Martha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: November 16, 1970

Age: 53 years old

Birth Place: New York City, New York

Partners: River Phoenix

Parents: Keith Carradine

Grandparents: John Carradine

Actress Martha Plimpton rose from a brief tenure as a teen star to become one of the most respected stage actresses on the New York theater scene, as well as a versatile character performer in films and on television. The daughter of actor Keith Carradine, she made her theater debut at age nine before vaulting to film a few years later; though she was cemented in the minds of many young viewers for her sassy turn in "The Goonies" (1985), she quickly developed into a cagey, complex supporting actress with critically acclaimed turns in "Another Woman" (1988), "Running on Empty" (1988) and "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996). In the late 1990s, she devoted her attention to plays and musicals, earning several Tony nominations and the respect of the formidable theater community. Over the next decade, Plimpton appeared regularly as a guest star on dozens of television series before joining the cast of the family sitcom "Raising Hope" (Fox, 2010-14). As Virginia Chance, mother of a twenty-something son raising a child of his own, Plimpton showcased her spiky blend of heart, humor and brittle charm that had long made her a favorite with audiences of all ages. She followed that up with another endearingly complex matriarch, conservative Catholic Eileen O'Neal on "The Real O'Neals" (ABC 2016- ).

Martha Campbell Plimpton was born Nov. 16, 1970 in New York City, NY. Through her father, she was part of the sprawling family acting dynasty that included paternal grandfather John Carradine; uncles Robert, Bruce and David Carradine; half-uncle Michael Bowen; and cousins Ever and Calista Carradine. Other relatives included author, writer and occasional actor George Plimpton, who was a cousin, as was cartoonist Bill Plympton. Her mother was actress Shelley Plimpton, who met her father while both were in the original Broadway production of "Hair." Their union was short-lived; Carradine, then only 19, returned to Los Angeles shortly after his daughter's birth, leaving her to be raised by her mother in a small two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. Though they were not close during her childhood, Carradine and Plimpton did build a relationship in later years.

She first stood on stage with her mother during a curtain call for the Broadway production of "The Leaf People"; her professional debut came at the age of nine in an avant-garde musical version of "The Haggadah." While attending the Professional Children's School in Manhattan, Plimpton began working as a model, most notably for Calvin Klein. In 1981, she landed her screen debut in Alan J. Pakula's financial thriller, "Rollover," as the oldest daughter of Macon McCalman's character. Two years later, she was top billed as a teenaged girl who meets her ex-con father (Tommy Lee Jones) for the first time in "The River Rat" (1984). The tomboyish role would largely define her screen persona for the next few years, and encompass her best-known feature film performance, that of Stephanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, who joins a group of fellow outcast teens in a search for hidden pirate treasure in the Stephen Spielberg-produced/Richard Donner-directed "The Goonies." A much-loved childhood favorite for a generation of viewers, its popularity and influence surpassed much of Plimpton's other work, including her award-winning stage roles; reportedly, during a production of "Hedda Gabler," she was interrupted by an audience member who shouted out the film's title.

Despite the enduring legacy of "The Goonies," Plimpton soon developed a reputation among critics and audiences as an effortlessly mature performer, adept at tackling challenging roles for top directors. She was a precocious missionary's daughter who flirted with River Phoenix in Peter Weir's "The Mosquito Coast" (1986), then shifted gears to play an abrasive, drug-addicted city teen whose manipulative ways with Cajun relatives come to a disastrous end in Andrei Konchalevsky's "Shy People" (1987), which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. The following year, she played Gena Rowland's neglected stepdaughter in Woody Allen's dramatic "Another Woman" (1988), before portraying love interest to Phoenix in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty" (1988). Plimpton later shaved her head to play a cancer patient in the German film "Silence Like Glass" (1989) before again shifting gears taking a hilarious turn as a teenage mother in Ron Howard's "Parenthood" (1989). For several years during this period, Plimpton was engaged in a tumultuous relationship with her "Mosquito Coast" star and kindred spirit, of sorts, River Phoenix. Though devoted to the purity of his ideals, his mounting drug addiction proved too difficult to overcome. The pair would remain friends until his untimely overdose death in October 1993.

