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An effervescent, square-jawed blonde performer, Plimpton made her mark playing the estranged daughter of Tommy Lee Jones in "The River Rat" (1984) and gave a fine performance as the girlfriend of River Phoenix in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty" (1988). Her early roles as appealing tomboys in such films as "The Goonies" (1985) and "The Mosquito Coast" (1986) were reminiscent of Jodie Foster's persona of the 1970s. After "Running on Empty", the casually attractive Plimpton played the archetypal adolescent daughter with a rebellious strain in "Parenthood" (1989) and in "Samantha" (1992)....

Filmography

Marvelous - ( Gwen / 2006 / Lensing/Awaiting Release / )
Colin Fitz Lives! - ( Ann / 2006 / Released / )
Hair High - ( Voice of Miss Crumbles / 2006 / Released / )
Hair High - ( Co-Producer / 2006 / Released / )
The Sleepy Time Gal - ( Rebecca / 2002 / Released / )
200 Cigarettes - ( Monica / 1999 / Released / )
Music From Another Room - ( Karen / 1998 / Released / )
Pecker - ( Tina / 1998 / Released / )
Eye of God - ( Ainsley Dupree / 1997 / Released / )
Independent's Day - ( Herself / 1997 / Released / )
Beautiful Girls - ( Jan / 1996 / Released / Shochiku Company, Ltd. )
I Shot Andy Warhol - ( Stevie / 1996 / Released / )
I'm Not Rappaport - ( Laurie / 1996 / Released / )
Last Summer in the Hamptons - ( Chloe Garfield / 1995 / Released / )
Who Is Henry Jaglom? - ( Herself / 1995 / Released / )
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle - ( Jane Grant / 1994 / Released / Alliance Releasing )
My Life's in Turnaround - ( Herself / 1994 / Released / )
The Beans of Egypt, Maine - ( Earlene Pomerleau / 1994 / Released / )
Inside Monkey Zetterland - ( Sophie / 1993 / Released / )
Josh and S.A.M. - ( Alison / 1993 / Released / )
Samantha - ( Samantha Stigg / 1992 / Released / )
A Blink of Paradise - ( / 1991 / Released / )
A Woman at War - ( / 1991 / Released / )
Silence Like Glass - ( Claudia / 1990 / Released / Ljubljanski Kinema )
Stanley and Iris - ( Kelly / 1990 / Released / )
Parenthood - ( Julie / 1989 / Released / )
Another Woman - ( Laura / 1988 / Released / )
Running on Empty - ( Lorna Phillips / 1988 / Released / )
Shy People - ( Grace / 1988 / Released / )
Stars & Bars - ( Bryant / 1988 / Released / )
The Mosquito Coast - ( Emily Spellgood / 1986 / Released / Concorde Filmverleih GMBH )
The Goonies - ( Stef / 1985 / Released / )
The River Rat - ( Jonsy / 1984 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
Rollover - ( Fewster's Older Daughter / 1981 / Released / )
TV Credits
Surface ( 2005 / Released ): Actor
Episode 13 ( 2006 )
TV Episode Samantha Morris

Episode 12 ( 2006 )
TV Episode Samantha Morris

Karen Sisco ( 2003 / Released ): Actor
Searching for Debra Winger ( 2003 / Released ): Actor
Hack ( 2002 / Released ): Actor
Law & Order: Criminal Intent ( 2001 / Released ): Actor
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ( 1999 / Released ): Actor
The Defenders: Choice of Evils ( 1998 / Released ): Actor
The Defenders: Taking the First ( 1998 / Released ): Actor
The Defenders: Payback ( 1997 / Released ): Actor
7th Heaven ( 1996 / Released ): Writer / Actor
Red Socks ( 2005 )
TV Episode Writer

Regret to Inform ( 2004 )
TV Episode Venus

ER ( 1994 / Released ): Actor
Humpty Dumpty ( 1999 )
TV Episode Waitress/Meg

TV Episode Waitress/Meg

TV Episode Waitress/Meg

TV Episode Waitress/Meg

Erase the Hate ( 1994 / Released ): Actor
Chantilly Lace ( 1993 / Released ): Actor
Daybreak ( 1993 / Released ): Actor
The Hand-Me-Down Kid ( 1983 / Released ): Actor
Full Biography (Back to top)

An effervescent, square-jawed blonde performer, Plimpton made her mark playing the estranged daughter of Tommy Lee Jones in "The River Rat" (1984) and gave a fine performance as the girlfriend of River Phoenix in Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty" (1988). Her early roles as appealing tomboys in such films as "The Goonies" (1985) and "The Mosquito Coast" (1986) were reminiscent of Jodie Foster's persona of the 1970s. After "Running on Empty", the casually attractive Plimpton played the archetypal adolescent daughter with a rebellious strain in "Parenthood" (1989) and in "Samantha" (1992). She graduated to adult parts with Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994), playing the supporting role of noted wit Jane Grant. The film marked the first pairing of Plimpton and her father Keith Carradine, who appeared in a cameo as Will Rogers.

