Mary Ellen Trainor

Acting

Mary Ellen Trainor

Born — Died

1952-07-08 — 2015-05-20

Place of birth

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

45 titles

Mary Ellen Trainor (July 8, 1952 – May 20, 2015) was an actress well-known for roles in a variety of 80s movies including Romancing the Stone, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon (and its sequels), The Monster Squad, Action Jackson, Die Hard, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, and Back to the Future 2, among other things. One of her most iconic roles was that of the greedy wife in the famous killer Santa episode of Tales From the Crypt "And All Through the House".

Known for

Cheers poster
7.6

The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.

Cheers

1982

Golden Globe Awards poster
7.0

An annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Golden Globe Awards

1944

Remington Steele poster
7.1

Laura Holt, a licensed private detective, opens a detective agency but finds that potential clients refuse to hire a woman, however qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whom she names Remington Steele. Through a series of events that unfold in the first episode, "License to Steele," a former thief and con man, whose real name is never revealed, assumes the identity of Remington Steele. Behind the scenes, Laura remains firmly in charge.

Remington Steele

1982

Forrest Gump poster
8.5

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

Forrest Gump

1994

Back to the Future Part II poster
7.8

Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.

Back to the Future Part II

1989

Roswell poster
7.7

Bizarre things start happening in the little New Mexico town where UFOs were spotted in 1947. Cut to 1999, when a cute high-school student saves the life of a teenage waitress. Surrounded by cliques of clever, angst-filled classmates, the two form a bond that threatens the survival of a secret universe involving superhuman powers, a yen for hot sauce and an alien gene pool.

Roswell

1999

Film credits

2000s · 4 titles

1990s · 19 titles

Forrest Gump poster
8.5

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

Forrest Gump

1994

Death Becomes Her poster
6.8

Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once her arch-rival Helen's fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen vows to kill Madeline and steal back Ernest. Unfortunately for everyone, the introduction of a magic potion causes things to be a great deal more complicated than a mere murder plot.

Death Becomes Her

1992

Lethal Weapon 4 poster
6.6

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crime lord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Lethal Weapon 4

1998

Executive Decision poster
6.4

Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.

Executive Decision

1996

Lethal Weapon 3 poster
6.7

Riggs and Murtaugh pursue a former officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.

Lethal Weapon 3

1992

Congo poster
5.6

Eight people embark on an expedition into the Congo, a mysterious expanse of unexplored Africa, where human greed and the laws of nature have gone berserk.

Congo

1995

Ricochet poster
6.1

An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.

Ricochet

1991

Anywhere but Here poster
6.1

Single mother Adele August is bad with money, and even worse when it comes to making decisions. Her straight-laced daughter, Ann, is a successful high school student with Ivy League aspirations. When Adele decides to pack up and move the two of them from the Midwest to Beverly Hills, Calif., to pursue her dreams of Hollywood success, Ann grows frustrated with her mother's irresponsible and impulsive ways.

Anywhere but Here

1999

Greedy poster
6.2

Meet the McTeagues. They've come to stake a claim in their wealthy uncle's will… only he's not dead yet!

Greedy

1994

Fire Birds poster
5.0

A joint task force operation between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Army has been formed to dismantle one of the largest drug cartels operating in South America. Multiple attempts to assault the cartel's mountainous compound have been thwarted by a Scorpion-attack helicopter piloted by a cartel leader, Eric Stoller (Bert Rhine). After having several aircraft shot down, most notably a pair of UH–60 Black Hawks and their AH–1 Cobra escorts, the army turns to the new AH–64 Apache attack helicopter, which can match its enemies' maneuverability and firepower.

Fire Birds

1990

Little Giants poster
6.6

When Danny O'Shea's daughter is cut from the Peewee football team just for being a girl, he decides to form his own team, composed of other ragtag players who were also cut. Can his team really learn enough to beat the elite team, coached by his brother, a former pro player?

Little Giants

1994

Kuffs poster
5.7

George Kuffs didn't finish high-school, just lost his job, and his college-age girlfriend is pregnant. To top it off, George's brother Brad is killed and George inherits Brad's "patrol special" privatized police district and all the problems that come with it.

Kuffs

1992

Grand Canyon poster
6.4

The lives of six residents from different backgrounds intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center is the unlikely friendship of two men from different races and classes brought together when one finds himself in jeopardy in the other's rough neighborhood.

Grand Canyon

1991

Someone to Love Me poster
7.3

Cayley is still recovering from her father's sudden death when she begins attending a new school. Lonely and depressed, she has sex on the first and only date with classmate Ian Hall. After Ian gives her the cold shoulder, she succumbs to his friend's advances. Soon the school is abuzz with rumors about Cayley. With help from a guidance counselor, Cayley begins to change her behavior, but one night Ian approaches her expecting sex. When she rejects him, he rapes her. Now, Cayley's reputation is a roadblock to proving Ian's guilt.

Someone to Love Me

1998

A Face to Die For poster
6.5

A scarred, unattractive young woman is conned into helping with a robbery of her employer. As a result, she is sent to prison, gets plastic surgery, and returns to seek revenge on those who wronged her.

A Face to Die For

1996

Seduced and Betrayed poster
6.6

A beautiful but equally dangerous widow won't take "no" for an answer as she draws a dedicated family man into a world of passion, deceit and betrayal, threatening to destroy him in the process.

