Mare Winningham

Actor

  • Born: May 16, 1959
  • Place of Birth: Phoenix, Arizona

Contribution: Mare Winningham is an Academy Award–nominated and Emmy Award–winning actor best known for her roles in the television movies Amber Waves (1980) and George Wallace (1997) and the television miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012).

Background

Mary Megan Winningham was born on May 16, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona. As a child, she moved with her parents and four siblings to Los Angeles, California. Winningham became interested in the performing arts at a young age, initially wanting to become a folk singer, but she soon found herself attracted to acting.

As a teenager, Winningham wanted to attend a summer camp for the performing arts, but her family was unable to pay for it. To raise money, Winningham entered herself as a contestant on the NBC talent show The Gong Show in the hope of winning the top prize of just over five hundred dollars. She won the money with a cover of a Beatles song, and the experience led her to realize that she wanted to entertain for a living. After starring as Maria in a production of The Sound of Music at Chatsworth High School, Winningham signed with an agent who had seen the show, beginning her professional career.

Career

Winningham began to appear on television while still in her late teens, acting in television movies such as Young Pioneers (1976) and episodes of shows such as Police Woman and Starsky and Hutch. In 1980, Winningham played a supporting role in the television film Amber Waves. For her performance as the character of Marlene Burkhardt, Winningham won the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a television movie.

Later that year, Winningham made her feature film debut in One Trick Pony, written by and starring singer-songwriter Paul Simon. She returned to television films in 1982 with Missing Children: A Mother’s Story, followed by Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues in 1984. Winningham played a supporting character in the popular coming-of-age film St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) and went on to fill supporting roles in a string of films, including Nobody’s Fool (1986) and Made in Heaven (1987).

Winningham starred in numerous television films during the early 1990s and in 1994 appeared in the historical feature film Wyatt Earp. The following year she costarred in the film Georgia, a drama about a punk singer and her sister, a successful folk musician played by Winningham. The film was well received, and Winningham was nominated for the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1996.

Winningham followed this acclaimed performance with yet another, this time in the 1996 television film The Boys Next Door. She was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress for her performance. The next year, Winningham achieved further television success in the television biopic George Wallace. Critics hailed Winningham’s performance as Lurleen Wallace, wife of the titular Alabama governor, which earned her a second Emmy Award.

In addition to acting, Winningham continued to sing and play guitar throughout the 1990s, providing songs for the soundtracks to Georgia and the comedy Teresa’s Tattoo (1994). She recorded two folk albums during the decade, What Might Be (1992) and Lonesomers (1998), and would go on to release her third album, Refuge Rock Sublime, in 2007.

Throughout the 2000s, Winningham continued to play supporting roles in television films and also guest starred in high-profile shows such as Six Feet Under and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, earning an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actress for her performance in the latter series. Winningham later costarred in the short-lived series Clubhouse and guest starred in several episodes of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

In 2011 Winningham appeared in a supporting role in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, based on a 1941 novel by James M. Cain. The miniseries follows a single mother, played by Kate Winslet, who struggles to support her family during the Great Depression. The series was lauded by critics, and Winningham was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries for her performance.

The following year, Winningham appeared in another well-received television miniseries, the historical drama Hatfields & McCoys. The series tells the story of the real-life feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families on the West Virginia-Kentucky border in the late nineteenth century. The series received widespread acclaim, and Winningham was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress for her portrayal of Sally McCoy, wife of clan leader Randall McCoy.

In January 2013, Winningham made her Broadway debut in a revival of playwright William Inge's play Picnic. Later that year, she guest starred in the CBS science-fiction series Under the Dome, based on the 2009 Stephen King novel. Additionally, she had her first part in the FX anthology series American Horror Story that year. After appearing as Alicia Spencer in the 2013 season Coven, she would go on to return to the show as Rita Gayheart in Freak Show (2014), Hazel Evers in Hotel (2015–16), and Sally Keffler in Cult (2017).

In addition to releasing a fourth album, What's Left Behind, in 2014, Winningham began a recurring role as Cherry Lockhart on the Showtime series The Affair that year and would continue appearing on the show through 2018. Also in 2014, she returned to the Broadway stage for the original production of Casa Valentina. Her performance as Rita earned her a Tony Award nomination for best actress in a featured role in a play. After performing in the Off-Broadway play Her Requiem in early 2016, she maintained a presence in the film industry as she appeared in Geostorm (2017), O.G. (2018), The Seagull (2018), and Dark Waters (2019). Meanwhile, in 2018 she was part of the Off-Broadway production of the musical Girl from the North Country, which features songs by Bob Dylan.

In 2021, Winningham, starred in the television miniseries Dopesick. She then went on to star as Professor Durham in the 2024 film Rob Peace.

Impact

A prolific actor best known for her many dramatic roles in television films and miniseries, Winningham has been recognized with numerous award nominations for her work. Her performances in the miniseries Mildred Pierce and Hatfields & McCoys earned critical acclaim and contributed to the overall success of the series, both of which received a number of prestigious awards.

Personal Life

Winningham was previously married to William Mapel, with whom she had four sons and a daughter, and to A Martinez. While she was married a third time, that marriage also ended in divorce.

Bibliography

Abrams, Natalie. “Mare Winningham to Guest-Star on CBS’ Under the Dome.” TV Guide. CBS Interactive, 1 July 2013. Web. 16 Aug. 2013.

Brantley, Ben. “Kansas Heat That Has Little to Do with the Weather.” New York Times. New York Times, 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Aug. 2013.

Goldberg, Lesley. “‘Under the Dome’ Books Mare Winningham.” Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter, 1 July 2013. Web. 16 Aug. 2013.

Kaufman, Joanne. “They Call Her ‘Mama.’” Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones, 9 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Aug. 2013.

"Mare Winningham." Internet Movie Database, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0001858/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.

Smith, Nina Hämmerling. “Hatfields & McCoys Star Mare Winningham Talks History—Her Own and America’s.” Snakkle. Pontiac Digital Media, 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2013.