Martha Plimpton Bio
Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress and producer whose career spans film, television, and stage. She first reached audiences as a teenager with her work in The River Rat (1984) and The Goonies (1985), and later broadened her reputation with roles in Parenthood (1989), Raising Hope (2010–2014), and The Good Wife (2009–2013). She has earned three Tony Award nominations, a Drama Desk Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest work on television. Plimpton has also produced short-form projects through her company Everything is Horrible and remains an outspoken advocate for reproductive rights and LGBT causes.
Across more than four decades, Plimpton has moved easily between independent features, mainstream films, network comedies, prestige drama, and Broadway. Critics have praised her fearlessness, dry wit, and willingness to take on difficult characters, ranging from teen rebels to working mothers and political activists. She continues to work steadily in theatre and on screen from her primary home in London, United Kingdom.
Early Life and Background
Martha Plimpton was born on November 16, 1970, in New York City, United States. She is the daughter of actors Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton, who met while performing in the original Broadway run of Hair. Her paternal grandfather was the actor John Carradine, placing her within the well-known Carradine family of performers. Plimpton is also a distant cousin of writer and editor George Plimpton, sharing a common ancestor in Captain John Plimpton (1620–1678), and she is related to the cartoonist Bill Plympton, despite the different spelling of his surname.
Plimpton grew up immersed in the world of live performance. Her mother first brought her on stage in costume for the curtain call of the short-lived Broadway play The Leaf People and later for another play, The Ass and the Heart. These early appearances sparked a lifelong love of the stage. She attended the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan, New York, where she studied alongside other young performers balancing academics with professional careers.
Before entering film work, Plimpton began her career as a model, securing an early 1980s campaign for Calvin Klein. The work presented her as a sophisticated but tomboyish young performer, an image that would shape many of her early screen roles. Her parents’ careers, her New York upbringing, and her school training combined to give her an unusually early start in the entertainment industry.
Path to Acting
Plimpton made her feature-film debut in 1981 with a small role in the political thriller Rollover. She followed that with a notable part in the 1984 Deep South drama The River Rat, starring opposite Tommy Lee Jones as his “hoydenish daughter.” These early appearances introduced her as a distinctive young talent capable of holding her own alongside established actors.
Her breakout performance came in 1985, when she played Stef Steinbrenner in the adventure film The Goonies. That same year she appeared in the sitcom Family Ties, beginning a stretch in which she was frequently cast as a rebellious tomboy. In 1986, she played the daughter of Harrison Ford’s character in The Mosquito Coast, and she later appeared in Shy People (1987), Stars and Bars (1988), and Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty (1988), where she starred opposite River Phoenix.
By the late 1980s, Plimpton was also active in regional theater in Seattle, Washington, where her mother was living at the time. She took on supporting roles in larger films such as Woody Allen’s Another Woman (1988) and played a cancer patient in the German film Zwei Frauen (1990), later released in America as Silence Like Glass. Her 1989 turn in Parenthood opposite Dianne Wiest cemented her reputation for grounded, intelligent performances in ensemble casts.
Martha Plimpton Career
Early Career (1981–1989)
Plimpton’s earliest years on screen were marked by a steady climb from supporting parts to prominent teen roles. After debuting in Rollover (1981) and earning notice in The River Rat (1984), she achieved wide recognition with The Goonies (1985). The adventure film became a cultural touchstone and remains one of her most widely seen early works.
She went on to work with major directors and stars, including her role in The Mosquito Coast (1986) with Harrison Ford and her performance as the rebellious daughter of a fugitive family in Running on Empty (1988). For Running on Empty, she received a Young Artist Award nomination, signaling early industry recognition of her craft and screen presence.
Breakthrough (1990–2009)
The 1990s saw Plimpton transition into mature, adult roles across film and television. She appeared in Stanley & Iris (1990) with Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda, starred in Samantha (1991), and took the lead role of Helene Moszkiewiez in the television movie A Woman at War (1991). She also worked with director John Waters in Pecker (1998) and played a friend of Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), earning praise for her fearlessness and dark humor.
On television, she held a recurring role on the NBC medical drama ER in 1999 and received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2002 for her guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also became involved with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, appearing in productions including Hedda Gabler (2001).
In 2004, Plimpton made her Broadway debut in the play Sixteen Wounded. She went on to appear in Tom Stoppard’s trilogy The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center (2006–2007), earning a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination. She received a second Tony nomination for Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (2007–2008) and a third for the musical Pal Joey (2008–2009), establishing her as one of Broadway’s most respected character actresses of her generation.
Notable Works and Milestones
Plimpton’s signature works include her teen roles in The Goonies (1985) and Parenthood (1989), her television turn as Virginia Chance on the Fox sitcom Raising Hope (2010–2014), and her guest role as attorney Patti Nyholm on The Good Wife, which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2012. Her three consecutive Tony nominations between 2007 and 2009 remain a rare distinction among her Broadway peers.
Martha Plimpton Award Nominations
Plimpton has earned a steady stream of nominations across film, television, and stage, reflecting her range across formats. Her verified nominations include a 2002 Primetime Emmy nomination for her guest role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, three consecutive Tony Award nominations for Featured Actress in a Play and Musical, and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Raising Hope. She has also received nominations from critics’ groups including the Dorian Awards and the San Diego Film Critics Society for her performance in the 2021 drama Mass.
Martha Plimpton Awards Won
Plimpton has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award, along with the Whistler Film Festival’s best actress trophy. Her 2012 Emmy win for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series came for her portrayal of attorney Patti Nyholm on The Good Wife. Her Drama Desk Award recognized her featured role in Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia on Broadway.
Martha Plimpton Family
Plimpton is the daughter of actors Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton. Her paternal grandfather was the actor John Carradine, and she is part of the extended Carradine acting family. She is a distant cousin of writer George Plimpton and is also related to the cartoonist Bill Plympton.
Personal Life
Plimpton met actor River Phoenix in 1985, and the two began a romantic relationship in February 1986 while co-starring in The Mosquito Coast. They later appeared together in Running on Empty before their relationship ended in June 1989. Plimpton has said that a key reason for the breakup was her refusal to continue arguments over Phoenix’s substance abuse, though they remained close friends until his death in 1993.
Plimpton primarily resides in London, United Kingdom. She has been politically active since her teenage years, advocating for abortion rights through organizations including Planned Parenthood and serving on the board of the women’s-rights group A Is For. She has also been a vocal supporter of LGBT rights, publicly linking transgender rights and reproductive freedom as interconnected causes.