Mary Steenburgen

Known for: Acting
Born: February 8, 1953, Newport, Arkansas, USA
Movies: 99

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.

Upcoming Mary Steenburgen Movies

Let's Have Kids!

2026

October 13, 2026

A Dog’s Perfect Christmas

2026

November 4, 2026

Best-Known Movies

7.5

Back to the Future Part III

1990

8.2

The Help

2011

7.2

The Proposal

2009

7.7

Philadelphia

1993

6.7

Elf

2003

7.7

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

1993

6.6

Step Brothers

2008

6.9

Nightmare Alley

2021

7.6

I Am Sam

2001

6.4

Last Vegas

2013

Filmography

2026	A Dog’s Perfect Christmas	Claire
2026	Let's Have Kids!	Sue
2026	Last Train to Fortune	Miss Maybelle
2026	The Dink	Candace
2025	Easy's Waltz
2023	Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic	Self
2023	Book Club: The Next Chapter	Carol
2022	Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl	Self
2021	Nightmare Alley	Mrs. Kimball
2021	Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas	Maggie Clarke
2020	Happiest Season	Tipper
2020	30 Rock: A One-Time Special	Mary Steenburgen
2019	Flannery	Flannery O'Connor (voice)
2019	Antiquities	Dr. Margot
2018	Book Club	Carol
2018	Katie Says Goodbye	Maybelle
2017	I Do... Until I Don't	Cybil Burger
2017	The Discovery	Interviewer
2017	The Book of Love	Julia Mureaux
2016	Dean	Carol
2015	Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow	Aunt Cly
2015	A Walk in the Woods	Jeannie
2015	7 Days in Hell	Louisa Poole
2014	The One I Love	Mom (voice)
2014	Song One	Karen Ellis
2013	Last Vegas	Diana Boyle
2013	Brahmin Bulls	Helen West
2012	Outlaw Country	Anastasia Lee
2011	The Help	Elaine Stein
2011	Fight for Your Right Revisited	Café Patron
2010	Tales from the Future	Self
2010	Dirty Girl	Peggy
2010	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Mrs. Yankovic
2009	Did You Hear About the Morgans?	Emma Wheeler
2009	Clarkworld	Self
2009	The Proposal	Grace Paxton
2009	In the Electric Mist	Bootsie Robicheaux
2009	The Open Road	Katherine
2008	Four Christmases	Marilyn
2008	Step Brothers	Nancy Huff
2007	The Brave One	Carol
2007	Honeydripper	Amanda Winship
2007	Numb	Dr. Blaine
2007	Nobel Son	Sarah Michaelson
2007	Elvis & Anabelle	Geneva Leigh
2006	Inland Empire	Visitor #2
2006	The Dead Girl	Leah's Mother
2006	O Lucky Malcolm!	Self
2006	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School	Marienne Hotchkiss
2004	Remembering Ragtime	Mother (archive footage)
2004	Elf: That's a Wrap	Self
2004	It Must Be Love	Clem Gazelle
2003	Elf	Emily
2003	Casa de los Babys	Gayle
2003	Hope Springs	Joanie Fisher
2003	Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood	Mary
2002	Sunshine State	Francine Pinkney
2002	Wish You Were Dead	Sally Rider
2002	Living with the Dead	Detective Karen Condrin
2002	Character Building: Inside 'Life As a House'	Self
2001	I Am Sam	Dr. Blake
2001	Life as a House	Colleen Beck
2001	The Trumpet of the Swan	Mother (voice)
2001	Nobody's Baby	Estelle
2000	The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
2000	Picnic	Rosemary Sydney
1998	About Sarah	Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey
1996	The Grass Harp	Sister Ida
1995	Nixon	Hannah Nixon
1995	Powder	Jessie Caldwell
1995	My Family	Gloria
1994	Pontiac Moon	Katherine Bellamy
1994	It Runs in the Family	Mrs. Parker (Mother)
1994	Clifford	Sarah Davis
1993	Philadelphia	Belinda Conine
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Betty Carver
1992	Earth and the American Dream	Reader (voice)
1991	Back to the Future: Dickens of a Christmas	Clara Clayton Brown (voice)
1991	The Butcher's Wife	Stella Keefover
1990	The Long Walk Home	Narrator (voice)
1990	Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret	Self
1990	The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy	Self
1990	Back to the Future Part III	Clara Clayton
1989	Parenthood	Karen Buckman
1989	Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre	Self (voice)
1989	Miss Firecracker	Elaine Rutledge
1988	The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank	Miep Gies
1987	The Whales of August	Young Sarah
1987	End of the Line	Rose Pickett
1987	Dead of Winter	Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn
1985	One Magic Christmas	Ginny Grainger
1983	Little Red Riding Hood	Little Red Riding Hood a.k.a. Mary
1983	Romantic Comedy	Phoebe Craddock
1983	Cross Creek	Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1982	A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy	Adrian
1981	Ragtime	Mother
1980	Melvin and Howard	Lynda Dummar
1979	Time After Time	Amy Robbins
1978	Goin' South	Julia Tate

Data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.