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Mare Winningham

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Mare Winningham
Winningham in 2012
Born
Mary Megan Winningham

(1959-05-16)May 16, 1959(age 65)
Phoenix, Arizona,U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer-songwriter
Years active1976–present
Spouses
​
​
(m.1981;div.1981)​
William Mapel
​
(divorced)​
Jason Trucco
​
(divorced)​
​
(m.2021)​
[1]
Children5
Musical career
Genres

Mary Megan Winningham,known professionally asMare Winningham(/mɛər/;born May 16, 1959),[2]is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the recipient of twoPrimetime Emmy Awardsand has been nominated for anAcademy Award,twoGolden Globe Awards,and twoTony Awards.

An eight-timeEmmy Awardnominee, she wonOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or MovieforAmber Wavesin 1980 andGeorge Wallacein 1998. She was also nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actressfor the 1995 filmGeorgia.

Winningham's other film and TV roles includeThe Thornbirds(1983),St. Elmo's Fire(1985),Miracle Mile(1988),Turner & Hooch(1989),The War(1994),Dandelion(2004),Swing Vote(2008),Brothers(2009),Mildred Pierce(2011),Hatfields & McCoys(2012), and appeared inAmerican Horror Storyfor four seasons:Coven(2013),Freak Show(2014),Hotel(2015–16), andCult(2017). She was cast as Cherry Lockhart for Seasons 1–2 and 4 as Cole's mother in the TV seriesThe Affair.

Winningham made her New York stage debut in the 2007Off-Broadwaymusical10 Million Miles,for which she received aDrama Desk Awardnomination. She made herBroadwaydebut in the 2013 revival ofPicnic.In 2014, she was nominated for theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Playfor the original Broadway production ofCasa Valentina.

Early life[edit]

Winningham was born inPhoenix, Arizona,and raised inNorthridge, California.[3]She is the daughter of Marilyn Jean (née Maloney) andSam Neal Winningham.[4][5][6]She has three brothers and one sister. Her father was football coach, athletic director and later the chairman of the Department of Physical Education atCalifornia State University, Northridge(CSUN),[7]and her mother was an English teacher and college counselor atMonroe High SchoolandGrant High School.She credits her first interest in acting to seeing an interview withKym Karath(who played Gretl inThe Sound of Music) onArt Linkletter's television showHouse Partywhen she was five or six years old.

Winningham attended Andasol Avenue Elementary School, where her favorite activities included drama and playing the guitar and drums. She took the extended drama option at Patrick Henry Junior High School and continued to study over her summer vacations at CSUN's Teenage Drama Workshop. It was at this time that she adopted the nickname "Mare". Her mother arranged for her to go toChatsworth High School.In grade 12, Winningham starred in a production ofThe Sound of Music,playing the part of Maria, opposite classmateKevin Spaceyas Captain Von Trapp.[8]Her high school boyfriend wasVal Kilmer.[9]She graduated co-valedictorian (with Spacey) of her high school class in 1977.[10]

Career[edit]

Acting[edit]

Winningham began her career as a singer-songwriter. In 1976 and 1977, she got her break singingThe Beatlessong "Here, There and Everywhere"onThe Gong Show.[11]Although Winningham received no record contracts as result of the appearance, she was signed to an acting contract by Hollywood agent Meyer Mishkin, and received herScreen Actor's Guildcard for doing three lines in an episode ofJames at 15.That year she was offered a role onYoung PioneersandYoung Pioneers Christmas,pilots for the short-lived 1978 dramaThe Young Pioneers.Though the series ended with just three episodes being broadcast, a number of television projects followed, including parts onPolice Womanin 1978 andStarsky and Hutchin 1979. Later that same year, she played the role of teenage outcast Jenny Flowers in the made-for-TV filmThe Death of Ocean View Park.

