Mary Louise Wilson

Acting

Mary Louise Wilson

Born 1931-11-12 · New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Mary Louise Wilson (born November 12, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. In a career that has spanned more than 50 years, she has appeared in numerous plays, films and television shows. In film, notable credits include Klute (1971), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Teachers (1984), The Money Pit (1986), Pet Sematary (1989), Green Card (1990), Stepmom (1998), Nebraska (2013), and Ocean's Eight (2018). Wilson has appeared in many television series such as Maude, Lou Grant, Remember WENN, Frasier, The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie, Mozart in the Jungle, Modern Family, and Orange Is the New Black, usually in guest roles. Wilson has had scores of stage roles, making her Broadway debut in Hot Spot (1963) starring Judy Holliday. For her role as "Big" Edie Beale in the musical Grey Gardens (2006), Wilson won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (alongside co-star Christine Ebersole's win for Best Leading actress). She was previously nominated in the same category for her role as Fräulein Schneider in the 1998 revival of Cabaret.

Acting credits

Ocean's Eight poster
6.9

Debbie Ocean, a criminal mastermind, gathers a crew of female thieves to pull off the heist of the century at New York's annual Met Gala.

Ocean's Eight

2018

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas poster
6.2

When a Conservative TV crusader threatens to shut down beloved brothel The Chicken Ranch, proprietress Miss Mona Stangley and her girls won't go down without a fight.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

1982

Pet Sematary poster
6.7

After the Creed family's cat is accidentally killed, a friendly neighbor advises its burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery.

Pet Sematary

1989

Teachers poster
5.7

A teacher reconnects with an old student who is now an attorney representing a family who is suing the school for graduating their son who still cannot read or write. Amid the daily chaos of teaching in an inner city school, Alex Jurel tries to decide if he will lie at his deposition to protect the school or tell the truth and risk throwing away his career.

Teachers

1984

Nebraska poster
7.4

An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.

Nebraska

2013

Stepmom poster
7.2

Jackie is a divorced mother of two. Isabel is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie’s ex-husband Luke, forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. But when Jackie discovers she is ill, both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest, while they have the chance.

Stepmom

1998

Green Card poster
6.1

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves.

Green Card

1990

The Money Pit poster
6.5

After being evicted from their Manhattan apartment, a couple buy what looks like the home of their dreams—only to find themselves saddled with a bank-account-draining nightmare. Struggling to keep their relationship together as their rambling mansion falls to pieces around them, the two watch in hilarious horror as everything—including the kitchen sink—disappears into the Money Pit.

The Money Pit

1986

She-Devil poster
6.0

A cunning and resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.

She-Devil

1989

Klute poster
6.8

A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.

Klute

1971

The Adventures of Huck Finn poster
6.2

Mischievous Huck Finn is unnerved when his father, reemerging after years away, kidnaps him in an attempt to take away a $600 inheritance from his late mother. Fearing for his life, Huck fakes his own death and escapes. He soon runs into his friend, Jim, a slave fleeing his master. Together, the pair embarks on a raft journey down the Mississippi River, staying ahead of pursuers who blame the slave for Huck's alleged murder.

The Adventures of Huck Finn

1993

Zelig poster
7.4

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

Zelig

1983

Everybody Wins poster
4.1

A seemingly good Samaritan hires a private detective to prove a teen sitting in prison on a murder charge is innocent. His investigation discovers deep corruption in a Connecticut town and finds the woman isn't everything she is pretending to be either.

Everybody Wins

1990

Up the Sandbox poster
5.9

Bored with day-to-day life in New York City and neglected by her husband, a young wife and mother slips into increasingly outrageous fantasies: her mother breaking into the apartment, an explorer's demonstration of tribal fertility music at a party causing strange transformations, and joining terrorists to plant explosives in the Statue of Liberty.

Up the Sandbox

1972

King of the Gypsies poster
5.9

Zharko, leader of the Romanis in NYC, passes his position of leadership on to his unwilling grandson, Dave, leading to infighting between Dave and his father.

King of the Gypsies

1978

Mr. Wonderful poster
5.6

Electrician Gus gets the chance to fulfil a childhood dream by buying an old bowling-alley with some of his friends, but first he must find his ex-wife a new husband so he can stop paying alimony.

Mr. Wonderful

1993

A Season for Miracles poster
7.0

A miracle occurs for a homeless family consisting of two wayward children and their protective aunt with the help of an angel. When a young woman's niece and nephew are threatened with foster care after her sister is hospitalized following yet another overdose, she flees with them until they land in the sleepy town of Bethlehem just before Christmas and a series of kindnesses and coincidences gives the trio a chance at happiness.

A Season for Miracles

1999

Blind Spot poster
6.2

Tragedy befalls Congresswoman Nell Harrington and her family when her son-in-law dies in a car accident, and Harrington's pregnant daughter, Phoebe, is propelled into a downward spiral. Things gets worse when Harrington learns that her son-in-law was on cocaine at the time of the accident, and her daughter was using right along with him. What does this mean for Harrington's impending Senate campaign -- and the health of Phoebe's unborn child?

Blind Spot

1993

Some Kind of Bug poster
NR

A mysterious environmental borne illness is turning teenage girls trans across New England. At least, that's what their mothers are reading online. Katherine, concerned by her preteen's increasing symptoms, seeks a cure.

Some Kind of Bug

2023

She's The Best Thing in It poster
1.0

Mary Louise Wilson is the most accomplished character actor you've never heard of. While teaching skeptical young students, she examines whether her life has been successful.

She's The Best Thing in It

2015

Going Home poster
6.4

After doing 13 years in prison for the murder of his wife, mechanic Harry Graham is out on parole and looking to rebuild his life in a small seaside community. He settles into a trailer park and finds both a job and a girlfriend. But things get difficult for Harry when his estranged son, Jimmy, shows up. He witnessed his mother's murder as a child and, after years spent in foster homes, has come looking for revenge.

Going Home

1971

The Women poster
9.0

Mary Haines's life falls apart and her social circle shatters after her husband's affair is revealed. Filmed version of the 2001 Broadway revival with the original cast reprising their roles.

The Women

2002

24 Nights poster
5.7

When Jonathan Parker was 4 years old, his mother's words and a chance encounter with a Salvation Army Kris Kringle instilled in him a lifelong belief in the legend of Santa Claus. Now 24 and his parents long passed away, Jonathan is a spacey, pot-smoking college drop-out and multi loser in romance who has one shot left to find his true love; he writes a letter to Santa Claus. After meeting Toby, a new co-worker just moved to the city, Jonathan is convinced this is the one who was sent for him, even after he meets Toby's long time boyfriend Keith. This doesn't deter Jonathan, who proceeds to wreck everyone's lives in pursuit of his dream man. Fighting snags, traps and pitfalls to Christmas Day, will Jonathan land his Christmas wish?

24 Nights

1999

Hail poster
6.7

A presidential advisor discovers that the President has assembled a secret army of vigilantes to suppress dissent and is setting up concentration camps in which to imprison protestors, hippies and other "social undesirables."

Hail

1973