Mare Winningham

format_quote I would have been drawn to this play anyway because I love the idea of two characters traveling a great distance and turning each other's lives around. But it's really exciting that I found a play that crosses over into my own life.

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

stars  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."

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

stars  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.

stars  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 "House Party" (1952) when she was five or six years old.