The 1990s saw Plimpton move out of adolescent and teen roles and into more adult projects. Her unique looks often cast her as women operating on the fringes: "Inside Monkey Zetterland" (1992), written and directed by her "Goonies" co-star Steve Antin, cast her as a lesbian terrorist posing as a heterosexual housewife while publishing a newsletter than outed closeted gays, while Stevie in "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996) was a friend and associate of Valerie Solanas, who penned the anti-male "SCUM Manifesto" before attempting to murder the pop artist. In Tim Blake Nelson's "Eye of God" (1997), she was a naïve young Southern woman who married her prison pen pal, while the indie comedy "Music from Another Room" (1998) cast her as yet another misanthropic women; this time the creator of a theater project called "Actors Without Dicks."

Despite the apparent typecasting, Plimpton's talents also carried her to a wide variety of roles, several of which allowed her to display a knack for dry comedy. In John Waters' "Pecker" (1998), she was the gleeful emcee of a go-go contest at a gay club, while 1993's "Samatha" gave her a rare lead as a talented violinist who upsets her comfortable life by searching for her birth parents. However, drama was her forte, and she excelled as serious professionals, like New Yorker co-founder Jane Grant in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) and in "The Defenders: Payback" (Showtime, 1997), a TV movie revival of the 1961-65 legal series (CBS) as original cast member E.G. Marshall's granddaughter, who followed him into the profession. Plimpton's presence on stage during this period also grew exponentially, with several acclaimed turns for Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company among her credits.

Gradually, theater came to dominate Plimpton's acting efforts; her film career was relegated to a few well-regarded indie projects, including "200 Cigarettes" (1999) and "The Sleepy Time Gal" (2001), which received a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the Cannes Film Festival. There was also another leading role, albeit a little-seen one in "Marvelous" (2006), a drama about a woman (Plimpton) who emerged from a painful divorce with the ability to heal people. However, if fans wanted to see Plimpton outside of these limited venues, they needed to visit a theater; there, they could see her give powerful performances in "Hedda Gabler," Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" among many others. She soon became one of the New York stage's leading lights, with Tony nominations in 2007 and 2008 for the epic "Coast of Utopia," which also earned her a Drama Desk Award, and "Top Girls." In 2008, she also surprised many by tackling her first musical, "Pal Joey," which brought her a third Tony nomination for her performance as the veteran chorus girl, Gladys Bumps, which also required her to perform a burlesque routine each night. This led to an acclaimed one-woman show, "Martha Plimpton Sings?" (2010), for Lincoln Center's American Songbook program, as well as duets with singer Lucy Wainwright Roche on her EP, 8 More (2008). In addition to her acting career, Plimpton dabbled in screenwriting with an episode of "7th Heaven" (The WB, 1996-2007). She also sat on the board of directors for The Players, the century-old New York social club for actors.

When not on stage, Plimpton was a frequent guest star on episodic television, where she essayed an array of memorable women, notable either for their power or vulnerability. She was a heroin-addicted waitress who found herself pregnant on four episodes of "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009), then received an Emmy nomination for another drug-addicted role, this time on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ) as an assault victim who is accused of murdering her infant sister. On the other end of the spectrum was her mysterious secret agent on the short-lived science fiction series "Surface" (NBC, 2005-06) and Lake Bell's big-hearted boss on "How to Make It in America" (HBO, 2010-11). That same year, she signed on to play the world-weary, chain-smoking mom of clueless teen father Lucas Neff on the comedy series "Raising Hope" (Fox, 2010-14), a role that earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2012, Plimpton earned an Emmy - this time as a guest actress in a drama - for her role as an opposing counselor opposite Julianna Marguiles on "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-16) She next appeared on TV in the sitcom "The Real O'Neals" (ABC 2016- ) as Eileen O'Neal, the stern but loving matriarch of a family suddenly roiled by the exposure of multiple family secrets.

