Mare Winningham

Mare Winningham (born May 16, 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA) is an American film and television actress.

Related Topics:
May 16 - 1959 - Phoenix - Arizona - USA - American

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Mare 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 offered a role on the short-lived pioneer drama "The Young Pioneers." Though the series ended with just three episodes being broadcast, a number of television projects followed.

Related Topics:
1976 - John Lennon - Paul McCartney - The Gong Show

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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. She appeared in the epic miniseries "The Thorn Birds" in 1983 and starred as Helen Keller in 1984's Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues.

Related Topics:
1980 - Emmy Award - TV movie - Dennis Weaver - Cancer - The Thorn Birds - 1983 - Helen Keller - 1984

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Winningham broke into film 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 Emmy nominated Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Love Is Never Silent. Mare finished the 80s with two Hollywood films, the nuclear disaster drama Miracle Mile (1988) and the Tom Hanks vehicle Turner & Hooch in 1989.

Related Topics:
1985 - St. Elmo's Fire - Brat pack - Hallmark Hall of Fame - Miracle Mile - 1988 - Tom Hanks - Turner & Hooch - 1989

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The early 90s brought a number of forgettable television projects as Winningham took a break to be with her husband, William Maple, and four children, Riley, Paddy, Jack, and Calla. She had married Maple in 1983. She returned to film for 1994's all-star Wyatt Earp and the family drama The War, both starring Kevin Costner.

Related Topics:
1983 - 1994 - Wyatt Earp - Kevin Costner

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1995 brought Georgia, a thoughtful character study of two sisters (Winningham and Jennifer Jason Leigh), which earned Winningham both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination. Two years later, she starred opposite Gary Sinise in George Wallace, for which she garnered another Golden Globe nomination and won an Emmy Award.

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1995 - Georgia - Jennifer Jason Leigh - Golden Globe - Academy Award - Gary Sinise - Emmy Award

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Since then she made acclaimed appearances on the series "ER" and "," 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.

Related Topics:
ER - 2001 - Sam Neill - David E. Kelley - Film festivals - 2003 - 2004 - American - 2005

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Though born an Irish Catholic, she is now a fairly devout convert to Judaism.

Related Topics:
Irish - Catholic - Convert - Judaism

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