Mary Ellen Trainor (July 8, 1952 – May 20, 2015) was an American

character actress A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to be ...

best known for her roles as LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the ''

Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, D ...

'' films,

newscaster A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Gail Wallens in ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Al ...

'' and ''

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

'', and

working mother ''Working Mother'' was a magazine for working mothers launched in 1979 by Founding Publisher Milton Lieberman, who was succeeded by Carol Evans . The founding editor of the magazine was Vivian Cadden, who retired as editor in 1990. Subsequent edi ...

Irene Walsh in ''

The Goonies ''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astor ...

''. She also appeared in numerous other well-known films including ''

Romancing the Stone ''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The f ...

'', ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black, who met as classmates at UCLA. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by TriSt ...

'', ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis. Written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan, it stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as rivals who fight for the affections of ...

'', '' Forrest Gump'', and ''

Freaky Friday ''Freaky Friday'' is a comedic children's novel written by Mary Rodgers, first published by Harper & Row in 1972. It has been adapted for several films, including versions in 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2018, and was reinterpreted as a horror film f ...

'' (2003).

Early life

Trainor attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, where she studied broadcast journalism.

Career

Trainor started her career working at radio stations

KSDO KSDO is a radio station in San Diego, California, broadcasts at 1130 kilohertz, KHz. The station is licensed for 10,000 watts of power from a directional antenna system, but has been operating since 2016 with 2,500 watts non-directional from a dif ...

as well as KCBS. Her first television appearance came in the 1983 '' Cheers'' episode " Father Knows Last", and her big-screen debut came the following year in ''

''. She frequently appeared in the films of

Richard Donner Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American filmmaker whose notable works included some of the most financially-successful films during the New Hollywood era. According to film historian ...

and her ex-husband Robert Zemeckis. In addition to her film work she had recurring television roles as Judy Lewis in ''

Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the s ...

'' (1989–1991), as Eve Lukens in '' Relativity'' (1996–1997), and as Diane Evans in '' Roswell'' (1999–2002). She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: ''

'' (1985), ''

'' (1988) and '' Forrest Gump'' (1994).

Personal life and death

Trainor was married to director Robert Zemeckis for 20 years, with whom she had a son, Alexander. She was good friends with producer Kathleen Kennedy, who worked with Steven Spielberg extensively and serves as President of Lucasfilm. Trainor introduced the two. Trainor died on May 20, 2015, at her home in Montecito, California, from complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 62 years old.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trainor, Mary Ellen 2015 deaths American film actresses American television actresses San Diego State University alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in California