Biography for
Mare Winningham More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

16 May 1959, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Birth Name

Mary Megan Winningham

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Mary 'Mare' Megan Winningham is an actress and songwriter who has appeared in nearly 100 TV shows and feature films. She began her career in 1976 as a singer, and starred in numerous and diverse film roles before hitting it big as one of the original Brat Pack in Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985) with Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy.

Mare attended Chatsworth High School with Val Kilmer and Kevin Spacey, but she was bitten by the acting bug much earlier on. She had enjoyed drama and music since primary school, taking a particular interest in the guitar and drums.

Since St. Elmo's Fire (1985), Mare has played some outstanding roles in a number of big films. She starred in the Tom Hanks comedy Turner & Hooch (1989). She has also starred in two feature films with Kevin Costner, The War (1994) and the western Wyatt Earp (1994), the latter directed by Lawrence Kasdan and co-starring Gene Hackman. Mare won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia (1995).

Bad Day on the Block (1997) saw her starring opposite Charlie Sheen and she put in a superb performance in Brothers (2009/I), a war drama co-starring Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.

Her myriad TV roles include "ER" (1994), "Grey's Anatomy" (2005), and "24" (2001) with Kiefer Sutherland.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Lee-Williams

Spouse

Jason Trucco	(15 November 2008 - present)
A Martinez	(1981 - 1981) (divorced)
Bill Mapel	(1981 - 1996) (divorced) 5 children

Trivia

Children: Riley Mapel (1981-2005), Patrick "Paddy" Mapel and Jack Mapel (b. 1985), Calla Louise Mapel (b. 1987), and Happy Atticus Mapel (born 1988).

Her TV debut at age 16 was on "The Gong Show" (1976).

She is also a folk singer-songwriter with a couple of albums.

Went to Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles with Val Kilmer and Kevin Spacey. During their senior year, Kevin played von Trapp and Mare played Maria in a school production of "The Sound of Music." Upon hearing of their Oscar nominations in 1996, Winningham sent a telegram to Spacey saying: "Captain von Trapp - congratulations on your nomination - Maria."

When she appeared as a contestant on TV's "The Gong Show" (1976) (c. 1978), she was introduced as Sharon Shamus by host Chuck Barris. She played guitar and sang the Lennon & McCartney song "Here, There and Everywhere." And no. . . she did not get gonged. The panel loved her.

Learned American Sign Language for her role as Maggie in Love Is Never Silent (1985) (TV).

Is the only brat packer ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (for Georgia (1995)).

She played a virgin in the movie St. Elmo's Fire (1985) while she was pregnant.

She, Kate Winslet and Vanessa Redgrave are the only actresses nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for playing the title role in a movie. Redgrave won the Oscar for the character Julia in Julia (1977), Winslet was nominated for Iris (2001/I) and Winningham was nominated for the character Georgia in Georgia (1995). (Claude Rains holds the same distinction in the Best Supporting Actor category. He was nominated for his work on Mr. Skeffington (1944).).

Was one of the nine original members of the 1980s "brat pack," along with Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, and Ally Sheedy.

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 Weinberg 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.

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.

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 (1965)) on Art Linkletter's television show "The Linkletter Show" (1952) when she was five or six years old.

Oldest child, son Riley Mapel, committed suicide on August 14, 2005.

She is the oldest member of the Brat Pack.

Met first husband, A. Martinez while both acted in "The Young Pioneers" (1978). Their marriage in 1981 lasted only a few months. She married her second husband, Bill Mapel, the same year.

Born to Catholic parents, she turned to Judaism in 2002.

Sister of musician Patrick Winningham who fronted "The New Breed" band featured in sister Mare's breakthrough movie St. Elmo's Fire (1985).