Mary Steenburgen

Known for: Acting

Born: 1953-02-08 (age 73)

From: Newport, Arkansas, USA

Mary Nell Steenburgen (born February 8, 1953) 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.

Filmography (150)

MOVIE
The Dink
2026
as Candace
MOVIE★ 6.1
Last Train to Fortune
2025
as Miss Maybelle
MOVIE★ 2.0
Easy's Waltz
2025
TV
BULLDOZER
2025
as Kathy
TV★ 7.4
A Man on the Inside
2024
as Mona Margadoff
TV★ 5.0
In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin
2024
as Self
MOVIE★ 7.0
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
as Self
MOVIE★ 6.3
Book Club: The Next Chapter
2023
as Carol
TV★ 5.6
The Jennifer Hudson Show
2022
as Self - Guest
MOVIE★ 7.0
Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl
2022
as Self
MOVIE★ 7.0
Nightmare Alley
2021
as Mrs. Kimball
MOVIE★ 6.3
Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas
2021
as Maggie Clarke
TV★ 6.6
Mr. Mayor
2021
as Adriana
MOVIE★ 7.1
Happiest Season
2020
as Tipper
MOVIE★ 6.3
30 Rock: A One-Time Special
2020
as Mary Steenburgen
TV★ 5.5
Reunited Apart
2020
as Self
TV
Stars in the House
2020
as Self
TV★ 7.5
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
2020
as Maggie Clarke
MOVIE
Flannery
2019
as Flannery O'Connor (voice)
TV★ 6.5
Bless the Harts
2019
as Crystalynn (voice)
TV★ 6.3
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self - Guest
TV★ 6.6
On Becoming a God in Central Florida
2019
as Ellen Joy Bonar
MOVIE★ 4.3
Antiquities
2019
as Dr. Margot
TV★ 7.0
The Conners
2018
as Marcy Bellinger
MOVIE★ 6.2
Book Club
2018
as Carol
MOVIE★ 6.5
Katie Says Goodbye
2018
as Maybelle
MOVIE★ 4.7
I Do... Until I Don't
2017
as Cybil Burger
MOVIE★ 6.3
The Discovery
2017
as Interviewer
MOVIE★ 6.4
The Book of Love
2017
as Julia Mureaux
TV★ 8.0
The Good Place
2016
as Teacher
MOVIE★ 5.8
Dean
2016
as Carol
MOVIE★ 5.6
Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow
2015
as Aunt Cly
MOVIE★ 6.1
A Walk in the Woods
2015
as Jeannie
MOVIE★ 6.5
7 Days in Hell
2015
as Louisa Poole
TV★ 7.7
Grace and Frankie
2015
as Miriam
TV★ 6.9
The Last Man on Earth
2015
as Gail Klosterman
TV★ 6.7
Togetherness
2015
as Linda
MOVIE★ 6.9
The One I Love
2014
as Mom (voice)
TV★ 5.1
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self - Guest
MOVIE★ 5.7
Song One
2014
as Karen Ellis
MOVIE★ 6.4
Last Vegas
2013
as Diana Boyle
MOVIE★ 5.0
Brahmin Bulls
2013
as Helen West
TV★ 7.6
Orange Is the New Black
2013
as Delia Powell
MOVIE★ 6.0
Outlaw Country
2012
as Anastasia Lee
TV★ 6.5
Finding Your Roots
2012
as Self
MOVIE★ 8.2
The Help
2011
as Elaine Stein
TV★ 7.5
Wilfred
2011
as Catherine Newman
MOVIE★ 6.6
Fight for Your Right Revisited
2011
as Café Patron
MOVIE★ 6.1
Tales from the Future
2010
as Self
TV★ 3.0
The Talk
2010
as Self
MOVIE★ 6.0
Dirty Girl
2010
as Peggy
MOVIE★ 6.6
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
2010
as Mrs. Yankovic
TV★ 8.0
Justified
2010
as Katherine Hale
MOVIE★ 5.4
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
2009
as Emma Wheeler
MOVIE★ 10.0
Clarkworld
2009
as Self
TV★ 7.3
Bored to Death
2009
as Josephine
TV★ 5.0
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
as Self - Guest
MOVIE★ 7.2
The Proposal
2009
as Grace Paxton
MOVIE★ 6.1
In the Electric Mist
2009
as Bootsie Robicheaux
MOVIE★ 5.2
The Open Road
2009
as Katherine
MOVIE★ 5.8
Four Christmases
2008
as Marilyn
MOVIE★ 6.6
Step Brothers
2008
as Nancy Huff
MOVIE★ 6.6
The Brave One
2007
as Carol
MOVIE★ 5.9
Honeydripper
2007
as Amanda Winship
MOVIE★ 5.9
Numb
2007
as Dr. Blaine
MOVIE★ 6.1
Nobel Son
2007
as Sarah Michaelson
MOVIE★ 6.7
Elvis & Anabelle
2007
as Geneva Leigh
MOVIE★ 7.0
Inland Empire
2006
as Visitor #2
MOVIE★ 6.0
The Dead Girl
2006
as Leah's Mother
TV★ 7.5
30 Rock
2006
as Diana Jessup
MOVIE★ 6.6
O Lucky Malcolm!
2006
as Self
MOVIE★ 5.9
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School
2006
as Marienne Hotchkiss
TV★ 7.0
American Dad!
2005
as (voice)
TV★ 6.8
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
as Self
MOVIE
Remembering Ragtime
2004
as Mother (archive footage)
MOVIE
Elf: That's a Wrap
2004
as Self
