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Mary Megan "Mare" Winningham (born May 16,
1959 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA) is an American film and television actress.
Winningham was raised in Northridge, California with three brothers and one
sister. Her father was the Chairman of the Department of Physical Education
at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and her mother was an
English teacher and college counselor at a local high school. She credits
her first interest in acting to seeing an interview with Kym Karath (who
played "Gretl" in The Sound of Music) on Art Linkletter's television show
House Party when she was five or six years old.
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Winningham attended Andasol Avenue Elementary School in Northridge,
California - her favorite subjects included drama. She also signed up for
guitar lessons at a local park, and by the 6th grade was, in her view, "pretty
good". It was at this time that she adopted the nickname "Mare". She
attended Patrick Henry Junior High School, taking the extended drama option,
and on summer vacations she studied drama at CSUN's Teenage Drama Workshop.
Though she was supposed to attend Granada Hills High School, instead
Winnigham's mother assisted her in entering Chatsworth High School, as it
was reknowned for its drama department. In Grade 12 Winningham starred in
the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of
Maria, opposite Kevin Spacey as Captain Von Trapp.
Though born an Irish Catholic, in 2000 Winningham felt her spiritual life
was lacking, and, based on a recommendation from a friend, in November 2001
she signed up for a class given by Rabbi Neal Wienberg at the University of
Judaism in Los Angeles, California. On March 3, 2003 she converted to
Judaism, and became a member of two Conservative synagogues, Temple Beth Am
in Los Angeles, and Temple Knesset Israel in Hollywood, California.
Winnigham was married to the actor A Martinez; they divorced in 1981. In
1982 she married William Maple; they are now divorced. Winningham has five
children, Riley Maple (born 1981), Paddy and Jack Maple (born 1985), Happy
Maple, and Calla Louise Maple (born 1987).
Winningham began her entertaining career as a struggling singer-songwriter.
In 1976 she got her break singing the John Lennon-Paul McCartney composition
"Here, There, and Everywhere" on "The Gong Show." Though Winningham received
no record contracts as result of the appearance, she was signed to an acting
contract by Hollywood agent Meyer Mishkin, and received her Screen Actor's
Guild card for doing three lines in an episode of James at 15. That year she
was offered a role on Young Pioneers and Young Pioneers Christmas, pilots
for the short-lived 1978 pioneer drama The Young Pioneers. Though the series
ended with just three episodes being broadcast, a number of television
projects followed, including parts on Police Woman in 1978 and Starsky and
Hutch in 1979.
In 1980 Winningham won a Best Supporting Actress Emmy Award for her role in
the critically acclaimed Amber Waves, a TV movie about a rough farmer
(Dennis Weaver) who finds he is dying of cancer. In that year she also broke
into film in One Trick Pony, starring Paul Simon. In 1983 Winningham was
nominated for a Canadian Genie Award for her work in the futuristic 1981
drama Threshold, and appeared in the epic miniseries The Thorn Birds. In
1984 she starred as Helen Keller in Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues.
Winningham achieved greater fame in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire as one of the
original "brat pack" alumni. Despite the film's success, she refused to cash
in on her teen idol status, and returned to television in the Hallmark Hall
of Fame movie, Love Is Never Silent, for which she received an Emmy
nomination. Winningham finished the 80s with two Hollywood films, the
nuclear disaster drama Miracle Mile (1988), for which she received an
Independent Spirit Award nomination in 1989, and the Tom Hanks vehicle
Turner & Hooch in 1989. In 1988 Winningham also starred in the Los Angeles
stage production of Hurlyburly with Sean Penn and Danny Aiello.
The early 90s brought a number of forgettable television projects as
Winningham took a break to be with her husband, William Maple, and five
children. She returned to film for 1994's all-star Wyatt Earp and the family
drama The War, both starring Kevin Costner.
1995 brought Georgia, a thoughtful character study of two sisters
(Winningham and Jennifer Jason Leigh), which earned Winningham Golden Globe
Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award nominations. Two years later,
she starred opposite Gary Sinise in George Wallace, for which she garnered
another Golden Globe Award nomination, and won an Emmy Award.
Since then she made acclaimed appearances on the series "ER" and "Law and
Order: SVU," as well as appearances in the 2001 television project Sally
Hemmings, opposite Sam Neill and the short-lived David E. Kelley series "The
Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire." Winningham's most recent project is
the independent film Dandelion, which was a staple of film festivals
worldwide between 2003 and 2004 and is set for a limited American release in
October of 2005.
Winningham has also recorded two albums, What Might Be on the Bay Cities
label, and Lonesomers, on the Razor and Tie label. |
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MARE WINNINGHAM PICTURES |
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MOST POPULAR
Angelina Jolie
Jessica Alba
Paris Hilton
Scarlett Johansson
Jessica Simpson
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lindsay Lohan
Shakira
Beyonce
Hilary Duff
ADDITIONS
Miley Cyrus
Rihanna
Hayden Panettiere
Miranda Cosgrove
Selena Gomez
Demi Lovato
Vanessa Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale
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