In 1980, Winningham starred inOff the Minnesota Stripplaying a young prostitute. She then won anEmmy AwardforBest Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Moviefor her role in the critically acclaimedAmber Waves,a television film about a rough farmer (Dennis Weaver) who finds he is dying of cancer.[12]In that year, she also broke into feature films withOne Trick Pony,starringPaul Simon.In 1983, Winningham was nominated for a CanadianGenie Awardfor her work in the futuristic 1981 dramaThreshold,and appeared in the 1983 epic miniseriesThe Thorn Birds,in which she played Justine O'Neill. In 1984, she starred asHelen KellerinHelen Keller: The Miracle Continues.[3]

Winningham achieved greater fame co-starring inSt. Elmo's Fire(1985), alongside the other original "brat pack"alumni.[3]Despite the film's success, she failed to cash in on her teen idol status, and returned to television in theHallmark Hall of Famemovie,Love Is Never Silent,for which she received an Emmy nomination. Another well-known and well-received performance was as a homeless young mother in the television movieGod Bless the Child.Winningham finished the 1980s with two Hollywood films: the nuclear disaster drama,Miracle Mile(1988), for which she received anIndependent Spirit Awardnomination in 1989, and theTom HanksvehicleTurner & Hoochin 1989. In 1988, Winningham also starred in the Los Angeles stage production ofHurlyburlywithSean PennandDanny Aiello.

In the early 1990s, she returned to film for 1994's all-starWyatt Earpand the family dramaThe War,both starringKevin Costner.1995 broughtGeorgia,a thoughtful character study of two sisters (Winningham andJennifer Jason Leigh), which earned WinninghamScreen Actors GuildandAcademy Awardnominations.[3]Two years later, she starred oppositeGary SiniseinGeorge Wallace,for which she garnered herGolden Globe Awardnomination[citation needed]and won anEmmy Award.[12]

She made acclaimed appearances on the seriesERandLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit,as well as appearances in the 2001 television projectSally HemingsoppositeSam Neilland the short-livedDavid E. KelleyseriesThe Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.Also in 2001, she appeared in the made-for-TV movieSnap DecisionwithFelicity Huffman.She also appeared in the independent filmDandelion,which was a staple offilm festivalsworldwide between 2003 and 2004 and had a limited American release in October 2005.

In 2006, she landed the role of Susan Grey on the ABC dramaGrey's Anatomywhere she played the stepmother of one of the main characters, Dr. Meredith Grey. Her character was killed off in May 2007.[3]In 2006, Winningham voiced the audio version ofStephen King'sLisey's Story.In 2007, she voiced Alice Hoffman'sSkylight Confessions.In 2010, Winningham starred in an episode ofCold Caseas main characterLilly Rush's stepmother, Celeste Cooper. In 2011 she appeared in the fourth episode ofTorchwood: Miracle Dayas characterEllis Hartley Monroe.[13]She also starred in miniseriesMildred PierceandHatfields & McCoysand garnered another two Emmy nominations.[12]In 2012, she appearedOff-Broadwayas Beth, the mother in an intellectual, though dysfunctional, British family, in the award-winning comic-dramaTribesbyNina Raine.In 2021 she appeared inDopesickon Hulu with Michael Keaton.

In 2022, she was nominated for a second Tony for her leading performance inGirl from the North Country.

Music[edit]

Winningham has alternated her film career with a music career,[14]and has used some of her films as a way to showcase her singing. She can be heard singing a few bars of "Me and Bobby McGee"inOne Trick Pony.In 1981, she played a teenage runaway with an aspiration to become a singer in the TV filmFreedom,and sang six songs in the film, all written byJanis Ian.She appeared as a club singer in the filmTeresa's Tattoo,and sang three songs in the filmGeorgia.

Winningham has recorded four albums:[3]What Might Be(1992) on the Bay Cities label,Lonesomers(1997) produced byCarla Olsonon the Razor and Tie label, andRefuge Rock Sublime(2007) on the Craig & Co. label.Lonesomersis a folksy album dealing with relationship issues. The country/bluegrass/Jewish/folk songs onRefuge Rock Sublimedeal mostly with her recent conversion to Judaism, and include the tracks, "What Would David Do," "A Convert Jig" and the Israelinational anthem"Hatikva".Winningham released her fourth albumWhat's Left Behindindependently on digital outlets in March 2014.

