Mary Megan "Mare" Winningham (born May 16, 1959) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards (winning two), and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. She is known for her role as Georgia Flood in the film Georgia, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She has also starred in films such as St. Elmo's Fire, Miracle Mile, Turner & Hooch, The War, George Wallace, Dandelion, Brothers and Swing Vote. Winningham was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in Northridge, California. She has three brothers and one sister. Her father was the chairman of the Department of Physical Education at California State University (CSUN) and her mother was an English teacher and college counselor at Monroe High School. She credits her first interest in acting to seeing an interview with Kym Karath (who played Gretl in The Sound of Music) on Art Linkletter's television show House Party when she was five or six years old. Winningham attended local primary schools, where her favorite activities included drama and playing the guitar and drums.