Search

Mary Steenburgen: Biography

6 photos
  • Birth Name: Mary N. Steenburgen
  • Birth Place: Newport, AR
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 02/08/1953, Aquarius
  • Profession: Actor; comedian; producer; executive producer; playwright
User Rating: (19 ratings)
Add Your Rating: 1 stars2 stars3 stars4 stars5 stars
Mary Steenburgen Fast Facts:
  • Sold books at Doubleday's while attending the first-year program at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
  • Cofounded and acted with the improvisational-comedy troupe Cracked Tokens, which performed skits for the halfway houses of NYC's Bureau of Alcoholism.
  • Was discovered by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount's New York office. He later cast her as the lead in his second directorial effort, 1978's Western Goin' South.
  • Breakout TV role was in the 1985 Showtime miniseries F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, for which she earned a Best Actress BAFTA nomination.
  • Appeared on the London Stage in 1987 opposite then-husband Malcolm McDowell in an updated version of Philip Barry's Holiday.
  • Along with Alfre Woodard, she founded Artists for a Free South Africa in 1989.
  • Made her Broadway debut in the 1993 production of Candida and her Los Angeles stage debut a year later in Marvin's Room.
  • Met second husband Ted Danson in 1994 on the set of the reviled road pic Pontiac Moon. They married the following year and subsequently collaborated on many projects, including the miniseries Gulliver's Travels (1996), the short-lived sitcom Ink and the miniseries Living With the Dead (2002).
  • Won two awards for her involvement in social and charitable causes: a Desert AIDS Project Award in 1995 and Liberty Hill Foundation's prestigious Upton Sinclair Award a year later.
  • Was appointed the national spokesperson of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in 1997.
  • Nominated for a SAG Award in 1999 for her touching portrayal of a mentally challenged woman in the 1998 made-for-TV drama About Sarah.
  • Mary Steenburgen Relationships:
  • Alexis Danson - Stepdaughter
  • Charles Malcolm McDowell - Son
  • Katherine Danson - Stepdaughter
  • Lily Amanda McDowell - Daughter
  • Malcolm McDowell - Ex-husband
  • Maurice Steenburgen - Father
  • Nancy Kelly - Sister
  • Nell Steenburgen - Mother
  • Ted Danson - Husband
  • Mary Steenburgen Awards:
  • 1982 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
  • 1979 Golden Globe: New Star of the Year - Actress - Nominee
  • 1981 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Winner
  • 1988 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special - Nominee
  • 1980 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Winner
  • College:
  • Attended Hendrix College, Conway, AR

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. Dancing with the Stars
  2. The Game
  3. NCIS
  4. American Idol
  5. Wife Swap
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Carrie Prejean
  2. Jennifer Lopez
  3. Susan Boyle
  4. Sammy Sosa
  5. Donald Trump
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. A Christmas Carol
  2. This Is It
  3. Men Who Stare At Goats
  4. The Fourth Kind
  5. Paranormal Activity
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Dancing With The Stars
  2. Saturday Night Live
  3. V
  4. Desperate Housewives
  5. NCIS
more top videos