 wedding to Ted Danson. Steenburgen had personally known Clinton since he was governor of Arkansas when she resided in Little Rock. The President celebrated his 51st birthday at the Martha's Vineyard home of the couple.
- And, oh my God, I loved doing What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). Who wouldn't love kissing Johnny Depp all day?
- I know this is kind of corny, but we thought about renewing our vows again because I think my mom would really love it if we did that in Arkansas, where I came from.
- It's usually, my people speak to your people and then they speak around each other and trade calls for weeks.
- I think that we need to look hard at our beliefs and be responsible about how we speak out.
- I helped found Artists for New South Africa, but it used to be called Artists for Free South Africa. Alfre Woodard and a bunch of us started this.
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