Martha Plimpton

About Martha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. She started her career as a teen actress in film before transitioning to adult roles on stage and screen. She has received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. Her feature-film debut was a supporting role in the political thriller Rollover (1981), and she rose to prominence in the adventure film The Goonies (1985). She later took roles in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Shy People (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Parenthood (1989), Samantha (1991), Beautiful Girls (1996), Small Town Murder Songs (2011), Frozen 2 (2019), and Mass (2021). She is a member of the Carradine family. On television, she took a recurring guest role on the legal drama The Good Wife (2009–2013) for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. She was further Emmy-nominated for her leading role as Virginia Chance in the Fox sitcom Raising Hope (2010–2014), and guest spot as a drug addict in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2002). She starred in the ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals (2016–2017). On stage, Plimpton made her Broadway debut in the play Sixteen Wounded (2004). She was nominated for three consecutive Tony Awards for her performances in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia (2006–2007), Caryl Churchill's Top Girls (2007–2008), and the musical Pal Joey (2008–2009). She also appeared on Broadway in Shining City (2006–2007), Cymbeline (2007), and A Delicate Balance (2014).