TV★ 6.4
The Tony Danza Show
2004
as Self - Guest
MOVIE★ 4.9
It Must Be Love
2004
as Clem Gazelle
MOVIE★ 6.7
Elf
2003
as Emily
TV★ 7.3
Joan of Arcadia
2003
as Helen Girardi
MOVIE★ 5.5
Casa de los Babys
2003
as Gayle
TV
E!'s 101
2003
as Self
MOVIE★ 5.3
Hope Springs
2003
as Joanie Fisher
MOVIE
Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood
2003
as Mary
MOVIE★ 6.4
Sunshine State
2002
as Francine Pinkney
MOVIE★ 5.0
Wish You Were Dead
2002
as Sally Rider
MOVIE★ 5.5
Living with the Dead
2002
as Detective Karen Condrin
TV
Living with the Dead
2002
as Detective Karen Condrin
MOVIE
Character Building: Inside 'Life As a House'
2002
as Self
MOVIE★ 7.6
I Am Sam
2001
as Dr. Blake
MOVIE★ 7.1
Life as a House
2001
as Colleen Beck
TV★ 3.8
Good Day Live
2001
as Self
TV★ 8.3
Dinner for Five
2001
MOVIE★ 5.6
The Trumpet of the Swan
2001
as Mother (voice)
MOVIE★ 5.2
Nobody's Baby
2001
as Estelle
TV★ 8.0
Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000
as Mary Steenburgen
MOVIE★ 9.0
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
2000
MOVIE★ 5.3
Picnic
2000
as Rosemary Sydney
TV★ 8.0
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Grace Rinato
TV★ 4.5
Noah's Ark
1999
as Naamah
MOVIE
Noah's Ark
1999
as Naamah
TV★ 7.2
Becker
1998
as Patient (uncredited)
MOVIE★ 6.8
About Sarah
1998
as Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey
TV★ 4.3
The View
1997
as Self
TV★ 5.0
Ink
1996
as Kate Montgomery
MOVIE★ 5.9
The Grass Harp
1996
as Sister Ida
TV★ 7.2
Gulliver's Travels
1996
as Mary Gulliver
MOVIE★ 6.8
Nixon
1995
as Hannah Nixon
MOVIE★ 7.0
Powder
1995
as Jessie Caldwell
MOVIE★ 7.4
My Family
1995
as Gloria
MOVIE★ 5.5
Pontiac Moon
1994
as Katherine Bellamy
MOVIE★ 5.4
It Runs in the Family
1994
as Mrs. Parker (Mother)
MOVIE★ 5.1
Clifford
1994
as Sarah Davis
TV★ 6.1
Ellen
1994
as Self (uncredited)
MOVIE★ 7.7
Philadelphia
1993
as Belinda Conine
MOVIE★ 7.7
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
1993
as Betty Carver
TV★ 7.7
Frasier
1993
as Marjorie (voice)
MOVIE★ 6.7
Earth and the American Dream
1992
as Reader (voice)
TV★ 9.5
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
1992
as Narrator (voice)
MOVIE
Back to the Future: Dickens of a Christmas
1991
as Clara Clayton Brown (voice)
MOVIE★ 5.7
The Butcher's Wife
1991
as Stella Keefover
TV★ 6.3
Back to the Future
1991
as Clara Clayton (voice)
MOVIE★ 7.6
The Long Walk Home
1990
as Narrator (voice)
MOVIE
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
1990
as Self
MOVIE★ 4.9
The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy
1990
as Self
MOVIE★ 7.5
Back to the Future Part III
1990
as Clara Clayton
MOVIE★ 6.7
Parenthood
1989
as Karen Buckman
MOVIE
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989
as Self (voice)
MOVIE★ 5.8
Miss Firecracker
1989
as Elaine Rutledge
TV★ 5.6
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
as Self - Guest
MOVIE★ 7.1
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank
1988
as Miep Gies
MOVIE★ 7.0
The Whales of August
1987
as Young Sarah
MOVIE★ 5.3
End of the Line
1987
as Rose Pickett
MOVIE★ 6.0
Dead of Winter
1987
as Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn
MOVIE★ 5.9
One Magic Christmas
1985
as Ginny Grainger
TV★ 6.3
Tender Is the Night
1985
as Nicole Diver (née Warren)
MOVIE★ 6.4
Little Red Riding Hood
1983
as Little Red Riding Hood a.k.a. Mary
MOVIE★ 5.1
Romantic Comedy
1983
as Phoebe Craddock
MOVIE★ 6.6
Cross Creek
1983
as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
TV★ 8.1
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
as Mary / Little Red Riding Hood
MOVIE★ 6.5
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
1982
as Adrian
MOVIE★ 7.0
Ragtime
1981
as Mother
MOVIE★ 6.5
Melvin and Howard
1980
as Lynda Dummar
MOVIE★ 6.8
Time After Time
1979
as Amy Robbins
MOVIE★ 5.8
Goin' South
1978
as Julia Tate
TV★ 7.0
The Oscars
1953
as Self
MOVIE
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas
—
as Claire
TV
Southern Discomfort
—
as Mary Lou Dobson
MOVIE
Let's Have Kids!
—
as Sue
TV
Happiness Isn't Everything
—
as Audrey Veill