Georgia

Background:

Oscar-nominated and two-time Emmy Award-winning American actress and folk singer-songwriter Mare Winningham first gained major notice on the small screen with her supporting turn as Dennis Weaver's daughter, Marlene, on the noted TV film “Amber Waves” (1980), from which she picked up her first Emmy Award. She continued to deliver award-nominated performances in the movies “Threshold” (1981) and “Miracle Mile” (1988) as well as the TV films “Love Is Never Silent” (1985), “Better Off Dead” (1993) before gaining wider recognition as a prospering folk-rock singer dealing with her sister's envy and addictions in the Ulu Grosbard-directed musical “Georgia” (1995). The famous role garnered her an Independent Spirit Award and her Academy Award nomination.

Two years after the massive victory, one of nine original brat packer members, Winningham enjoyed another big hit with her role as Lurleen Wallace on the TNT biopic “George Wallace” (1997) and got her next Emmy Award in addition to Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Satellite nominations for her outstanding performance in the show. The friable-haired actress also received Emmy nominations in the made-for-TV film “The Boys Next Door” (1996) and for her guest role in the series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2003), and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the family film “The Maldonado Miracle” (2003). More recently, in 2006, she jointly won a Camie Award for her work in the telepic “The Magic of Ordinary Days” (2005).

Winningham's admirers should not miss her arresting performances in the upcoming films “Swing Vote” and “Brothers” (both 2008).

As a singer, Winningham, who made her first public appearance singing in the TV series “The Gong Show” (1976), has released three albums: “What Might Be” (1992), “Lonesomers” (1998) and “Refuge Rock Sublime” (2007). Despite her acting schedules, she managed to find time performing in clubs and coffeehouses, and touring.

Winningham has been married twice. After having a brief marriage to actor A Martinez (together in 1981), she married TV technical advisor William Mapel, with whom she had five children, including the suicidal oldest son Riley Mapel (born in 1981, died in 2005). Winningham's only daughter, Calla, is following her footsteps as a songwriter-singer. While in high school, Winningham dated Val Kilmer for three years.

The 5' 6” beauty was raised an Irish Catholic, but she felt her spiritual life was lacking at age 41. Then in November the next year, following an advice from a friend, she attended a class tutored by Rabbi Neal Wienberg at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, California. She eventually converted to Judaism on March 3, 2003, and became a member of two Conservative synagogues, Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles and Temple Knesset Israel in Hollywood, California.

Spacey's Pal

Childhood and Family:

Mary Megan Winningham, later adopted the nickname “Mare,” was born on May 16, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona. Along with three brothers and one sister, she grew up in Northridge, California under the guidance of her father, who was the chairman of the Department of Physical Education at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and her mother, who worked as a college counselor and English teacher at a local high school. In Northridge, Mare enrolled Andasol Avenue Elementary School and became highly interested in drama subject. A natural artist, she also took guitar lessons at a local park and soon mastered the skills. Mare selected the extended drama option at Patrick Henry Junior High School and spent her summer vocations honing her craft at CSUN's Teenage Drama Workshop. She went to the same high school as Kevin Spacey and Val Kilmer at Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles.

Mare had a short-lived marriage with actor A Martinez. Wed in 1981, the couple divorced later that same year. She tied the knot with second husband William Maple, a television technical advisor, in 1983. They welcomed their first child, son Riley Sam Mapel, on November 7, 1981, and their second son, Paddy Mapel, was born on September 30, 1983. Their next sons, Jack Walter Mapel and Hap Atticus Mapel, were born on April 15, 1985 and September 13, 1988, respectively. Mare gave birth to her forth child and first daughter, Calla Louise Mapel, in 1987.

A tragedy struck in her family when her oldest child, Riley, committed suicide on August 14, 2005. He was an aspiring actor.

George Wallace

Career:

First discovering a love for acting after watching an interview with Kym Karath of “The Sound of Music” fame on the Art Linkletter television show “House Party” when she was still a young, Mare Winningham made her stage debut at age 12 in “Hansel and Gretel” while studying drama at the Teenage Drama Workshop at California State University. However, it was music that gave the long time fan of musical comedy and folk her first TV exposure. At age 16, she sang the Beatles' “Here, There, and Everywhere” on “The Gong Show,” a disreputable talent show hosted by Chuck Barris. Although she signed no record contracts after the performance, the talented teen won the attention of a Hollywood agent thanks to her portrayal of Maria in her senior class production of “The Sound of Music.”

Before long, Winningham was offered a role on “Young Pioneers” and “Young Pioneers Christmas,” pilots for the short-lived Western series “The Young Pioneers” (ABC, 1978), and earned her Screen Actor's Guild card after doing three lines in an episode of “James at 15” (1977). She followed the gigs up by giving a pleasing performance in the CBS TV film “Special Olympics/A Special Kind of Love,” playing one of the Gallitzin children, Janice. A string of guest roles ensued, including “Police Woman” (1978) and “Starsky and Hutch” (1979), before she returned to the TV film in “Steeletown,” playing Frank Converse's daughter, and “The Death of Ocean View Park” (both 1979), as teen friendless Jenny Flowers.

