Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Mary Steenburgen. Check it out!
Mary Steenburgen is an Academy Award-winning American actress.
Interesting Facts about Mary Steenburgen
- She was the third of four consecutive winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to have the initials “M.S.”. The others are: Maggie Smith for California Suite (1978), Meryl Streep for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Maureen Stapleton for Reds (1981).
- Returned to old high school in North Little Rock, Arkansas in April 2002, to teach drama workshops to students, fulfilling promise made to parents of teenager Thea Leopoulos, who was killed in a traffic accident in 2001.
- Was pregnant with her daughter Lilly McDowell when she completed filming on Ragtime (1981).
- Shares a birthday with Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil, her The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) co-star Seth Green, James Dean and Ethan Phillips.
- Was in the film End of the Line (1987) in which she played the wife of a railroad worker. The film used Union Pacific tracks in Arkansas, which were formerly the tracks of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Mary’s father was a freight train conductor on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in Arkansas.
- Is one of 6 actresses to have won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a character who is pregnant at some point during the film, hers being for Melvin and Howard (1980). The others are Mary Astor for The Great Lie (1941), Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Brenda Fricker for My Left Foot (1989), Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener (2005), and Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006).
- She played Jason Ritter’s mother in Joan of Arcadia (2003). Her husband Ted Danson played Ritter’s father in Mumford (1999).
- Mother, with ex-husband Malcolm McDowell, of daughter Lilly McDowell (Lilly Amanda McDowell; b. January 22, 1981) and son Charlie McDowell (Charles Malcolm McDowell; b. July 10, 1983).
- A notable patron of the arts who has set up exhibits in the past; her husband, actor Ted Danson, sculpts as a sideline.
- Stepmother of Kate Danson and Alexis Danson.
- Her mother, Nellie May Wall Steenburgen, died on January 26, 2010 at age 86.
- Has one granddaughter, Clementine Mae Walton (b. January 2012), through her daughter Lilly McDowell.
Personal Quotes by Mary Steenburgen
I’d already made the decision before I’d even read it-just because it was John Sayles. Then when I read it, the themes were actually themes that have been a big part of my life.
Mary Steenburgen
I take the fact that films cost a lot of money very seriously, but once in a while to have somebody say, This is a big scene, take your time with it, is important. That’s John Sayles.
Mary Steenburgen
It was a few days later I came out to Hollywood for a screen test, and so did a lot of other people. So, I really didn’t think I would get it. I was definitely the one that was least likely to get it, because everyone else was an already established star.
Mary Steenburgen
My family didn’t have money to travel, so reading was how I knew about the world. It made me hungry to have more experiences than just what I could possibly experience in Arkansas.
Mary Steenburgen
There’s a certain arrogance to an actor who will look at a script and feel like, because the words are simple, maybe they can paraphrase it and make it better.
Mary Steenburgen
