Mary Steenburgen

In 1978, Mary Steenburgen started dating Malcolm McDowell, her co-actor from the movie ‘Time After Time’. They married two years later in 1980 and had two children: son Charlie McDowell and daughter Lilly. They divorced in 1990 after separating a year before.

In 1993 she met actor Ted Danson on the set of the film ‘Pontiac Moon’ and they married in 1995.

Mary Steenburgen is a close friend of former Senator and ‘Secretary of State’ Hillary Clinton and supported her in the 2008 Presidential campaign along with husband Danson.

Mary Steenburgen was born on February 8, 1953, in Newport, Arkansas as Mary Nell Steenburgen. Her father was Maurice Steenburgen; a freight-train conductor who worked at the ‘Missouri Pacific Railroad’ and her mother Nellie Mae was a school-board secretary. She has a sister, Nancy Kelly, who is a teacher by profession.

After her graduation, Mary joined the Hendrix College to study drama. During her time at Hendrix College, one of her teachers suggested that she give an audition for the New York City's ‘Neighborhood Playhouse’. She subsequently left for Dallas, Texas for the auditions and eventually ended up winning it.

After winning the audition for New York City's ‘Neighborhood Playhouse’, Mary Steenburgen moved to Manhattan, New York City in 1972 to study acting. She did odd jobs to sustain herself for a few years.

Her first big break came in 1978 when she was discovered by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount's New York office. He signed her for the lead actress role in his second directorial movie ‘Goin' South’. The next year Mary worked in the film ‘Time After Time’ alongside Malcolm McDowell. She was featured as the leading female character who falls in love with an author.

Steenburgen gained considerable fame for her third film ‘Melvin and Howard’ in 1980. She played the role of Lynda Dummar. She was nominated for six different awards for this role and won all of them including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award.

She appeared in many movies after her first big success. Some of the hit movies in which her work was praised by both the critics and the audiences are ‘Cross Creek’ (1983), ‘Parenthood’ (1989), ‘Back to the Future Part III’ (1990), and ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’ (1993).

Her other popular films include ‘Philadelphia’ in 1993, ‘Elf’ in 2003, ‘Four Christmases’ in 2008, ‘The Proposal’ in 2009, and ‘Dirty Girl’ in 2010.

Mary Steenburgen did not limit herself to the film industry. She also had an equally successful career in the television industry after making her TV debut in 1983 in ‘Faerie Tale Theatre’.

She has featured in many television series like ‘Back to the Future’ in 1991-92, ‘Ink’ in 1996-97, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ in 2000, ‘Justified’ in 2014-15, and ‘The Last Man on Earth’ in 2015. Apart from these big roles, she has also appeared in some shows for short periods or in guest appearances.

In addition, she has done some television films like ‘The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank’ in 1988, ‘The Gift’ in 1994, ‘Noah's Ark’ in 1999, ‘Living with the Dead’ in 2002, and ‘7 Days in Hell’ in 2015.