However, Winningham did not receive major recognition until she was cast as free-spirited Marlene Burkhardt on the critically praised ABC film “ Amber Waves” (1980), opposite Dennis Weaver and Kurt Russell. For her bright effort, she picked up an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special. She gained additional notice for playing a New York teen prostitute named Micki Johansen on another ABC film, “Off the Minnesota Strip” (also 1980), which won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special. It was also in that same year that Winningham had her first taste in front of the big screen cameras playing the supporting role of Modeena Dandridge on the Paul Simon vehicle “One Trick Pony” and was nominated for a Genie in the category of Best Performance by a Foreign Actress for her next outing in 1981's “Threshold,” starring Donald Sutherland. In the drama/science-fiction film, she played Carol Severance, the first recipient of of a synthetic heart.

Winningham remained busy working on such TV films as “Freedom” (1981), which also saw her perform three songs in addition to playing the role of Libby Bellow, “Missing Children: A Mother's Story” (1982), “Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues” (1984, starred in the title role) and “Single Bars, Single Women” (1984), and in the epic miniseries “The Thorn Birds” (1983). She netted an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special in the depression-era drama “Love Is Never Silent” (1985), in which she played Margaret Ryder, a young woman conflicting with the duty to care for her hearing-impaired parents and her own demand for freedom.

Still in 1985, after four years absence, Winningham revisited features by joining a group of young actors called “the Brat Pack” for the Joel Schumacher drama/romance “St. Elmo's Fire,” playing Wendy Beamish. The film was a success, and she followed it up with supporting roles in the comedy “Nobody's Fool” (1986, with Rosanna Arquette and Eric Roberts), Andrei Konchalovsky's indie-drama “Shy People” (1987), the Alan Rudolph-helmed fantasy “Made in Heaven” (1987, starred Timothy Hutton) and the Tom Hanks starring vehicle “Turner & Hooch” (1989). She even received an Independent Spirit nomination for her scene-stealing role as Julie Peters on the chilling thriller “Miracle Mile” (1988), opposite Anthony Edwards. Winningham could also be seen in the successful TV movie “Eye on the Sparrow” (NBC, 1987) and in the Los Angeles stage production of “Hurlyburly” (1988), costarring with Danny Aiello and Sean Penn.

After a series of TV film performances in the early 1990s, including one “Love and Lies” (ABC, 1990), Winningham returned to films in the great comedy/romance “Hard Promises” (1991), which starred Sissy Spacek, William Petersen and Brian Kerwi, and released a debut album called “What Might Be” in the next year on the ill-fated independent label Bay Cities. It was acting, however, that kept the multi-faceted artist on the limelight as she picked up a CableACE nomination for Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for her work in the TV film “Better Off Dead” (1993) and also in 1994, she was brilliant playing the common-law wife, Mattie, on Lawrence Kasdan's “Wyatt Earp,” which starred Kevin Costner. She rejoined Costner later that same year for the family drama “The War,” directed by Jon Avnet.

Winningham's acting career, however, did not reach its peak until 1995. Playing the illustrious C&W artist and older sister of Jennifer Jason Leigh on the drama/music “Georgia,” which was directed by Ulu Grosbard and written by Barbara Turner, she delivered one of her best performances to date and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and an Independent Spirit Award in the same category. She also netted a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

“After 'Georgia,' I had hoped something would click. It was easier to book local gigs. That's all I noticed.” Mare Winningham

The Arizona native combined her big screen success in with noticeable achievements on the small screen. After delivering an Emmy-nominated turn as Sheila on the TV film “The Boys Next Door” (1996), she co-starred as Lurleen Wallace on the TNT biopic “George Wallace” (1997), opposite Gary Sinise, and was handed an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her work in the film. The role also brought her a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Satellite nominations. During 1998-1999 season, Winningham joined the cast of the NBC popular medical drama “ER” in the recurring role of a pathological cheater, Amanda Lee. Her second album, “Lonesomers,” hit the music store in 1998. She said, “I was trying to take the word 'lonesome,' which is so depleted and sad, and do something different with it. I thought that by making 'Lonesomers' a category of people, a sort of group or fraternity of folks who are alone, I could find some humor in it -- and some hope.”

In the new millennium, the forty-something actress found roles in the TV films like “Sally Hemings: An American Scandal” (2000, with Sam Neill), Lifetime's “Snap Decision” (2001, opposite Felicity Huffman), “Tru Confessions” (2002), “The Maldonado Miracle” (2003) , in which she took home a Daytime Emmy for her role as Maisie, and guested in such seres as HBO's “Six Feet Under” (2002) and NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2003). For her role as Sandra Blaine in the latter show, Winningham nabbed a 2004 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She joined Larry Miller and Richard Ruccolo for the David E. Kelley series “The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire” (2003), which had a short life on CBS.

2004 to 2007 saw Winningham in the independent film “Dandelion,” as Layla Mullich, the TV film “The Magic of Ordinary Days” (2005), in which she co-won a Camie Award, and the drama film “War Eagle, Arkansas” (2007). Besides, she portrayed Lynne Young on the sport-themed series “Clubhouse” (2004), opposite Jeremy Sumpter and Dean Cain, and the recurring roles on “Grey's Anatomy” (2006-2007, as Susan Grey) and “Boston Legal” (2007, as Patrice Kelly). Her third album, “Refuge Rock Sublime,” was released in 2007 under the Craig & Co. label.

Recently, Winningham has completed filming “Swing Vote” (2008), a comedy film that reunited the actress with Kevin Costner. She also has a supporting part opposite Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire on the forthcoming drama/war film “Brothers” (2008), by director Jim Sheridan.

Awards:

• Character and Morality in Entertainment: Camie, “The Magic of Ordinary Days,” 2006

• Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, “George Wallace,” 1998

• Independent Spirit: Best Supporting Female, “Georgia,” 1996

• Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special, “Amber Waves,” 1980