Mary Stuart Masterson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mary Stuart Masterson
Masterson in 2007
Born	(1966-06-28) June 28, 1966 (age 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actress, director
Years active	1974–present
Spouse(s)	George Carl Francisco ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1992)​ Damon Santostefano ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2004)​ Jeremy Davidson ​ ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	4
Parents	Peter Masterson (father) Carlin Glynn (mother)
Relatives	Horton Foote (first cousin once removed)

Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She started acting as a child in the movie The Stepford Wives (1975). After that, she took a break for ten years to focus on her education.

Some of her early movie roles include Heaven Help Us (1985), At Close Range (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), and Chances Are (1989). She won an award for her acting in the film Immediate Family (1989). People also really liked her performances in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Benny & Joon (1993).

Later, Masterson started working more on TV shows. She appeared in Kate Brasher (2001), which she also helped produce. Other TV roles include Something the Lord Made (2004), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004–2007), Mercy (2010), NCIS (2017), Blindspot (2017–2019), and For Life (2020).

She also acted in a Broadway musical called Nine (2003). For this role, she was nominated for a big award called the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Mary Stuart Masterson also directed a movie called The Cake Eaters (2007). More recently, she has appeared in movies like As You Are (2017), Skin (2018), Daniel Isn't Real (2019), and Five Nights at Freddy's (2023).

Early Life and Education

Mary Stuart Masterson was born on June 28, 1966, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were Peter Masterson, a writer, director, actor, and producer, and Carlin Glynn, a singer and actress. She has two siblings, Peter Jr. and Alexandra.

When she was a teenager, she went to the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in New York. Other famous actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Cryer also attended there. Later, she studied anthropology at New York University for eight months.

Acting and Directing Career

Masterson's first movie role was in The Stepford Wives (1975) when she was eight years old. In the movie, she played the daughter of her real-life father. Instead of continuing as a child actor, she decided to focus on her studies. However, she did act in some school plays at the Dalton School.

In 1985, she returned to movies in Heaven Help Us. She played Danni, a brave teenager who ran a soda shop. She also appeared with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken in At Close Range (1986). This movie was based on a true story about a crime family. In 1987, she starred as Watts, a tomboy drummer, in the teen drama Some Kind of Wonderful.

That same year, director Francis Ford Coppola cast her in Gardens of Stone. Her real parents were also hired to play her parents in the movie. In 1989, she acted in Chances Are with Cybill Shepherd, Ryan O'Neal, and Robert Downey Jr.. She also starred as Lucy Moore in Immediate Family, where she played a teen who gives her baby to a wealthy couple. For this role, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Masterson continued to act in movies and TV shows throughout the 1990s. In 1991, she starred in Fried Green Tomatoes, a movie based on a popular book. The movie was very well-liked, and film critic Roger Ebert praised Masterson's acting. The next year, she was invited to host Saturday Night Live. In 1993, she acted alongside Johnny Depp in Benny & Joon, playing Joon, a character with a mental illness.

In 1996, Masterson worked with Christian Slater in the romantic movie Bed of Roses.

Around 2000, Masterson started focusing more on television. In 2001, she began directing with a part of a TV movie called On the Edge. She also produced her own TV series, Kate Brasher, in 2001, but it was canceled after six episodes. In 2004, Masterson played Dr. Helen Taussig in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made, which won several awards.

Masterson has also performed in plays on Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Nine: The Musical. From 2004 to 2007, she appeared five times on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Dr. Rebecca Hendrix. Later, she had a recurring role as FBI director Eleanor Hirst in the TV show Blindspot from 2017 to 2019. In 2020, she had a main role in the legal drama For Life. In 2023, she appeared in the movie Five Nights At Freddy's.

Mary Stuart Masterson has also read and narrated several audiobooks.

In 2007, Masterson directed her first full-length movie, The Cake Eaters. It was shown for the first time at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. It also won an award chosen by the audience at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in 2008. Masterson said that directing was scary but exciting, and something she had wanted to do for a long time.

Personal Life

Mary Stuart Masterson has been married three times. She was married to George Carl Francisco from 1990 to 1992. Then, she was married to filmmaker Damon Santostefano from 2000 to 2004. In 2006, Masterson married actor Jeremy Davidson. They had acted together in a play called Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2004.

In October 2009, Mary Stuart Masterson and Jeremy Davidson had their first child, a son named Phineas Bee. In August 2011, they welcomed twins, a son named Wilder and a daughter named Clio. Their fourth child was born in October 2013.

Filmography

Film

As director

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Mary Stuart Masterson para niños