Plimpton has continued to land interesting roles that challenge her abilities. Ted Demme cast her as Michael Rapaport's fed-up girlfriend in "Beautiful Girls" while Mary Harron teamed her with Lili Taylor in "I Shot Andy Warhol" (both 1996). Perhaps Plimpton's most challenging role to date was Ainsley in Tim Blake Nelson's "Eye of God" (1997). The actress proved most effective as a trusting, love-starved young woman whose relationship with an ex-con forms the central story in the independent film. She followed with a turn in the romantic comedy-drama "Music From Another Room" (1998). In addition to her film work, Plimpton has frequently appeared on stage, including in Eric Bogosian's 1994 Off-Broadway play "subUrbia" and the 1996 Steppenwolf Theatre production of "The Libertine" opposite John Malkovich. More recently, she has appeared in the Showtime TV-movie "The Defenders: Payback" (1997), the first in a series of longforms based on the old TV show. Plimpton was cast as M.J. Preston, a former prosecutor and the granddaughter of Lawrence Preston (E.G. Marshall) who joins her grandfather's law firm.


Profession(s):
Actor, director
Sometimes Credited As:
Martha Campbell Plimpton
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Family
father:Keith Carradine (Met Plimpton's mother when he appeared in "Hair"; did not meet daughter until she was four years old)
grandfather:John Carradine
mother:Shelley Plimpton (Met Keith Carradine while appearing in "Hair"; later married and divorced director Daniel Sullivan)
step-father:Daniel Sullivan (Divorced from Plimpton's mother)
Companion(s)
River Phoenix , Companion , ```..Met during the filming of "The Mosquito Coast" (1986); had a high-profile relationship for several years; relationship ended, due to Plimpton's objection to his recreational drug use, which claimed his life in 1993


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Education
Professional Children's School New York, NY
Awards (Back to top)
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play "The Coast of Utopia [Part 1 - Voyage]" 2007

Milestones (Back to top)
2008 Appeared in the Broadway play, "Top Girls"; received a Tony award nomination for Featured Actress in a Play
2006 Cast in the play "The Coast of Utopia," a trilogy by Tom Stoppard; earned a Tony award nomination
2004 Guest-starred on an episode of "7th Heaven" (WB); also received her first writing credit for a different episode that year entitled "Red Socks"
2002 Nominated for an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the television drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC)
2001 Starred in a Chicago stage production of "Hedda Gabler"
2001 Made stage directorial debut with "Absolution," performed at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company
1999 Appeared in the ensemble film "200 Cigarettes"
1999 Had a recurring role in the television drama "ER" (NBC) as Meg Corwyn
1998 Donned a dark wig to play Edward Furlong's sister in John Waters' "Pecker"
1997 Appeared in "The Defenders: Payback", the first of a projected series of TV-movies for Showtime
1997 Won praise for leading role in "Eye of God"
1996 Portrayed the lesbian lover of radical feminist Valerie Solanas in the indie film "I Shot Andy Warhol"
1992 First feature starring role, "Samantha"
1991 Co-starred with Campbell Scott in Shakespeare's "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" at the Public Theater
1989 Played the indignant teenage daughter of Dianne Wiest in "Parenthood"
1988 Second film with River Phoenix, the Academy Award-nominated film, "Running on Empty"
1987 Co-starred in the critically praised but commercially unsuccessful feature, "Shy People"
1986 Critically lauded performance as the Reverend Spellgood's daughter in "The Mosquito Coast" starring Harrison Ford and her future real-life love interest, River Phoenix
1985 First substantial film role, "The River Rat"
1985 Breakthrough performance as Stef Steinbrenner in "The Goonies"
1983 TV acting debut, "The Hand-Me-Down Kid"
1982 Appeared in a Calvin Klein jeans commercial at age 11
1981 Made film acting debut in a bit part in "Rollover"
1979 Stage debut at age eight in "The Haggadah" at New York Public Theater
Formed a production company called, Everything is Horrible; produced a number of short films for the internet


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