# Mary Steenburgen's appearance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844 "2012-02-14T20:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/1 "2012-02-14T20:00:04Z")
I cannot believe how much Mary Steenburgen has changed in looks. Last week she appeared on _30 Rock_ as Jack’s mother-in-law, and I had no idea who it was. The voice sounded familiar and the awkward, wooden acting certainly was. But who? Who IS that woman, I kept wondering throughout the most of the program. When finally I recognized the voice as hers, I still couldn’t truly believe it but lo and behold, the credits confirmed it. Have I just not been paying attention? Or has she had some serious plastic surgery? She looked utterly [gorgeous](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005460/) … not the “maybe if she didn’t act like such a dork she might actually be pretty” woman I remembered. Does the above photo look like Mary Steenburgen to you? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/2 "2012-02-14T20:03:11Z")
I remember her face being a little fuller, **Ellen**. Definitely skinnier and you’re right: she’s beautiful. I would have said something like, “Wow! She looks just like Mary Steenburgen! Is it her daughter???” Q ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/3 "2012-02-14T20:18:26Z")
Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/4 "2012-02-14T20:21:16Z")
I’ve always had a crush on Mary Steenburgen. Here she is from [A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3861494272/tt0084329) (1982). Gorgeous then, gorgeous now. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/5 "2012-02-14T20:25:53Z")
Aye, she’s always been gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/6 "2012-02-14T20:47:23Z")
Looking at older photos of her, she does seem a lot prettier than I remember her being in her younger days. I remember her in _Time After Time_ with Malcolm McDowell and thought she was downright homely. Nor did she impress me in _Back to the Future III_. I could be swayed by her acting, however, which I cannot fathom. It seems like she photographs better than she shows up on film or tape. To me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/7 "2012-02-14T20:50:28Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > I’ve always had a crush on Mary Steenburgen. > > Here she is from [A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3861494272/tt0084329) (1982). > > Gorgeous then, gorgeous now. Yeah, same here – I always thought that she was quite beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/8 "2012-02-14T20:55:00Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > It seems like she photographs better than she shows up on film or tape. To me, anyway. Some people look better in two dimensions than in three–I can’t explain how or why. My mom around age 18, for instance, is one of the most photogenic young adults I’ve ever seen on film. Not that she was ugly in person or anything, but she was \*much \*better looking in pictures than in real life. My aunt tells me everyone thought she looked like a young Farrah Fawcett, but only in pictures. hehe I, on the other hand, look pretty crappy in most of my pictures, and better in 3-D. It must be some kind of darkroom sorcery. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/9 "2012-02-14T21:06:46Z")
If she has had work done, the doctor is a genius because it’s very natural. I think maybe she is just happy with herself and her life. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/10 "2012-02-14T21:12:24Z")
People change over time, I don’t dispute that … and looking at older photos, now, she doesn’t really look _that_ different. But I literally did not know who she was for the duration of a sitcom and she’s someone I felt I absolutely knew what she looked like without question. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/11 "2012-02-14T21:47:37Z")
I don’t know; I was watching _30 Rock_ and when she walked in I said to my wife “Hey, Mary Steenburgen!” I’ve always liked her and thought she was beautiful in a very natural way. She was in _Joan of Arcadia_ a few years ago and looked about the same, and I don’t think she’s changed too much since _Back to the Future III_. It’s possible she’s had some work done but if so, it’s pretty subtle. I think she’s just aging very gracefully. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/12 "2012-02-14T21:54:04Z")
For Back to the Future Part III comparisons: [Unflattering](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/best1k.jpg/sr=1) [Flattering](http://www.wildsound.ca/images/back_to_the_future_mary_steenburgen.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/13 "2012-02-14T22:02:08Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > For Back to the Future Part III comparisons: > > [Unflattering](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/best1k.jpg/sr=1) > > [Flattering](http://www.wildsound.ca/images/back_to_the_future_mary_steenburgen.jpg) …and that’s why you don’t shoot portraits in natural light. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/14 "2012-02-14T22:02:42Z")
She wasn’t homely in ‘Time After Time’ (BTW, a great movie) but she certainly looks better now. Some people grow into their skins, so to speak. I have been told multiple times that I look more attractive than I was twenty years ago. Of course, they could just being nice. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/15 "2012-02-14T22:12:01Z")
I have never been that attracted to her, but I agree, she looked pretty phenomenal in last weeks 30 rock. Funny ep too by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/16 "2012-02-14T22:34:40Z")
> [@drm](#): > > I have never been that attracted to her, but I agree, she looked pretty phenomenal in last weeks 30 rock. Funny ep too by the way. “Let’s talk about baseball! The bats … they’re so long and hard.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/17 "2012-02-14T23:14:58Z")
My first impression upon seeing her in 30 Rock was that she’d had cheek implants. Esp noticeable when she smiled. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/18 "2012-02-14T23:20:49Z")
[This picture](http://celebritywonder.ugo.com/html/marysteenburgen.html) is kind of obvious, say, compared to [this older one](http://people.zap2it.com/p/mary-steenburgen/1690). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/19 "2012-02-14T23:23:30Z")
A tad off-topic, but I thought for sure that episode was going to end with her and Jack going to bed and Avery walking into the room saying “Honey, I’m home from North Korea!” I noticed she looked really good when she guest starred as the crazy mom of Elijah Wood’s character on an episode of _Wilfred_ last year. (Her husband’s long time co-star Rhea Perlman was also in that episode- she looks significantly older than she did on _Cheers_ [hardly surprising since it was 20 years ago] but very naturally aged as opposed to Freaky-Hollywood-Aged.) Rumor is that Mary Steenburgen has had her cheeks and other areas filled out a bit with flesh taken at night from a sleeping [Macaulay Culkin](http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/929nin.com/files/2012/02/Macaulay-Culkin-skinny.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844/20 "2012-02-15T05:25:40Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! FINALLY somebody uses that line cleverly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-steenburgens-appearance/612844.md?page=2)