Credits

The RegimeStream

Actor
Series
2024
59%

A Town Called Malice

Actor
Mint Ma Lord
Show
2023

SprungStream

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Barb
Series
2022
82%

Generation

Actor
Megan
Series
2021
75%

Mass

Actor
Gail
Movie
2021

Access Daily

Guest
Show
2019

Frozen IIStream

Voice
Yelana
Movie
2019
77%

Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year

Guest
Show
2018

Honey Bee

Actor
Louise
Movie
2018

BrockmireStream

Guest Star
Series
2017
98%

Hello Again

Actor
Ruth
Movie
2017

Harry

Guest
Talk
2016

To Tell the TruthStream

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Game Show
2016

The Real O'NealsStream

Actor
Eileen
Series
2016
67%

Younger: Extras

Actor
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2015

YoungerStream

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Series
2015
97%

Hollywood Today Live

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2014

The BlacklistStream

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2013
91%

The Queen Latifah Show

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Talk
2013

Company

Actor
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2012

LIVE with Kelly

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2011

LIVE with Kelly

Guest
Talk
2011

The Chew

Guest
Talk
2011

The 65th Annual Tony Awards

Music Performer
Show
2011

Company

Actor
Sarah
Movie
2011

Raising HopeStream

Actor
Series
2010
96%

Access Hollywood Live

Guest
Show
2010

How to Make It in AmericaStream

Actor
Edie Weitz
Series
2010
66%

Small Town Murder Songs

Actor
Sam
Movie
2010

The Good WifeStream

Guest Star
Patti Nyholm
Series
2009
93%

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

Guest
Talk
2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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2009

FringeStream

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Sheriff Ann Mathis
Series
2008
90%

Chelsea Lately

Actor
Talk
2007

Chelsea Lately

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Talk
2007

Dante's Inferno

Voice
Celia
Movie
2007

Rachael Ray ShowStream

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Talk
2006

Marvelous

Actor
Gwen
Movie
2006

Grey's AnatomyStream

Guest Star
Series
2005
84%

MediumStream

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Series
2005

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Guest
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2005

Karen Sisco

Guest Star
Series
2003
95%

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

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Talk
2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!Stream

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2003

Hack

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2002

Loose Ends

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Show
2002

Law & Order: Criminal IntentStream

Guest Star
Jo Gage
Series
2001

Live With Regis and Kelly

Guest
Show
2001

The Sleepy Time Gal

Actor
Rebecca
Movie
2001

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Claire Rinato
Series
1999
78%

Family GuyStream

Guest Voice
Stephanie
Series
1999

200 Cigarettes

Actor
Monica
Movie
1999

El Color de la Ley

Actor
Mary Jane Preston
Movie
1998

The Defenders: Choice of Evils

Actor
Mary Jane Preston
Movie
1998

The Defenders: Taking the First

Actor
Mary Jane "M.J." Preston
Movie
1998

Pecker

Actor
Tina
Movie
1998

Music From Another RoomStream

Actor
Karen Swan
Movie
1998
43%

The Defenders: Payback

Actor
M.J. Preston
Movie
1997

Eye of God

Actor
Ainsley DuPree
Movie
1997

Colin Fitz

Actor
Ann
Movie
1997

7th HeavenStream

Guest Star
Series
1996

7th HeavenStream

Writer
Series
1996

I Shot Andy Warhol

Actor
Stevie
Movie
1996
77%

Beautiful Girls

Actor
Jan
Movie
1996

I'm Not Rappaport

Actor
Laurie Campbell
Movie
1996

A Woman at War

Actor
Helene Moszkiewiez
Movie
1995

Last Summer in the Hamptons

Actor
Chloe Garfield
Movie
1995

ERStream

Guest Star
Meg Corwin
Series
1994

Erase the Hate

Host
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1994

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious CircleStream

Actor
Jane Grant
Movie
1994
76%

The Beans of Egypt, Maine

Actor
Earlene Pomerleau
Movie
1994

Terror Bajo Tierra

Actor
Movie
1993

Daybreak

Actor
Laurie
Movie
1993

Chantilly Lace

Actor
Ann
Movie
1993

Josh and S.A.M.

