Mare Winningham

Sometimes, we tell you about people you know. But sometimes, we like to tell you about people you might not know, but should. One such person is Mare Winningham. You say her name just like it looks, to rhyme with “care”; it’s a nickname for “Mary.” She chose her nickname in sixth grade.

Mare's new movie is called simply Brothers. One brother goes to war and goes missing, and the other takes care of that brother's wife and kids. Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman are in it, too.

Mare also sings, and she is going to be in a Chanukah concert! It's called Lights! and in Chicago it will be on PBS on December 21. Make sure to record it if you can't watch it

Mare was born in Phoenix and grew up near LA. When she was still a kid, Mare saw a young actress who had played in the musical The Sound of Music (written by Jewish Broadway vets Rogers and Hammerstein, by the way) being interviewed on TV. What the actress was saying sounded interesting to her, so it’s not surprising Mare has spent her career in both acting and music.

She acted in grade school, in junior high, and even during the summer. Her mom helped her get into a high school with a good drama department. There, in her senior year, she played Maria in… you guessed it! The Sound of Music! But you’d never guess who played Captain Von Trapp— Kevin Spacey! They were both up for Oscars in 1996, too! (Sorry, Kevin's not Jewish. Oh, well!)

Mare’s first TV appearance was singing on The Gong Show. This was sorta like American Idol, only you could sing, dance, tell jokes, juggle, whatever you wanted. But if the celebrity judges didn’t like your act, they’d smash a gong with a stick and “gong” you off! Well, Mare did not get gonged. She got signed by an agent!

She started acting in shows like Starsky and Hutch and won an Emmy for a TV movie. Her first movie role was in One Trick Pony, which starred successful Jewish rock star Paul Simon as, of all things, a failed rock star.

Her next roles included one in one of the all-time great miniseries, The Thorn Birds— we bet your mom remembers it. (It starred Richard Chamberlain, who is not Jewish but played Raoul Wallenberg, the man who saved 100,000 Jews during the Holocaust, in another miniseries.) Mare then played Helen Keller in another TV movie.

Mare started getting regular film roles and award nominations, in St. Elmo’s Fire (with Jewish Brat Pack members Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson), Turner & Hooch (with Tom Hanks and a big, slobbering dog), and Wyatt Earp (with Kevin Costner as the famous Wild West sheriff).

Then came her breakthrough— the movie Georgia. Mare played Georgia, a successful country singer, and Jennifer Jason Leigh played Sadie, her unsuccessful (and jealous) punk-rock sister. Mare got to play guitar sing a couple times in the movie and on the soundtrack, so moviegoers could finally see (well, hear) another side of this very talented performer. She was nominated for an Oscar for that one.

Her new movie is called Swing Vote, and it's about a pesidential election that comes down to the vote of just one guy, who could 'swing' the vote eaither way!

She also has won two Emmys and nominated for three more. One of her Emmys was for a TV movie called George Wallace, about that governor, who tried to stop the racial integration of schools. Another TV movie she was in about race in American History was Sally Hemmings, about Thomas Jefferson’s um, relationship with one of his slaves of that name. In fact, Mare has been in almost 40 TV movies in 30 years! We don’t know, but maybe that’s a record! For one of them, she even learned sign language.

She also has recently been on Grey’s Anatomy as Susan Grey. Mostly, she has been on TV dramas like that, including Law and Order SVU, Touched by an Angel, Six Feet Under, ER, Boston Legal and even The Twilight Zone.

Mare has three albums out, too. She recorded two country-folk albums, and then converted to Judaism in 2003. So her latest album is all Jewish music! It’s called Refuge Rock Sublime, and the cool cover has a western-style fringed jacket... with a big Jewish star on it! As you might guess, it’s Jewish lyrics set to folk music. It’s really good— take it to summer camp with you!

Bonus:

Some other celebrities who have joined the Jewish people include Chris Van Allsburg, who wrote Jumanji, Zathura and The Polar Express, and the Brazilian-American rapper Shyne.

Interestingly, several notable African-Americans have converted. These include author Jamaica Kincaid, Broadway and TV star Nell Carter, the singing/dancing/acting sensation Sammy Davis, Jr. and Chicago’s own comedian-broadcaster-writer Aaron Freeman.