Mary Steenburgen made her screen debut in the 1978 American Western-comedy film ‘Goin' South’ directed by Jack Nicholson. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. The following year, she starred as ‘Amy Robbins’ in the Nicholas Meyer-directed American science fiction film ‘Time After Time.’ The film saw mostly positive reviews upon release. In 1980, she portrayed ‘Lynda West Dummar’ in the American comedy-drama film ‘Melvin and Howard’ directed by Jonathan Demme. The film opened to critical acclaim and sits on a 91% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. Steenburgen also won several awards, including the ‘Golden Globe Award’ and the ‘Academy Award,’ for her performance in the film. She went on to star in films like ‘Ragtime’ (1981), ‘A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy’ (1982), ‘Cross Creek’ (1983), ‘One Magic Christmas’ (1985), ‘Dead of Winter’ (1987), ‘End of the Line’ (1987), ‘Miss Firecracker’ (1989), ‘Back to the Future Part III’ (1990), ‘The Butcher's Wife’ (1991), and ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’ (1993). In 1993, she starred as ‘Belinda Conine’ in the American legal drama film ‘Philadelphia’ directed by Jonathan Demme. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and was a major box office success, grossing over $206.7 million on a budget of $26 million.
She continued to star in films like ‘Clifford’ (1994), ‘My Family’ (1995), ‘Powder’ (1995), ‘Nixon’ (1995), ‘Nobody's Baby’ (2001), ‘Life as a House’ (2001), ‘Sunshine State’ (2002), ‘Wish You Were Dead’ (2002), ‘Hope Springs’ (2003), and ‘Casa de los Babys’ (2003). She portrayed ‘Emily Hobbs’ in the 2003 American Christmas comedy film ‘Elf’ directed by Jon Favreau. The film was lauded by critics and did impressive business at the box office, grossing over $225.1 million on a $33 million budget. She next starred in films like ‘Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School’ (2005), ‘The Dead Girl’ (2006), ‘Elvis and Anabelle’ (2007), ‘The Brave One’ (2007), ‘Step Brothers’ (2008), ‘In the Electric Mist’ (2009), ‘The Proposal’ (2009), ‘Dirty Girl’ (2010), ‘The Help’ (2011), ‘Last Vegas’ (2013), ‘Brahmin Bulls’ (2013), ‘Song One’ (2014), ‘A Walk in the Woods’ (2015), ‘Dean’ (2016), ‘The Discovery’ (2017), ‘Book Club’ (2018), ‘Flannery’ (2019), and ‘Happiest Season’ (2020). She was last seen in the 2021 American neo-noir psychological thriller film ‘Nightmare Alley’ directed by Guillermo del Toro. While the film opened to positive reviews, it failed to perform at the box office.
Based on a book of the same name, The Help details the daily life and problems of African-American maids in the early 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, through the eyes and writing of an aspiring author, who hopes to publish a book about this topic.
In this sequel, the story continues from where the events of ‘Fight for Your Right’ music video end. The Beasties get drunk in a liquor store, and create general chaos playing drunken antics on many Hollywood big-wigs. Then they run into ‘Beastie Boys from future’ who challenge them to a wild break-dance contest that necessitates intervention by cops….played by real Beastie Boys.
One of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia, Philadelphia is a gripping tale of a homosexual senior associate at a large corporate law firm who gets fired due to his sexuality, and his fight to get justice.
Gilbert Grape’s life has nothing special, only a bunch of responsibilities - he works at a grocery store and takes care of his family that comprises two sisters, an extremely obese mother and a mentally impaired brother. Then one day, he meets and falls in love with Becky who encourages him to focus on his own happiness as well. But how does he find time for that?
Sam Dawson is an intellectually disabled father raising his daughter Lucy with the help of a group of friends who also have disabilities. As Lucy grows up her intellectual superiority threatens their relationship. Things get more complicated when Lucy is placed in foster care but keeps coming back to her dad.
George, a divorcee, is diagnosed with terminal cancer the day he loses his job. He decides to take down the house passed on by his father and build a new one. Trying to reconnect, he asks his rebellious son Sam for help. His ex-wife, friends and neighbors extend their support; soon he realizes, he is not rebuilding a house, but also relationships.
