Mary Steenburgen

ActorProducerCrew Feb 8 (age 73) Newport, Arkansas, USA 1953–2026 (73 year career)

6.3 avg rating

Biography

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

Film

The Help

Elaine Stein

Film

Back to the Future Part III

Clara Clayton

Film

Philadelphia

Belinda Conine

Film

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Betty Carver

Film

The Proposal

Grace Paxton

Film

I Am Sam

Dr. Blake

Film

Nightmare Alley

Mrs. Kimball

Film

Elf

Emily

Filmography

Acting (145)

Movies (99)

The Dink

2026 Upcoming

as Candace

Jul 23

Last Train to Fortune

2025

Easy's Waltz

2025

2.0

Book Club: The Next Chapter

2023

as Carol

6.3

Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic

2023

as Self

7.8

Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl

as Self

Nightmare Alley

as Mrs. Kimball

Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas

as Maggie Clarke

Happiest Season

as Tipper

30 Rock: A One-Time Special

as Mary Steenburgen

Antiquities

as Dr. Margot

Flannery

as Flannery O'Connor (voice)

Book Club

as Carol

Katie Says Goodbye

as Maybelle

Elf: Buddy's Sing and Cheer Along Edition

2018

as Emily

The Discovery

as Interviewer

The Book of Love

as Julia Mureaux

I Do... Until I Don't

as Cybil Burger

Dean

as Carol

A Walk in the Woods

as Jeannie

7 Days in Hell

as Louisa Poole

Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow

as Aunt Cly

The One I Love

as Mom (voice)

Song One

as Karen Ellis

Brahmin Bulls

as Helen West

Last Vegas

as Diana Boyle

Outlaw Country

as Anastasia Lee

The Help

as Elaine Stein

Fight for Your Right Revisited

2011

as Café Patron

6.6

Clinton Foundation: Celebrity Division

2011

as Self

Dirty Girl

2010

as Peggy

6.0

Tales from the Future

2010

as Self

6.7

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

as Mrs. Yankovic

The Proposal

as Grace Paxton

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

2009

as Emma Wheeler

5.4

In the Electric Mist

2009

as Bootsie Robicheaux

Clarkworld

as Self

The Open Road

as Katherine

Step Brothers

as Nancy Huff

Four Christmases

as Marilyn

The Brave One

as Carol

Honeydripper

as Amanda Winship

Numb

as Dr. Blaine

Elvis & Anabelle

as Geneva Leigh

Nobel Son

as Sarah Michaelson

Inland Empire

as Visitor #2

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School

2006

as Marienne Hotchkiss

The Dead Girl

as Leah's Mother

O Lucky Malcolm!

as Self

Remembering Ragtime

as Mother (archive footage)

It Must Be Love

as Clem Gazelle

Elf

as Emily

Mrs. Pilgrim Goes to Hollywood

2003

as Mary

Hope Springs

as Joanie Fisher

Casa de los Babys

as Gayle

Wish You Were Dead

as Sally Rider

Sunshine State

as Francine Pinkney

Living with the Dead

as Detective Karen Condrin

I Am Sam

as Dr. Blake

Life as a House

as Colleen Beck

Nobody's Baby

as Estelle

The Trumpet of the Swan

as Mother (voice)

Picnic

as Rosemary Sydney

The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story

2000

About Sarah

1998

as Sarah Elizabeth McCaffrey

The Grass Harp

as Sister Ida

Powder

as Jessie Caldwell

Nixon

as Hannah Nixon

My Family

as Gloria

Pontiac Moon

as Katherine Bellamy

It Runs in the Family

1994

as Mrs. Parker (Mother)

5.4

Clifford

1994

as Sarah Davis

5.1

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

as Betty Carver

Philadelphia

as Belinda Conine

Earth and the American Dream

as Reader (voice)

The Butcher's Wife

as Stella Keefover

Back to the Future: Dickens of a Christmas

1991

as Clara Clayton Brown (voice)

Back to the Future Part III

as Clara Clayton

The Long Walk Home

as Narrator (voice)

Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret

1990

as Self

The Secrets of the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy

as Self

Parenthood

as Karen Buckman

Miss Firecracker

as Elaine Rutledge

Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre

1989

as Self (voice)

The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank

as Miep Gies

End of the Line

as Rose Pickett

Dead of Winter

as Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn

The Whales of August

as Young Sarah

One Magic Christmas

as Ginny Grainger

Cross Creek

as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

6.6

Romantic Comedy

1983

as Phoebe Craddock

4.9

Little Red Riding Hood

1983

as Little Red Riding Hood a.k.a. Mary

6.3

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

as Adrian

Ragtime

as Mother

Melvin and Howard

as Lynda Dummar

Time After Time

as Amy Robbins

Goin' South

as Julia Tate

Let's Have Kids!

as Sue

A Dog’s Perfect Christmas

Television (46)

BULLDOZER

2025

as Kathy

A Man on the Inside

2024

as Mona Margadoff

7.5

In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin

as Self

Mr. Mayor

as Adriana

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

2020

as Maggie Clarke

7.5

Stars in the House

2020

as Self

Reunited Apart

2020

as Self

5.5

The Kelly Clarkson Show

2019

as Self - Guest

6.4

On Becoming a God in Central Florida

2019

as Ellen Joy Bonar

6.5

Bless the Harts

2019

as Crystalynn (voice)

The Conners

as Marcy Bellinger

The Good Place

as Teacher

Grace and Frankie

as Miriam

The Last Man on Earth

as Gail Klosterman

Togetherness

as Linda

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014

as Self - Guest

5.2

Orange Is the New Black

as Delia Powell

Finding Your Roots

as Self

Wilfred

as Catherine Newman

Justified

as Katherine Hale

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

as Self - Guest

30 Rock

as Diana Jessup

American Dad!

as (voice)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

as Self

The Tony Danza Show

as Self - Guest

Joan of Arcadia

as Helen Girardi

E!'s 101

as Self

Living with the Dead

2002

as Detective Karen Condrin

Good Day Live

as Self

Dinner for Five

Curb Your Enthusiasm

as Mary Steenburgen

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

as Grace Rinato

Noah's Ark

as Naamah

Becker

as Patient (uncredited)

The View

as Self

Gulliver's Travels

as Mary Gulliver

Ink

as Kate Montgomery

Ellen

as Self (uncredited)

Frasier

as Marjorie (voice)

Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories

1992

as Narrator (voice)

10.0

Back to the Future

1991

as Clara Clayton (voice)

6.1

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

1988

as Self - Guest

5.4

Tender Is the Night

1985

as Nicole Diver (née Warren)

6.3

Faerie Tale Theatre

1982

as Mary / Little Red Riding Hood

8.1

The Oscars

1953

as Self

7.0

Happiness Isn't Everything

as Audrey Veill

Crew (5)

Movies (4)

Best Summer Ever

Executive Producer

The One I Love

Thanks

Bye Bye Benjamin

Executive Producer

End of the Line

1987

Executive Producer

5.2

Television (1)

Ink

1996

Producer

4.0