Mary Steenburgen
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Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
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.
Known for
Credits
The Dink (2026)
as Candace
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The Help (2011)
as Elaine Stein
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
as Clara Clayton
The Proposal (2009)
as Grace Paxton
Nightmare Alley (2021)
as Mrs. Kimball
Elf (2003)
as Emily
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
as Betty Carver
Step Brothers (2008)
as Nancy Huff
I Am Sam (2001)
as Dr. Blake
Philadelphia (1993)
as Belinda Conine
My Family (1995)
as Gloria
The Brave One (2007)
as Carol
Numb (2007)
as Dr. Blaine
Dirty Girl (2010)
as Peggy
Inland Empire (2006)
as Visitor #2
Four Christmases (2008)
as Marilyn
Last Vegas (2013)
as Diana Boyle
A Dog's Perfect Christmas (2026)
as Claire
Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023)
as Carol
Parenthood (1989)
as Karen Buckman
Powder (1995)
as Jessie Caldwell
The One I Love (2014)
as Mom (voice)
Honeydripper (2007)
as Amanda Winship
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)
as Emma Wheeler
Time After Time (1979)
as Amy Robbins
Happiest Season (2020)
as Tipper
Life as a House (2001)
as Colleen Beck
Flannery (2019)
as Flannery O'Connor (voice)
Book Club (2018)
as Carol
Let's Have Kids! (2026)
as Sue
In the Electric Mist (2009)
as Bootsie Robicheaux
The Long Walk Home (1990)
as Narrator (voice)
The Discovery (2017)
as Interviewer
The Book of Love (2017)
as Julia Mureaux
Elf: That's a Wrap (2004)
as Self
Nixon (1995)
as Hannah Nixon
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
as Jeannie
The Butcher's Wife (1991)
as Stella Keefover
Character Building: Inside 'Life As a House' (2002)
as Self
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)
as Adrian
Tales from the Future (2010)
as Self
Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood (2003)
as Mary
Ragtime (1981)
as Mother
One Magic Christmas (1985)
as Ginny Grainger
End of the Line (1987)
as Rose Pickett
Clarkworld (2009)
as Self
7 Days in Hell (2015)
as Louisa Poole
The Dead Girl (2006)
as Leah's Mother
Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas (2021)
as Maggie Clarke
Back to the Future: Dickens of a Christmas (1991)
as Clara Clayton Brown (voice)
Last Train to Fortune (2026)
as Miss Maybelle
Dead of Winter (1987)
as Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn
Hope Springs (2003)
as Joanie Fisher
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2006)
as Marienne Hotchkiss
Goin' South (1978)
as Julia Tate
Outlaw Country (2012)
as Anastasia Lee
Clifford (1994)
as Sarah Davis
The Trumpet of the Swan (2001)
as Mother (voice)
It Runs in the Family (1994)
as Mrs. Parker (Mother)
Cross Creek (1983)
as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Fight for Your Right Revisited (2011)
as Café Patron
The Whales of August (1987)
as Young Sarah
Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow (2015)
as Aunt Cly
Dean (2016)
as Carol
The Grass Harp (1996)
as Sister Ida
Elvis & Anabelle (2007)
as Geneva Leigh
I Do... Until I Don't (2017)
as Cybil Burger
Casa de los Babys (2003)
as Gayle
Katie Says Goodbye (2018)
as Maybelle
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic (2023)
as Self
Wish You Were Dead (2002)
as Sally Rider
Nobel Son (2007)
as Sarah Michaelson
Living with the Dead (2002)
as Detective Karen Condrin
Melvin and Howard (1980)
as Lynda Dummar
Earth and the American Dream (1992)
as Reader (voice)
Miss Firecracker (1989)
as Elaine Rutledge
30 Rock: A One-Time Special (2020)
as Mary Steenburgen
Romantic Comedy (1983)
as Phoebe Craddock
Song One (2014)
as Karen Ellis
Nobody's Baby (2001)
as Estelle
Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl (2022)
as Self
The Open Road (2009)
as Katherine
Picnic (2000)
as Rosemary Sydney
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2010)
as Mrs. Yankovic
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (1989)
as Self (voice)
Sunshine State (2002)
as Francine Pinkney
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988)
as Miep Gies
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story (2000)
Actor
Pontiac Moon (1994)
as Katherine Bellamy
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret (1990)
as Self
It Must Be Love (2004)
as Clem Gazelle
The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy (1990)
as Self
Little Red Riding Hood (1983)
as Little Red Riding Hood a.k.a. Mary
Brahmin Bulls (2013)
as Helen West
Easy's Waltz (2025)
Actor
Antiquities (2019)
as Dr. Margot
About Sarah (1998)
as Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey
Remembering Ragtime (2004)
as Mother (archive footage)
O Lucky Malcolm! (2006)
as Self