Feb 8, 1953 - Newport, Arkansas, USA
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in the Western comedy film Goin' South (1978). Steenburgen went on to earn critical acclaim for her role in Time After Time (1979) and Jonathan Demme's comedy-drama film Melvin and Howard (1980), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Media | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie | 1990 | Back to the Future Part III | Clara Clayton | |
| Movie | 2021 | Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas | Maggie Clarke | |
| Movie | 1989 | Parenthood | Karen Buckman | |
| Movie | 1993 | What's Eating Gilbert Grape | Betty Carver | |
| Movie | 2003 | Elf | Emily | |
| Movie | 1994 | Clifford | Sarah Davis | |
| Movie | 2007 | The Brave One | Carol | |
| Movie | 1991 | The Butcher's Wife | Stella Keefover | |
| Movie | 1995 | Nixon | Hannah Nixon | |
| Movie | 2000 | Picnic | Rosemary Sydney | |
| Movie | 2003 | Hope Springs | Joanie Fisher | |
| Movie | 2002 | Wish You Were Dead | Sally Rider | |
| Movie | 1979 | Time After Time | Amy Robbins | |
| Movie | 1982 | A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy | Adrian | |
| Movie | 2008 | Step Brothers | Nancy Huff | |
| Movie | 2008 | Four Christmases | Marilyn | |
| Movie | 1981 | Ragtime | Mother | |
| Movie | 1990 | The Long Walk Home | Narrator (voice) | |
| Movie | 1995 | Powder | Jessie Caldwell | |
| Movie | 1978 | Goin' South | Julia Tate | |
| Movie | 1985 | One Magic Christmas | Ginny Grainger | |
| Movie | 2006 | The Dead Girl | Beverley, Leah's Mother | |
| Movie | 2009 | In the Electric Mist | Bootsie Robicheaux | |
| Movie | 2021 | Nightmare Alley | Mrs. Kimball | |
| Movie | 2011 | Fight for Your Right Revisited | Café Patron | |
| Movie | 2007 | Nobel Son | Sarah Michaelson | |
| Movie | 2003 | Casa de los Babys | Gayle | |
| Movie | 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Lynda Dummar | |
| Movie | 2007 | Numb | Dr. Blaine | |
| Movie | 1996 | The Grass Harp | Sister Ida | |
| Movie | 2001 | Nobody's Baby | Estelle | |
| Movie | 2009 | The Proposal | Grace Paxton | |
| Movie | 1987 | The Whales of August | Young Sarah | |
| Movie | 1987 | End of the Line | Rose Pickett | |
| Movie | 2007 | Elvis & Anabelle | Geneva Leigh | |
| Movie | 1994 | Pontiac Moon | Katherine Bellamy | |
| Movie | 1994 | It Runs in the Family | Mrs. Parker (Mother) | |
| Movie | 2010 | Dirty Girl | Peggy | |
| Movie | 1987 | Dead of Winter | Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn | |
| Movie | 2001 | The Trumpet of the Swan | Mother (voice) | |
| Movie | 2006 | Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School | Marienne Hotchkiss | |
| Movie | 2009 | Clarkworld | Self | |
| Movie | 2002 | Living with the Dead | Detective Karen Condrin | |
| Movie | 2002 | Sunshine State | Francine Pinkney | |
| Movie | 1983 | Romantic Comedy | Phoebe Craddock | |
| Movie | 2006 | O Lucky Malcolm! | Self | |
| Movie | 2012 | Outlaw Country | Anastasia Lee | |
| Movie | 2013 | Brahmin Bulls | Helen West | |
| Movie | 1990 | The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy | Self | |
| Movie | 1983 | Cross Creek | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | |
| Movie | 2013 | Last Vegas | Diana Boyle | |
| Movie | 2004 | Remembering Ragtime | Mother (archive footage) | |
| Movie | 1998 | About Sarah | Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey | |
| Movie | 2004 | It Must Be Love | Clem Gazelle | |
| Movie | 2023 | Book Club: The Next Chapter | Carol | |
| Movie | 2014 | Song One | Karen Ellis | |
| Movie | 1989 | Miss Firecracker | Elaine Rutledge | |
| Movie | 1993 | Philadelphia | Belinda Conine | |
| Movie | 2015 | 7 Days in Hell | Louisa Poole | |
| Movie | N/A | Last Train to Fortune | ||
| Movie | 2016 | Dean | Carol | |
| Movie | 2023 | Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic | Self | |
| Movie | 1990 | Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret | Self | |
| Movie | 2009 | Did You Hear About the Morgans? | Emma Wheeler | |
| Movie | 2001 | Life as a House | Colleen Beck | |
| Movie | 2015 | Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow | Aunt Cly | |
| Movie | 1988 | The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank | Miep Gies | |
| Movie | 2017 | The Book of Love | Julia Mureaux | |
| Movie | 2015 | A Walk in the Woods | Jeannie | |
| Movie | N/A | Let's Have Kids! | Sue | |
| Movie | 2010 | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Mrs. Yankovic | |
| Movie | 2009 | The Open Road | Katherine | |
| Movie | 2017 | I Do... Until I Don't | Cybil Burger | |