In the final movie in the Back to the Future trilogy, Marty McFly, stuck in 1955, learns about the death of his friend Dr. Emmett Doc Brown in 1885. To save his friend, he travel backs in time in the DeLorean car and convinces Doc to return to the present. However, DeLorean is damaged and the Doc falls for a local woman.
An upper-class family residing in New York finds a baby of African-American origin abandoned in their garden. They soon find out that the police are about to charge the mother with child abandonment and attempted murder. The mother decides to take the child in into their home, although the father is reluctant. However, things get complicated when the child’s father enters the picture.
This biographical drama film revolves around the story of former US President Richard Nixon starting from his days as a young boy. This film portrays Nixon as a complex, admirable and a deeply flawed person, whose misuse of powers led to his career downfall.
Time after Time is an adventure science fiction film which tells the story of HG Wells, British author, who uses his time machine to pursue a serial murderer into the 20th century.
Elvis runs the day-to-day operations of the funeral home which is run by his family. His latest task is embalming an attractive woman named Annabelle. Things however get extremely complicated when it seems that she is still alive, before Elvis could begin his procedure. The revived Annabelle does not wish to return to her previous existence, and therefore, she decides to stay with Elvis instead. Over time, the two find themselves attracted to one another.
A baby boy accidentally lands up with the elves at the North Pole and grows up with them as Buddy. When he realises that he is not one of them, he sets out to meet his biological father, Walter, in New York who has no idea about his existence. As Buddy tries to figure out his place in world, he also spreads Christmas happiness amongst the New Yorkers.
This family comedy drama film is about the life of Gil Buckman who has to work hard to balance his personal and professional life, while also dealing with the problems of his three children. His life gets even more complicated after he discovers that his wife is pregnant again.
Brennan Huff and Dale Doback, two middle-aged slackers living with their parents, are forced to share a room after Brennan's mother and Dale's father get married. Irritated by their rivalry, their parents give them one month ultimatum to find jobs, following which their love for music and shared hatred for Brennen's successful brother Derek bring them together.
Inland Empire is a 2006 mystery drama film, revolving around an actress who begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, and meanwhile, her world starts becoming nightmarish and surreal.
Margaret Tate, a successful executive editor-in-chief of a New York publisher, learns that she is about to be deported back to Canada for violating visa terms, and quickly hatches a plan to marry her timid and abused assistant Andrew Paxton. Now having an upper hand, Andrew agrees to her plan despite both being closely monitored for committing fraud.
The Brave One is a psychological thriller which tells the story of Erica, who is left traumatized after a brutal attack resulting in the death of her fiancé. She eventually decides to take the law in her own hands, and begins a quest of vengeance against the perpetrators.
Aging friends Billy, Paddy, Archie, and Sam decide to go to Las Vegas for Billy’s bachelor party, who is marrying someone much younger. But Paddy and Billy have unresolved issues over Sophie, Paddy’s recently departed wife. The four friends soon realize that the years have not only changed Las Vegas but also their friendship.
Abby, in a relationship with Harper for a year, accepts Harper’s invitation to spend Christmas with her family, and plans to propose at family dinner; but is disheartened to know that Harper has not yet come out to her parents. After meeting Harper’s perfectionist family and her exes who divulge Harper’s refusal to disclose her sexuality, Abby wonders about future of their relationship.
Jeremy ‘Powder’ Reed, a shy albino teenager, raised and home-schooled by grandparents, is sent to home for boys after he is found living alone in grandparents’ farm-house following their death. He struggles to fit in, but his strange appearance and extraordinary intellect make the society fear and shun him. Will his mysterious paranormal powers and his deep compassion bring change for him?
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy is a sex comedy film which tells the story of an eccentric inventor and his wife, who invite two other couples to their summer house for the weekend. Soon, old romances reignite, new romances develop and everyone ends up sneaking off behind other’s backs.
After a young girl is murdered, the clues bring together several people who are seemingly unrelated.
Numb is a romantic comedy drama film which tells the story of Hudson Milbank, a Hollywood screenwriter who is suffering from chronic depression. He is in a mental state where he finds himself without any emotions. He tries one doctor after the doctor, but nothing seems to be working. Things take a turn when he meets a young girl and finds himself attracted to her.
