Mary Steenburgen

**Mary Nell Steenburgen** (born February 8, 1953) is an Academy Award-winning American actress, singer and songwriter.

## Personal life

Steenburgen was born in Newport, Arkansas, the daughter of Nell, a school-board secretary, and Maurice Steenburgen, a freight-train conductor who worked at the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Steenburgen grew up in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Steenburgen married Malcolm McDowell in 1980 and they had two children together: Lily Amanda, born January 31, 1981 and Charles Malcolm born July 10, 1983, before divorcing in 1990, and has been married to actor Ted Danson since 1995.

## Life and career

Steenburgen, who studied at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, also received a Golden Globe nomination for the 1981 film *Ragtime*, a BAFTA TV Award nomination for the 1985 miniseries Tender Is the Night and an Emmy Award nomination for the 1988 TV film *The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank*. Her other film appearances include *Time After Time* (1979), *Cross Creek* (1983), *Parenthood* (1989), *Back to the Future Part III* (1990), *Philadelphia (1993),* What's Eating Gilbert Grape *(1993),* Elf *(2003),* The Brave One *(2007), Step Brothers (2008), The Proposal (2009),* The Help *(2011) and Book Club (2018).*
In September 2005, she and Danson provided 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 alumnus 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 personal friend of former First Lady and Senator, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and supported Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign along with her husband.

She splits her time living in California and Martha's Vineyard, in addition to sharing a condominium with Danson in the River Market District of Little Rock.

## Career

Steenburgen moved to New York City in 1972, working at Doubleday's while studying acting at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse under William Esper. Her break came when she was discovered by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount's New York office and was cast as the lead in his second directorial effort, the 1978 Western *Goin' South*. In only her third film, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1980 film *Melvin and Howard*, playing the wife of a man who claims to have befriended reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Steenburgen played Clara Clayton in *Back to the Future Part III* (1990), a role which her children, fans of the *Back to the Future* movies, convinced her to play. She reprised the role by providing the character's voice in the *Back to the Future: The Animated Series*.

She 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 husband-to-be Malcolm McDowell. In both this film and *Back to the Future*, she played the love interest of a time traveler. Other notable film appearances came in the well-received 1983 film *Cross Creek*, her performance as an adulterous wife in *What's Eating Gilbert Grape?* with Johnny Depp, as the mother of Richard Nixon in the Oliver Stone biopic *Nixon*, and as a woman who discovers her husband is the father of a North Pole elf in the Will Ferrell holiday comedy *Elf*. She appeared in the 2008 comedy *Step Brothers*, another movie starring Will Ferrell, playing the mother of Ferrell's character.

In a little-known film, *The Butcher's Wife*, also starring Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels, Steenburgen plays a lead role in which she also sings. Film critic Charles Taylor, in *The New York Times*, said Steenburgen's "slow-drip voice comes to your ears like honey arriving on a moonbeam". She also acted in the film *Life as a House*.

Mary also has starred in the sitcom *Ink* (1996) and the television miniseries of *Gulliver's Travels* (1996) with husband Ted Danson. She has appeared as herself alongside Danson in the HBO comedy *Curb Your Enthusiasm*. In 2008 she appeared in the comedy *Four Christmases*. Steenburgen co-starred as Helen Girardi, the mother of Amber Tamblyn's title character in *Joan of Arcadia.* In 2011, she had a recurring role as Josephine in the HBO sitcom *Bored to Death*. Steenburgen starred as Anastasia Lee in the 2011 FX pilot, *Outlaw Country,* but it was passed by the network. She appeared in the dark sitcom *Wilfred* from 2011 through 2013 as Catherine Newman, the title character's eccentric and mentally ill mother. Steenburgen had a recurring role on the NBC-TV sitcom *30 Rock* from 2012 to 2013 where she played Diana Jessup.

In 2014, she began a recurring role as former Dixie Mafia boss Katherine Hale in the fifth and sixth seasons of *Justified*.

From 2015 to 2018, she starred as Gail Klosterman on the comedy series *The Last Man on Earth*.

## Personal life

In 1978, Steenburgen met and began dating actor Malcolm McDowell while both were co-starring in *Time After Time*. They married and had two children together, including son Charlie McDowell, but the marriage ended in divorce. In 1995, Steenburgen married actor Ted Danson, whom she had met on the set of the film *Pontiac Moon*, and became the stepmother to Danson's two daughters from his previous marriage to producer Cassandra Coates.

Steenburgen resides in the Los Angeles area with her family. An alumna of Hendrix College, she 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. 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.

Steenburgen is a close friend of former senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and supported Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign along with Danson. She also spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Steenburgen is also an active humanitarian who is involved with various groups ranging from human rights to environmental causes.

## References

1. ↑ Search Results
2. ↑ *Mary Steenburgen biography*. Film Reference.com.
3. ↑ *Mary Steenburgen biography*. Yahoo! Movies.
4. ↑ Stony Reception in Little Rock; Film by Mary Steenburgen Draws Cries of Foul in Arkansas | Article from The Washington Post | HighBeam Research
5. ↑ Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson Speak to students at the Clinton School
6. ↑ "Hendrix College - Encyclopedia of Arkansas"
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Mary Steenburgen: Biography* at TV Guide.com.
8. ↑ Mary Steenburgen Saddles Into Outlaw Country Pilot. TVGuide.com.
9. ↑ FX says no to 'Outlaw Country'. Retrieved on September 18, 2013.
10. ↑ Chambers, Andrea (September 1, 1980). Malcolm McDowell's Romance with Mary Steenburgen Has Gone Just Like Clockwork. *People*.
11. ↑ Malcolm in middle age. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
12. ↑ Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen’s Marriage Will Make You Believe in Long Lasting Love. Hearst Digital Media. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
13. ↑ Current Home. Clinton School of Public Service. Retrieved on March 2, 2014.
14. ↑ Template:Cite encyclopedia
15. ↑ Acclaimed actress, Arkansas native to receive honorary Lyon degree. Lyon College Newsletter (October 2, 2006). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved on July 10, 2010.
16. ↑ The Clinton School Speaker Series - Inspiring Ideas and Action. Clintonschoolspeakers.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2010.
17. ↑ "Danson to Hit the Road for Clinton Again", February 15, 2008. Retrieved on July 10, 2010.
18. ↑ PBS Interview. PBS. Retrieved on March 2, 2014.
## External links

* Mary Steenburgen Biography
* Mary Steenburgen links at FreeOnes
* Mary Steenburgen Named 27th Sexiest Woman Over 50
* Mary Steenburgen article at *Wikipedia*