Seduced and Betrayed

1995

Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection poster
8.7

In "All Through the Night," perhaps the single most famous story from the original comic book series, a psychotic killer dressed as Santa escapes Christmas Eve and terrorizes a middle-class home where murder has already made a holiday appearance: a homicidal wife plunges a fireplace poker into her husband's skull. (It was also adapted in the 1972 British anthology movie Tales from the Crypt). Kirk Douglas stars as a blood-and-thunder World War I general who discovers his son is a coward in the grim "Yellow," the most dramatically acute of the trio. Digital magic morphs Humphrey Bogart into "You, Murderer," a high-concept, rather gimmicky tale of murder, double crosses, and poetic justice as seen through a dead man's eyes. Isabella Rossellini (daughter of Bogie's Casablanca costar Ingrid Bergman) and John Lithgow costar as plotting lovers.

Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection

1999

Hope poster
5.2

The story of a town's secret, a family's crisis, and a young girl's struggle to reveal the truth.

Hope

1997

Rock Hudson poster
5.2

Biography of actor Rock Hudson focuses on his struggle with his homosexuality. Based on the book by his ex-wife, Phyllis Gates, and on the court records from the civil suit brought by his former lover, Marc Christian.

Rock Hudson

1990

1980s · 12 titles

Back to the Future Part II poster
7.8

Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.

Back to the Future Part II

1989

Die Hard poster
7.8

High above the city of L.A. a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages, and declared war. One man has manages to escape... An off-duty cop hiding somewhere inside. He's alone, tired... and the only chance anyone has got.

Die Hard

1988

Ghostbusters II poster
6.6

The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.

Ghostbusters II

1989

Lethal Weapon poster
7.3

A veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.

Lethal Weapon

1987

Lethal Weapon 2 poster
7.1

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

Lethal Weapon 2

1989

Romancing the Stone poster
6.8

Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.

Romancing the Stone

1984

The Goonies poster
7.5

Young teen Mikey Walsh and his friends set off on a quest to find Pirate One-Eyed Willie's treasure in hopes of saving their homes from demolition. However, on their quest to find the treasure, they run into a family of recently escaped criminals, determined to capture the kids and reach the treasure first.

The Goonies

1985

The Monster Squad poster
6.7

Count Dracula returns to the world of humans accompanied by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them the ability to rule the world. A group of horror-loving heroes are the only ones daring to stand in their way.

The Monster Squad

1987

Action Jackson poster
5.5

Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who's systematically eliminating his competition.

Action Jackson

1988

Scrooged poster
6.8

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

Scrooged

1988

The Stone Boy poster
7.0

12-year-old Arnold Hillerman and his 17-year-old brother Eugene live with their family on a farm in Montana. In an accident, Eugene is killed by Arnold's gun. Isolated from emotions he cannot comprehend, Arnold now has to come to terms with his grieving family - including his father, mother, hostile uncle, and grandfather - while his family has to come to terms with Arnold.

The Stone Boy

1984

Fear Stalk poster
7.0

A producer from Beverly Hills is shocked when someone steals all of her belongings out of her purse. The thief begins to make threatening phone calls and withdraws money from her accounts. The stalker becomes more and more dangerous until he finally tries to kill the producer.

Fear Stalk

1989

Series credits

Cheers poster
7.6

The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.

Cheers

1982

Golden Globe Awards poster
7.0

An annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Golden Globe Awards

1944

Remington Steele poster
7.1

Laura Holt, a licensed private detective, opens a detective agency but finds that potential clients refuse to hire a woman, however qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whom she names Remington Steele. Through a series of events that unfold in the first episode, "License to Steele," a former thief and con man, whose real name is never revealed, assumes the identity of Remington Steele. Behind the scenes, Laura remains firmly in charge.

Remington Steele

1982

Roswell poster
7.7

Bizarre things start happening in the little New Mexico town where UFOs were spotted in 1947. Cut to 1999, when a cute high-school student saves the life of a teenage waitress. Surrounded by cliques of clever, angst-filled classmates, the two form a bond that threatens the survival of a secret universe involving superhuman powers, a yen for hot sauce and an alien gene pool.

Roswell

1999

Tales from the Crypt poster
8.0

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Tales from the Crypt

1989

Amazing Stories poster
7.5

A truly amazing, fantastical, science fiction, funny and odd, and sometimes scary, sad and endearing anthology series presented by Steven Spielberg with guest appearances by many famous actors, actresses, and directors.

Amazing Stories

1985

Parker Lewis Can't Lose poster
7.4

Parker Lewis is a teenager who apparently can't lose. He's cool, cute, popular, hip – and seems to get away with anything. That's not to say he's got no problems. His two primary nemeses are school principal Grace Musso, whose goal is getting Parker expelled; and his little sister Shelly, whose sole purpose seems to be tattling on Parker. However, with best friends Mikey and Jerry, Parker takes on the world and makes the best of high school.

Parker Lewis Can't Lose

1990

Crazy like a Fox poster
7.2

Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.

Crazy like a Fox

1984

The Outsiders poster
7.6

The story of the Curtis brothers, a group of troubled teens in 1960s Oklahoma, struggling to make it as a family. A follow-up to the novel and film of the same name.

The Outsiders

1990

Relativity poster
5.2

Relativity follows a twenty-something couple and the lives and loves of their friends and siblings in Los Angeles.

Relativity

1996