Dirty Girl is a comedy drama film which revolves around Danielle, a promiscuous high school girl who is running away, in order to find her long-absent father. She is accompanied by her gay buddy, after they steal a car belonging to his father.
After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson, an author, returns to his country of origin, the US. He decides to go on a hike with Stephen Katz, one of his oldest friends, in order to reconnect with his homeland.
A scientific discovery by Dr Thomas Harbor helps humanity find definite proof of the afterlife. However, this leads to a lot of people committing suicide to reset their lives. Meanwhile, Will, Dr Harbor’s son, helps a mysterious young woman break away from her dark past.
Goin’ South is a western romantic comedy film which takes us to a town in Texas, shortly after the Civil War. Henry Moon is an outlaw who is captured while trying to make his escape to Mexico. Due to lack of men after the war, the town has a special law that if a single woman offers to marry a condemned man, he can walk free. Henry is in luck since a woman named Julia offers to marry him, but it soon turns out that her main purpose is to have someone to search for gold in her property.
In the Electric Mist is a mystery crime film which revolves around a Louisiana detective named Dave, who tries to link the murder of a prostitute to a mobster in New Orleans who is co-producing a film based on the Civil War. He soon learns that he might be dealing with a serial killer.
Song One is a musical drama film which tells the story of Franny Ellis, a young girl whose musician brother Henry suffers an accident leading him to a coma. She returns home, and goes to great lengths to cure her ailing brother, which includes tracking down his favorite musician James Forester and asking him to pay a visit to Henry.
Coming from dysfunctional families, both Brad and Kate have resolved not to marry or have kids. Every Christmas, they travel abroad in order to avoid visiting their parents, all of whom have remarried. But when their plan to visit Fiji falls apart, they have no other option but to visit their four sets of parents, a visit which changes them for good.
Clifford is a comedy film which revolves around Clifford, an obnoxious ten year old boy, who is eccentric and extremely mischievous. Wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of chaos. To get a relief from his mischief, he is sent to his Uncle Martin’s house by his parents for the weekend. But he has an obsession with Dinosaur World, a theme park located near Martin’s house, and he is not going to let anything stop him from getting there.
Colin is an English painter who is heartbroken after being left by his childhood love and fiancée. He moves to a quiet town in Vermont named Hope, and checks in to a hotel. He begins to draw faces of the town’s eccentric residents. He also befriends a woman named Mandy, but after some time, his ex-girlfriend returns to his life, and tells him that she wants him back.
The Butcher’s Wife is a romantic comedy film which tells the story of a woman with psychic abilities, who impulsively marries a butcher shortly after meeting him, thinking that he is the man of her dreams. After marriage, she returns with him to his home in the city. She begins to have a big impact on the lives of others, as she can find solutions to their problems. However, things get complicated when she meets the actual man of her dreams.
Playwright Jason Carmichael, seeking a writing partner, meets aspiring writer, Phoebe Craddock, on the day he marries affluent Allison St. James. Over the years, Jason-Phoebe’s work-partnership proves successful, but they try to ignore their mutual attraction. Allison’s political ambitions result in Jason’s affair with actress Kate Mallory, which drives away both Allison and Phoebe. Can he disentangle the complications and find happiness?
An estranged couple in New York, Paul and Meryl witness a murder, and after a while, they are sent to a small town as a part of a witness protection programme. Meanwhile, their strained relationship gets a second chance during this period.
A couple whose relationship is crumbling, decide to see a therapist. They receive a recommendation to take a vacation to a beautiful and large estate. They experience bizarre circumstances but soon come to know that their doppelgangers are residing in the estate as well.
When a bamboo-cutter finds a tiny fairy-like girl in a glowing bamboo-shoot, he and his wife lovingly raise the girl, Kaguya, who grows into a beautiful princess. Her parents take her to capital to groom her into a fine lady who is courted by suitors. Then she reveals her origins to her parents.
Mary Steenburgen Awards
| Melvin and Howard | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | 1981 |
| Melvin and Howard | Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture | 1981 |