Personal life[edit]

Winningham has been married four times and divorced three. In the early 1980s, she was briefly married to actorA Martinez.They both starred in the miniseriesThe Young Pioneers.[15]After their divorce, she married television technical advisor William Mapel, with whom she had five children: Riley Mapel was the oldest son (b. 1981) and died by suicide in 2005; Patrick Mapel (b. 1983); Jack Mapel (b. 1985); the only daughter Calla Louise Mapel (b. 1987) and Happy Atticus Mapel (b. 1988). The marriage ended in 1994.[16]Winningham later married and divorced artist Jason Trucco. At the end of 2021, she and long-time friend and fellow actorAnthony Edwardseloped.[17]The two have known each other for 35 years.[18][19]

Winningham was raised a Roman Catholic. Sheconvertedto Judaism in her early 40s as a personal decision having nothing to do with a marriage, and is an observant Jew.[20]

Filmography[edit]

Main article:Mare Winningham filmography

Discography[edit]

  • What Might Be(1992)
  • Georgia: Original Soundtrack(1995)
  • Lonesomers(1997)
  • Refuge Rock Sublime(2007)
  • What's Left Behind(2014)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Main article:List of awards and nominations received by Mare Winningham

References[edit]

  1. ^Jackson, Dory (February 23, 2022)."Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham Quietly Eloped Last Year: 'We're Too Old to Throw Weddings'".People.RetrievedMay 12,2022.
  2. ^"Winningham, Mare 1959–".Encyclopedia.Cengage.RetrievedJune 10,2022.
  3. ^abcdef"Mare Winningham".Yahoo Movies.Archived fromthe originalon December 4, 2013.
  4. ^"Elusive Break".tribunedigital-chicagotribune.
  5. ^"Edward-J-Maloney-Papillion – User Trees".Genealogy.
  6. ^"Mare Winningham".
  7. ^Smith, Cecil (May 5, 1980). "Mare Does a Lot of Cheering: Actress Mare Winningham".Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^Kaufman, Joanne (January 9, 2013)."They Call Her 'Mama'".Wall Street Journal.RetrievedNovember 29,2016.
  9. ^"From 'Top Gun' to '10 Commandments,' Val Kilmer's New Book Details Highs and Lows".Variety.April 30, 2020.
  10. ^"A Conversation with Kevin Spacey".cinequest.org.
  11. ^VideoonYouTube
  12. ^abc"Mare Winningham".Television Academy.
  13. ^Doctor Who Magazine(435). June 2011.{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  14. ^Wyma, Mike (March 29, 1991)."Actress Has Her Sights Set on a Musical Career".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJune 3,2019.
  15. ^Buchalter, Gail (May 25, 1981)."Her Name Rhymes with Flair, and Actress Mare Winningham Has It to Spare".People.RetrievedOctober 19,2020.
  16. ^Welsh, Anne Marie (April 6, 2008)."Mare Winningham, deep in the heart of Tennessee".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 14, 2022.
  17. ^title=Anthony Edwards Knows Some Good Things Take Time|https:// esquire /entertainment/tv/a39038065/anthony-edwards-life-after-er-inventing-anna-2022/
  18. ^Roberto, Melissa (April 25, 2020)."'Top Gun' star Anthony Edwards reveals how he's connecting with others in quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic ".Fox News.RetrievedMarch 21,2021.
  19. ^Teeman, Tim (April 17, 2018)."'ER' Star Anthony Edwards: I Don't See My Childhood Sexual Abuse as a 'Tragedy'".The Daily Beast.RetrievedMarch 21,2021.
  20. ^Kurtz, Suzanne (March 16, 2007)."Actress Mare Winningham Sings a" Convert's Jig "".Hillel News.RetrievedOctober 19,2020.

External links[edit]

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