Actor
Alison
Movie
1993

Amanecer Sin Futuro

Actor
Movie
1993

Inside Monkey Zetterland

Actor
Sofie
Movie
1992

Samantha

Actor
Samantha
Movie
1991

Stanley & Iris

Actor
Kelly King
Movie
1990

Silence Like Glass

Actor
Claudia Jacoby
Movie
1989

ParenthoodStream

Actor
Julie Buckman
Movie
1989
92%

Stars and Bars

Actor
Bryant
Movie
1988

Running on EmptyStream

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Lorna Phillips
Movie
1988
81%

Another Woman

Actor
Laura
Movie
1988

Shy People

Actor
Grace
Movie
1987

The Mosquito CoastStream

Actor
Emily Spellgood
Movie
1986
75%

The GooniesStream

Actor
Stefanie "Stef" Steinbrenner
Movie
1985
77%

The River Rat

Actor
Jonsy
Movie
1984

La Rançon de la liberté

Actor
Movie
1984

Family TiesStream

Guest Star
Series
1982

RolloverStream

Actor
Fewster's Older Daughter
Movie
1981
70%

Good Morning America

Guest
News
1975

Great PerformancesStream

Actor
Franchise
1972

News aboutMartha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton (L) and Kate Winslet (R) in 'The Regime'
Spoiler Alert

‘The Regime’: Martha Plimpton Talks Sparring With Kate Winslet in Austrian Palace

Kate Winslet and Guillaume Gallienne in 'The Regime' on HBO

Where Is HBO’s ‘The Regime’ Supposed to Take Place?

Kate Winslet in The Regime
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Roush Review: Kate Winslet Rules a Ridiculous ‘Regime’

Kate Winslet in 'The Regime'
Preview

‘The Regime’: How Kate Winslet Created Her Self-Deluded Tyrant

Matthias Schoenaerts and Kate Winslet in 'The Regime'

‘The Regime’: Kate Winslet Plays a Power-Hungry Chancellor in Official Trailer (VIDEO)

Kate Winslet in 'The Regime'

‘The Regime’: Kate Winslet Gets Political in Trailer for HBO Limited Series (VIDEO)

Sprung
Preview

‘Sprung’: Garret Dillahunt & Martha Plimpton on Why ‘Raising Hope’ Fans Will Like Their New Series

Garret Dillahunt and Phillip Garcia in Sprung
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Garret Dillahunt Previews the Deal His Character Makes in ‘Sprung’

Garret Dillahunt in Sprung

‘Sprung’ Trailer: Criminals Use Their Skills for Good in Greg Garcia’s Comedy (VIDEO)

Shakira Barrera, Martha Plimpton, and Garret Dillahunt in Sprung

‘Sprung’: See Garret Dillahunt, Martha Plimpton & More in Greg Garcia’s New Comedy (PHOTOS)

2011 Emmy Winners Quiz

How Well Do You Remember the 2011 Emmy Winners?

Martha Plimpton in Genera+ion
Spoiler Alert

‘Genera+ion’ Star Martha Plimpton on Teens, Sexuality & Playing a Type-A Mom Who Can’t Handle the Truth

Generation - HBO Max - Uly Schlesinger, Justice Smith, Chase Sui Wonders

‘Genera+ion’ Teases a Slice of Teenage Life in First Full HBO Max Trailer (VIDEO)

BEBE WOOD, MARTHA PLIMPTON, MATT OBERG, NOAH GALVIN, MATT SHIVELY

‘The Real O’Neals’: Martha Plimpton on the ‘Loving’ Divorce Ceremony

The Real O'Neals - Matt Shively, Martha Plimpton, Noah Galvin

‘The Real O’Neals’ Gets a Second Season From ABC

Martha Plimpton in The Real O'neals

Martha Plimpton Will Raise Some Hell on ‘The Real O’Neals’