| Movie | 2011 | The Help | Elaine Stein | |
| Movie | 2018 | Katie Says Goodbye | Maybelle | |
| Movie | 1983 | Little Red Riding Hood | Little Red Riding Hood a.k.a. Mary | |
| Movie | 2006 | Inland Empire | Visitor #2 | |
| Movie | 2001 | I Am Sam | Dr. Blake | |
| Movie | 2017 | The Discovery | Interviewer | |
| Movie | 2007 | Honeydripper | Amanda Winship | |
| Movie | 2018 | Book Club | Carol | |
| Movie | 2019 | Antiquities | Dr. Margot | |
| Movie | 1995 | My Family | Gloria | |
| Movie | 2019 | Flannery | Flannery O'Connor (voice) | |
| Movie | 2000 | The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story | ||
| Movie | 2010 | Tales from the Future | Self | |
| Movie | 2020 | Happiest Season | Tipper | |
| Movie | 2014 | The One I Love | Mom (voice) | |
| Movie | 1992 | Earth and the American Dream | Reader (voice) | |
| Movie | 2020 | 30 Rock: A One-Time Special | Mary Steenburgen | |
| Movie | N/A | The Dink | ||
| Movie | 2011 | Clinton Foundation: Celebrity Division | Self | |
| Movie | 1989 | Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre | Herself | |
| Movie | 2022 | Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl | Self | |
| Movie | 2003 | Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood | Mary | |
| TV Show | 1996 | Ink | Kate Montgomery | 26 |
| TV Show | 2001 | Dinner for Five | 2 | |
| TV Show | 1994 | Ellen | Self (uncredited) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2004 | The Tony Danza Show | Self - Guest | 1 |
| TV Show | 2003 | Joan of Arcadia | Helen Girardi | 45 |
| TV Show | 1997 | The View | Self | 2 |
| TV Show | 1999 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Grace Rinato | 1 |
| TV Show | 1993 | Frasier | Marjorie (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2012 | Finding Your Roots | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 1998 | Becker | Patient (uncredited) | 1 |
| TV Show | 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Mary / Little Red Riding Hood | 1 |
| TV Show | 2000 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Mary Steenburgen | 6 |
| TV Show | 1991 | Back to the Future | Clara Clayton (voice) | 27 |
| TV Show | 2013 | Orange Is the New Black | Delia Powell | 6 |
| TV Show | 2011 | Wilfred | Catherine Newman | 4 |
| TV Show | 2019 | Bless the Harts | Crystalynn (voice) | 2 |
| TV Show | 1953 | The Oscars | Self | 2 |
| TV Show | 2001 | Good Day Live | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2003 | E!'s 101 | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2005 | The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2014 | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2015 | The Last Man on Earth | Gail Klosterman | 67 |
| TV Show | 2006 | 30 Rock | Diana Jessup | 5 |
| TV Show | 1985 | Tender Is the Night | Nicole Warren Diver | 6 |
| TV Show | 2010 | Justified | Katherine Hale | 7 |
| TV Show | 2021 | Mr. Mayor | Adriana | 1 |
| TV Show | 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Mary Gulliver | 2 |
| TV Show | 1999 | Noah's Ark | Naamah | 2 |
| TV Show | 2019 | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Self | 2 |
| TV Show | 2009 | Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Self - Guest | 2 |
| TV Show | 1992 | Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories | Narrator (Voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | N/A | Happiness Isn't Everything | Audrey Veill | 1 |
| TV Show | 2018 | The Conners | Marcy Bellinger | 1 |
| TV Show | 2020 | Stars in the House | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2002 | Living with the Dead | Detective Karen Condrin | 2 |
| TV Show | 2020 | Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist | Maggie Clarke | 25 |
| TV Show | 2019 | On Becoming a God in Central Florida | Ellen Joy Bonar | 2 |
| TV Show | 2015 | Togetherness | Linda | 2 |
| TV Show | 2016 | The Good Place | Teacher | 1 |
| TV Show | 2020 | Reunited Apart | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2015 | Grace and Frankie | Miriam | 2 |
| TV Show | 2025 | BULLDOZER | Kathy | 1 |
| TV Show | 2024 | In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin | Self | 1 |
Media | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie | 2014 | The One I Love | Thanks | Crew |
| Movie | 1987 | End of the Line | Executive Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2006 | Bye Bye Benjamin | Executive Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2020 | Best Summer Ever | Executive Producer | Production |
| TV Show | 1996 | Ink | Producer | Production |
