Mary Nell Steenburgen, born on February 8, 1953, in Newport, Arkansas, is an Academy Award-winning American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. She grew up in a family with a strong appreciation for the arts, and her parents, Nellie Mae (née Wall) and Maurice H. Steenburgen, encouraged her creative pursuits.

She attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, before moving to New York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.

Mary Steenburgen made her professional acting debut in the Western comedy film "Goin' South" (1978), directed by Jack Nicholson. She gained critical acclaim for her role in "Melvin and Howard" (1980), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

She continued to impress audiences and critics with her performances in films such as "Ragtime" (1981), "Back to the Future Part III" (1990), "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), and "Philadelphia" (1993).

Mary Steenburgen has appeared in numerous television shows, including "Tender Is the Night" (1985), for which she received a BAFTA TV Award nomination, and "The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank" (1988), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

She has also worked as a singer-songwriter, contributing songs to films such as "Wild Rose" (2018), for which she received the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song for "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)."

Mary Steenburgen is married to actor Ted Danson, and they have two children together.